Pearls & Prose

The Korean Demilitarized Zone heavily militarized strip of land running across the Korean Peninsula near the 38th parallel. The demilitarized zone (DMZ) is a barrier that divides the peninsula in half. It was established to serve as a buffer zone between the countries of North Korea and South Korea under the provisions of the Korean Armistice Agreement in 1953, an agreement between North Korea, China and the United Nations Command.

The first thing my son, his friend and I did was to go there the next morning after I arrived. My son and his friend had been in Japan to see friends, but they flew to meet me in Seoul. My son came to meet me at the Seoul airport. Good thing, because I was completely lost! Could not understand the train system, being pretty jet-lagged (I only slept one hour on the twelve and a half hour flight.) And I continued to be lost wherever we went! Thank heaven my son knew the subway system or I would still be at Incheon Airport haha.

Anyway, the DMZ was pretty interesting, although kind of bleak. They were just coming out of winter in March so nothing was blooming. The weather in Korea was 50s F. during the day and 30s at night. It was really cold at night!

This is a bridge that used to be a way into North Korea. The ribbons are things that people write on to their loved ones who are still in North Korea. Sadly, families were divided.

A battered train to transport passengers in the past. I believe it was called the Freedom Train?

Lots of barbed wire there.

This was so disturbing. During wartime, the Japanese provided “comfort women” to the troops. They were always barefoot so they couldn’t run away. The Japanese reasoning was that these comfort stations would help to alleviate the stress of war by providing sex to their troops.

I’m sorry I’ve forgotten the name of this memorial and I can’t read Korean.

Ironically there was a souvenir shop. You could purchase North Korean money. No, thanks.

This was a temple of some sorts. We visited palaces later that had the same details.

More ribbons and barbed wire….

We then got back on the bus and traveled for about half an hour to another site.

What I didn’t know was that an arduous uphill climb was in store for us. And then we had to cross a very high suspension bridge. I survived, but barely. I have acrophobia (fear of heights) so this was not an easy thing for me. I just kept telling myself, “Don’t look down.” I managed to not do it on my hands and knees so considered that a win. : )

This photo was taken by my son.

The name of the bridge is Suspension Bridge of Gamaksan Mountain. Gamaksan has an elevation of 2,215 feet and the bridge is 492 feet long.

To end this on a high note, I thought the name of this restaurant was pretty amusing.

Great weekend, everyone!

{carole}