One of my good friends Travis is living with his wife in China...he had mentioned a few times that he'd wanted to make the trip to Korea to see me and to check it out, and finally this last weekend that was a reality. He's been taking some online classes and had a break and so we made plans to hang out for the weekend. He got to Korea last Friday night, and so I went there Saturday morning to meet him. It was really cool to see him again, we were talking and I think it's been over 4 years since I've seen him. We talked about how funny/crazy it was that we were roommates in tiny Rockwell, NC four years ago, and now here we were hanging out in Korea together! HA! Whodathunkit?! So I'd asked him what he wanted to do, and we decided together to go check out the DMZ (Demilitarized Zone) between South Korea and North Korea. I hadn't been yet, and so we thought that might be an interesting trip. I reserved us a seat on the bus there, it was a little expensive (about 78,000 Won) but I thought it would easily be worth it. We left Seoul around 10:30AM and headed north to the border. They had a nice buffet lunch before we made our way to Camp Bonifas. Before we arrived there, they had two stops where they checked our passports. The camp is technically a UN camp, occupied by about 95% Korean troops and about 5% US troops. They took us into an auditorium and told us some of the history of the DMZ. Of course when the Korean War ended with a signed truce in 1953 (they never technically signed anything to end the war, just a cease fire) the area was established for an area for the two sides to talk when they needed to. The area is actually called the Joint Security Area, and inside the JSA there are several interesting landmarks. There is a conference building, with the middle sitting exactly on the line between North and South Korea http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Map_JSA.jpg (it's just above the Home of Freedom, the little rectangle building). Inside this building is a table that also sits right across the line...when the two Koreas have held meetings, one side will sit on their side of the table, and the other side will sit on their side of the table(in the picture with me leaning on the window sill, you can see the concrete line outside the window...that's the divinding line between the two Koreas). This way they can meet, but still stay in their respective countries. We were able to go into the building (one side has a door into/from North Korea, and the other side has a door into/from South Korea. Of course we entered from the South Korea side, and inside the building we were able to walk into North Korea. So...I can now say I have travelled to North Korea! HA! Inside the building we were able to take pictures, and they had a guard blocking the door so that people couldn't defect into North Korea (as if anyone would want to! HA!) It was a really awesome experience to be there, and think of all the history in that area. After we left the conference room, we drove for about 2 or 3 minutes and stopped and we were able to look out at the closest North Korea village, with the tallest flagpole in the world (160 meters). South Korea had build a flagpole 100 meters tall, and so North Korea built one right after that was taller! Sorry my pics of the village aren't super clear...it was quite a distance, and it was really sunny...and so for some reason my pics of the village aren't very crisp, but you can see the flag and the little town. After that we went to the Bridge of No Return which was an area after the Korean War where prisoners were exchanged. Prisoners could choose if they wanted to remain in the country of their captivity, or cross over to the other country...but once they made a choice they were not allowed to ever return. It's really sad to think of all the Korean families that were destroyed by the Korean War, and to think of all the people who never got to see their relatives again! Anyway...the DMZ was well worth the money and we had a really cool and interesting time (plus, now I can count North Korea as a country I've been to!!!)
I also showed Trav around Seoul and we were able to see a few of the palaces around Seoul. I think he really liked Seoul a lot...I had seen most of the places but I still enjoy going back, even if I've been there before. I think he was happy with the fact that he go to eat Outback food and also hit up Krispy Kreme (in fact, we went there twice on Saturday! HA!) We also went to a baseball game...I had hoped that Doosan would have a home game, but they were on the road. However, Doosan and LG share the same stadium, so LG Twins were playing the Kia Tigers, so we went to the game and had a great time. One of the better games I've seen in a while, with Kia winning with a 9th inning rally.
I didn't post too much info about the DMZ and the Korean War etc....I know sometimes my blogs turn into history lessons, but if you're interested more about the area feel free to check out some stuff online, or just shoot me an e-mail with any questions or whatever. It really is interesting, but I hate boring people! HA!
Anyway...it was a really cool time, and it was nice to see an old buddy!
