The Scariest Place On Earth
Trip Start
Sep 01, 2010
1
17
39
Trip End
May 15, 2011
Where I stayed
Come Inn Guesthouse
Panmunjeom - DMZ, Gyeonggi, Korea Rep.
Sunday, October 31, 2010
The Korean War was fought from 1950-1953 between the Republic of Korea (South) and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North)(Ironic, because it's not even close to a democracy). The Communist North invaded the Democratic South and pushed them all the way down to the southern tip of the peninsula. The United Nations, led mostly by American forces, (Imagine that) came to the aid of the South and pushed them back towards the China border. China then joined the fight, aiding the North and sending over a million of their own troops to their graves. The Soviet Union also supported the North sending them weapons and use of their spies and intel. In the end, the fighting reached a standstill near the current border and an armistice was signed creating the current DMZ. It is a 4km wide patch of land the stretches the entire width of the peninsula from east to west and creates a buffer between the the two enemy nations of Korea. Since then there have been many instances of aggression from the North and there is constantly a threat that the war could restart.
Our first stop was to the 3rd infantry tunnel. This is a tunnel dug by the North to sneak under the border into the South. It was almost complete when it was discovered in 1978. We took a hike underground and saw this crudely constructed tube in the earth. The walls are smeared with black coal because the North tried to make it seem as if they were digging for coal and rubbed it all over the walls during their retreat. This first stop started to give us a weird vibe about the conflict, and the Communists to the North, and this feeling only continued as we went on to the next stop. We arrived at the Dorasan Train Station. The station is the last one in South Korea on the the way to the North, and was built by donations from people wanting to someday see reunification. It is not an active station but looks exactly like any other station in the South. It just sits there for waiting for the day when the train lines can be extended. The last interesting place on the tour was to the JSA or Joint Security Area. This is the only area where the two sides actually touch without the buffer. This is the meeting place for the two sides and highly militarized and very intense. While there we got to see the meeting building that sits directly on the border, some areas where North Korean solders have attacked and killed people, and some other sights of interest. They tell us not to make any gestures towards the solders standing on the other side and we are surrounded by elite ROK solders from the South. At this place you could feel the intensity between the two sides and it was legitimately scary. This concluded our trip to the DMZ and left a somber feeling with us about war and the split between the two Koreas
After the tour was over we went to Seoul to meet up with some friends at a Halloween party that was for Koreans and foreigners. It was in our favorite trendy neighborhood of Hongdae near Hongik University. We checked in to a beautiful new little hostel ran by a cool guy named Jimmy called Come Inn Guesthouse. If you go to this area please support him. On the way to the guesthouse we meet a couple of English med students who asked us if we could help them find a place to stay. They came to the hostel with us and then ended up being really cool, and spending the next couple of days with us. We had a great night at the all you can drink Halloween party and then at a few other local bars and dance clubs. Sooo many people! The next day we checked the internet for something to do and found an FC Seoul soccer game against Korea's second biggest city of Busan. We took the subway over to the World Cup stadium in Seoul, which is a huge 77,000 person "epic" building. We got lucky and got some cheap tickets from a guy who was selling them in front of the subway exit. It was a really fun game with a bunch of goals and screaming fans. Although there was about 20,000 people there it felt empty because of the huge size of the stadium. FC Seoul won the game and took over 1st place so it was a good day for those fans.
It was a really fun and exhausting two day trip and great way to start our time with Sandy.
