Eat & Run in South Korea – Part 2: Seoul and the DMZ (Demilitarized Zone)

Meg:

In South Korea, Frank only had one item on his “must see” list – the Demilitarized Zone, or DMZ.  It’s a narrow strip of land that separates North Korea from the South.  And although its name (DEmilitarized?) would indicate otherwise, it was very militarized indeed!  South Korean soliders, armed with machine guns and in full combat gear, nearly outnumbered the tourists that flocked there for the day from Seoul.  But, I’m getting ahead of myself.

There are several tour outfits that operate out of Seoul, conducting half- and full-day tours of the DMZ.  Our kindly Korean Home-Stay host suggested a company and called ahead to arrange our reservations.  Our I Love Seoul tour bus was scheduled to depart at 8:00 AM from a meeting place at the large Lotte Hotel in downtown Seoul.  We thought it would be easy to reach in a taxi, but we ended up with the most polite (read:  SLOWEST) taxi driver in South Korea.  By the time we reached the hotel, a popular meeting point for many tours, buses were already loading up.  We scrambled to find our bus to no avail.

Luckily, we were able to talk a sweet reservation clerk into calling our tour company.  They had left without us, as we feared.  After they thoroughly chastised us for our tardiness, they agreed to send a minivan to fetch us and catch up with our bus.

Frank:

We don’t normally do the tour thing, but it was a smart idea in order to visit the DMZ. You CAN do it on your own, but with all the check points and dudes with gun, it’s not really the kind of place you want to be wandering around aimlessly.

The drive wasn’t terribly long, perhaps an hour or so and once you get to the DMZ they take you to a few different stops. Each destination was interesting and educational, but I’m sure they have a lot more meaning to those who live in Korea. People who have lived through the tense history or have family on the other side of the fence have a deeper connection the the area.

My favorite part of the tour was getting to go into one of the tunnels that runs under the DMZ. They were dug by the North in order to invade the South. Luckily, they were found before they were ever able to be put to use.

Meg:

Our tour bus dropped us off in downtown Seoul in early afternoon.  There was still plenty of time to enjoy the sights in the city before we headed out for our last night in Korea.

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