DMZ: Demilitarized Zone

Today was my last full day in this blessed country.  I really wanted to make sure I did the DMZ tour, so why not plan it on the last day?  This was an absolutely amazing experience.  I signed up for the all day tour because I really wanted to get the full experience.

I woke up, quickly grabbed some breakfast and hit the subway to my meeting point.  They checked my passport and signed me off and boarded the bus that would take us north.  We had a fabulous, mom-like your guide and she made the trip quite memorable.  These old lady tour guides are sure hilarious.  I think I might want to be them when I retire.  She explained that we would first be stopping at the Korean War Memorial.  The US has an army base in Seoul, so there are several foreigners in the area.  This place was pretty neat and attracts several school groups of all ages. 

Beginning of the Korean War Memorial.  Look at my cute tour guide.

Some type of tanker that was used.  I didn't really read anything, I just took pictures.

How would ya like to ride in this get up?

A monument listing all those who were killed in action.

Indiana soldiers

We didn't get a whole lot of time here.  Our tour guide was very adamant about being punctual.  She said, "Every minute you late, you sing song on microphone." Needless to say, most of us made sure to be on time.  We headed north for about 45 minutes and stopped at a very Korean restaurant for lunch.  Her was the typical sit-on-the-floor type restaurant. 

Our awesome restaurant we ate lunch at.

 I had a traditional Korean dish called bibimbap.  It has rice on the bottom, a variety if vegetables, and a fried egg on top.  It was great with a little hot sauce!

My bibimbap meal...that bowl full of nonsense.

Our next stop was to Imjingak Park.  This park was built to console families from both sides who fell victim during the Korean War.  This park had an observation deck to look over the Imjin River.  

The Worship Alter at Imjin Park.

A view of the bridge of the last railway that was used.

Freedom Bridge

A memorial at the end of the bridge.

The last locomotive that went through the border.

This park had several cool monuments.  The picture with the bridge crossing the river was actually an old railway road that prisoners of war used to use to get back from the north.  The Bridge of Freedom is also pictured where they we're let off to walk across.  The last locomotive is pictured and kept as a reminder of how hostile this separation is.  It used to run across the peninsula, but got attacked by the northern army and endured over 1,000 bullet holes in the entire train.

Then we were finally off to the place is been waiting to see. There is actually a village in the DMZ where people live.  They are mostly farmers that tend the rice fields...which is what a majority of the area was.  The military visit the village every night to ensure their safety. 

We had to go through 2 different check points where army officers checked our passports both times.  Then we made our way to Camp Bonifas where these troops train.  Our guide said many of them are college students. We stopped at the visitors center where we had a briefing of the history of this country's division.  I don't have many pictures because they were absolutely prohibited.  These were very, very strict rules on this tour. We also had to sign a paper stating that we would not point, make obscene gestures, or scoff towards the other side during this visit.  It also stated that we were entering a very hostile area and they were not responsible for anything that might happen.  Now I don't feel so safe!!  Once we had our briefing, we loaded on buses that were driven by military men.  One was driving and one was standing at the doors.  There was no standing or taking pictures at this point.  We shortly arrived at the Joint Security Area.  Here we had to file out of the bus 2-by-2.  There are only 2 buses allowed in the JSA at a time, so we had to wait our turn.  We had military personnel with us at all times.

When we walked out into the platform, it was like no other feeling I've ever felt before. This is where the North and South basically stand face-to-face. It was quite eerie seeing the South Korean guards at a ready stance all the time.  They must stand in this position so their hands are ready to grab their weaponry whenever the time might be necessary.  We were also given plastic visited tags that had to be worn on our upper left collar.  The North Korean guard from across the way would check us through his binoculars.  Creepy!!

Standing face-to-face.

Here you can see the fine divide between North and South Korea.  Our travel guide said the North Korean soldiers don't stand down by the buildings for nothing.  She was hilarious I tell you!  We were on a VERY strict time limit when we were in this area.  Just about 5 minutes were allowed here.  Then we were led into the MAC (Military Armistice Commission) conference building.  This is where any conferences are held between the north and south. 

The MAC conference area.

As you can see, the microphones are set up down the middle divide.  The South and North sit in their respective sides.  Notice even inside the building, soldiers take the Tae Kwon Do stance.  We were only allowed about 3 minutes in this building.  Then we were led out 2-by-2 again to the bus.

This is the closest I could stand to the soldier. We are on the North Korean side.

We were the driven around to other parts of the JSA and we got to see the Bridge of No Return.  This is where soldiers were separated after the war whether they decided to go back to the north or south. 

The Bridge of No Return

This was quite an eye opening experience and shows how much these two divides still struggle.  They are two completely different worlds that are only separated by a few miles of nothing. 

That was it...I'm so glad I did this.  If you ever get the chance to vacation to Korea, you've gotta do this experience!  It was so awesome. 

Once I got back to Seoul, I wanted to visit Insadong one more time.  I did some serious damage here, but have successfully managed to fit it in my suitcase without throwin anything else out.  

...and now it's the end of my journey.  It has been an absolute blessing to be able to have this experience.  So many people to thank for allowing me to come on this trip.  Really, did you think I did all this on my teaching salary?! Ha!  I hope you enjoyed my adventures as much as I did. If you ever get the opportunity, go visit Korea!  You will not be disappointed.

Igidae Park & Busan Farewell

Today I ventured out on my own again.  Sad that Katie has to work, but I wanted to make sure to make the best use of my time while I'm here!  She kept telling me I had to do Igidae Park...must do Igidae.  So, I decided that was going to be my goal today.  She briefed me on this little trip and told me to make sure to wear my runners.  I slowly got myself ready in her 11th floor 100° studio apartment because her AC does not work.  Really, there's not a whole lot of sense in showering because it does no good.  All you people at home know how much I love showering...

Anyways, I got ready and hit up my coffee shop.  I'm surprised these girls don't know my order already.  They probably talk nonsense about me behind the counter.  I had my coffee, ate some breakfast, and freeloaded their wifi for as long as possible.  Then I hailed a taxi to take me to Igidae.  These taxi drivers are just idiots sometimes!  If you pronounce one little sound wrong, they just go bizerck and act like you're a goon. They probably just think, "Why can't this Korean speak good language!"  So I showed him my phone with a picture of it.  Thank goodness for my phone or else I'd be lost in some dark alley.  

He dropped me off, I paid my fare, and I was solo...once again.  I climbed up a set of stairs and was dumbfounded at the view I had.  This is basically Katie's backyard.  

The beginning of Igidae Park.

This place is simply magnificent!  I can't even put into words how awesome this was.  I was really excited to get hiking because it went all along the coast in this mountain.  Eat your heart out with these pictures. 

This was my first view along the trail.  Never knew Korea looked this beautiful!

Suspension bridge off in the distance...blue oceans for miles.

The water was crystal clear, the skies were blue, and the sun was shining.  I couldn't have asked for a better day.  Hiking was really fast, fun, and easy to begin with. I have so many beautiful pictures, but
I'll try to pick my favorites. 

Another view back at the city.

Here starts the treacherous uphill hike.

Koreans spend millions of won to preserve natural beauty.

I came upon a tiny little cave-like structure that was apparently used by female drivers.  The door on this thing was TINY.  It is used to keep their catch, wet suits, and any other equipment they might have.  It is said to look like a turtle with the head shaped from a natural rock that is looked to be swimming towards the ocean.  It's also called 'using your imagination'!

A view of the female driver cave.

As I said earlier, the hike began nicely with well built stairs and bridges.  Then it started becoming more of a rugged hike. I just want to give a shout out to Shelly Crozier for making me work so hard because this hike became really tough!  I was pretty winded at some points in the hike as I was basically walking straight up. Here's a little taste of some of the hiking trails.

Those rocks are as huge as they look.

I thought this might be the stairway to heaven...nope, still alive to
talk about it.  Talk about burning thighs.

Fabulous uphill hike on dirt and rocks.

This is also a hot spot for fishermen to come and sit for hours trying to get a bite.  I stood and watched a couple groups for a few minutes. It is a very serious game to these fellas.  I would just be worried I'd fall of the boulder and become something else's game!

Cute little fishers of men.

I've decided Koreans have no fear when it comes to fishing and driving.

I was surrounded by greenery and blue ocean the whole time.  It was just one of the most beautiful sights I have ever seen.  It took me a total of two and half hours to hike the entire coastline.  At the end, I got a nice treat by walking out in a man made sky walk.  This definitely got my heart rate up!  It was just a huge U-shaped glass bridge that hung over a cliff of the ocean and looked over the 5 or 6 islands that are famous in this Busan area.  I say 5 or 6 because it can look like a different number of islands depending on which direction you look at it from.  It was said that they could have once been a peninsula many years ago that have become smaller islands due to the rough erosion of the waves...but we just never know! 

Sky Walk -- scarier than it looks!

This looks like 2 islands, but there are more. Straight on angle makes it look like 2.

When I was all done I decided I would just wander back taking the streets to see if I could find any good shopping.  For some reason, I don't feel as bad spending money here since it's "vacation".  Someone needs to get me home stat.  I'm going to regret this spending later!

I browsed through a few stores, but then my ADD kicked in and I was really tired from that hike.  So I hailed another taxi and met up with Katie.  It was my last day with her so we went out for brunch before I got back on the train to Seoul.  She took me to a lovely place with actual walls and real napkins.  She really wanted me to try bulgogi before I left, and of course I can't say no to food. Bulgogi is just grilled marinated beef.  Pretty safe...it tastes even more amazing all mixed in with a cheesy crepe.  Here's a look.

Bulgogi crepe and scrumptious waffles...get in my belly.

  Of course we needed to have something sweet with our savory bulgogi dish.  So we ordered a nice tasty waffle.  It was sooo great and I ate way too much!  Oink!  We finished up and took one last stroll on the beach.  It was quite messy with grass and seaweed from the wild waves coming from the typhoon that hit Japan.  I jokingly said, "I'm surprised the grandmas aren't out here collecting this seaweed for dinner."  Sure enough, a few steps down the beach, there they are.  Yummy!

When we returned I packed my things up and hopped on the bus for the train station.  The train ride to Seoul takes about 3 hours.  It's not fun, but it's easy! I'll be staying in a hostel the next two nights because I'm cheap and I don't really care if I sleep in a bunk bed with strangers.  My mom and dad are so proud right now.  They are not what you think they are...they are actually quite liveable if you find good ones.  I have a big adventure tomorrow, so make sure to keep reading!

Beomeosa Temple & more stories

Today I was on my own in the morning since Katie still had to go to work.  She must work nearly every day.  They do not get summer vacations like we do in America.  She also does not get personal days or sick days.  These people just work no matter what.

So, Katie sent me some suggestions of places to visit today.  I ventured off on the subway to Beomosa Temple.  I thought I was doing really well traveling alone on public transportation here until I got to my exit stop at Beomeosa.  When I inserted my ticket to get out of the subway it buzzed at me with a big red light.  Grrreat!  So now what do I do?  I do what anyone else would do and crawl under the exit gate!  Sooo classy!!  Anyways,  I hopped on a bus that took me up to the temple.  This was an extraordinary sight set up on the edge of Mt. Geumjeonsan.  This is a famous mountain in Busan.  It was constructed by a monk way too long ago during the Silla Dynasty.  Unfortunately for me, there was a significant part of the temple that was closed for reconstruction.  It was burned down to the ground in the late 1500s during a Japanese invasion, but later reconstructed to it's present form in the 1700s.  This is pretty common for places like this.  However, I did get to see surrounding temples and experienced some monks doing their thing. This was quite interesting!  I tried to take as many pictures as I could, but there were places where they would not allow them for religious purposes.

Several people inside praying while a monk led the chant.

There were several visitors meditating inside and doing whatever they do.  As you can tell, I know so much about Buddhism.  This particular temple is home to several hermitages surrounding this temple where monks live and train.  

Panoramic view of what I got to see of the temple.

You may also spend a day at this temple experiencing a common day for these people, or you may
also do a templestay where you actually spend the night here. I think I'll just stick to being a tourist! 

Inside one of the temples.  So many intricate details.

I then found my way hiking up a small rock path. It was absolutely magnificent in sight and so peaceful.  I was curious to where it led so I kept hiking.  I'm really smart when it comes to traveling because I had sandals on...and below is what my trail looked like. 

A view of perfection.

Most people I passed were decked out in hiking gear, backpacks, and hiking sticks.  Me? I had on
shorts, nice shirt, and sandals.  I fit right in!  I kept hiking up and up and up and realized I hadn't really seen anyone in awhile so I hesitated.  Then I saw another Korean man a few feet behind me so I kept going.  Who cares if I'm in the middle of nowhere where this man might cut me.  I'll keep going!  

This is where things started to get questionable.

Things started to get a little more narrow so I got scared and turned around.  The Korean man tried to say something to me but didn't know English.  I finally understood that if I kept hiking 20 more
minutes I might see something.  FOR REAL?  I was sweating bullets by this time...but I wanted to see what he was talking about.  I'm glad I kept going!  I found what is called The North Gate to this temple area.  There were several gates and watchtowers to keep out foreign intruders.  It was such a sight to see! 

Here is a view of The North Gate that stretches on forever.  So worth the hike!

After hiking back down and only nearly turfing it a couple times, I got back on the subway.  Katie said I should really try to do the cable cars up the mountain if I could.  These were a few stops on the subway from where I was, so I thought why not?  The directions to this place included a subway and bus.  I'm pretty good with subway, but the buses are a little more confusing.  I never know which stop to take...and that was very clear as I apparently got on the correct bus going the wrong direction.  So finally after about a dozen stops I thought, maybe I should check google maps.  Yep, definitely going the opposite direction. So I quickly jumped off and hailed a taxi.  I showed the guy my phone with
where I hope it would be and just crossed my fingers this crazy Asian driver would get me there.  Sure enough, 6,300₩ later I'm at Geumgang Park where I can hit up these cable cars.  Whew!  Only about 45 minutes of wasted time.  I was so happy to get there and then I saw this: 

So angry!

YOU'RE JOKING, RIGHT?  That's my luck.  I was so mad I didn't even take the time to look around, plus it looked like it was going to start pouring down rain. (Typhoon effects). So I just google mapped myself and walked all the way back to the subway.  Got myself on and took it back to
Katie's.  What a day!  I straight passed out for a couple hours and she woke me to go eat Kimchijeon with a friend.  

Here is a picture of questionable at its finest.

We hailed a taxi and this is where we ended up.

A hole in the wall with paper walls.  There were also neat rolls of toilet paper on the walls for...napkins? Some things you just don't ask about.

Nice toilet paper rolls on the walls.

I was really unsure about it, but trust Katie, so I embraced the atmosphere.  

Another interesting Korean experience.

So this was dinner...the right is tofu with kimchi, the middle is like a savory cheesy pancake with soy sauce, and the left is simply like an omelet with ketchup.  The top there is radishes and garlic cloves.  Like I said, Koreans love to share, so you just dig in and eat whatever you want.  I have to say, it hasn't been my favorite meal, but the cheesy pancake was sure delicious!  

That was my day...lots of good things with a disappointing middle.  I can't believe I only have a couple days left here.  Trying to make the most of what's left!  I am missing you all at home though.  Can't wait to hug and smooch my family and plant a big, fat, wet one on my favorite boy.  I also really miss pizza, so have one ready for me! :). 

Katie Teacher Day

Today was another packed day of touring Busan.  I got to start my day with Katie at her school.  Teaching is so different here than in the states.  She has a different schedule each day and moves from classroom to classroom.  She typically teaches little babies that are 2-3 yrs old in America.  Here in Korea, you are 1 year old as soon as you're born.  Crazy, huh? Her class typically consisted of 8 little cuties that were WILD.

So cute you just wanna squeeze their cheeks!

This is her home room class.  She is with each class for 40 minutes.  Today they practiced drama play of The Three Little Pigs.  Their English is quite impressive considering their age.  Then it was snack time.  What was their snack you might ask?  Slabs of tofu with some soy sauce.  YUM...  She then had two breaks...so this added up to about 80 minutes of free time.  We went downstairs to a coffee shop and enjoyed coffee and a baked pretzel.  Can you teachers imagine doing that in the states?  

All the kids posing with Katie Teacher Friend

When we returned it was lunchtime and "Katie Teacher" served up their trays.   All of the students call her "Katie Teacher" so obviously my name was "Katie Teacher Friend".  How easy is that to put together?  Anyways...lunch was interesting and I had to try it.  Check it out.  

A standard lunch for the little ones.

Bottom left is soup, so basically water with some random veggies in it, bottom right is rice, top right is some type of pancake with meat and veggies in it, middle is fried squid? and radish kimchi, and the top left is cucumbers.  How appetizing is that?  

 Then we went back for her last two classes.  She sang some great songs during these times while the little Korean babes used their nice set of lungs to scream every word.  It sounded more like open mouthed yelling.  Wow!  What an experience.  So after that, we were done! Her work day was from 10-2:30.  However, students here spend the majority of their day at school. It is not uncommon for a student to be in school until 10 p.m.  They also don't have vacations like we do. It is education all the time! 

Katie's 2nd class singing songs.  So cute!

The most ornery one of them all!

The cutest! Her name is Daisy.  Parents typically
pick out an American name for their children.

After school we hopped straight on the metro and went to Gamcheon Cultural Village. This is a village where people actually live.  It was just unreal.  The sidewalks are so steep and skinny, and the doors to the homes are SO tiny.  There are mostly older villagers that live here too.  It was just a beautiful sight.  

There are so many pictures for this beautiful place so brace yourself.  I can't even explain its beauty!

Tiny sidewalks, tiny doors!

Look how tiny this door is!

Another beautiful view of the village.

A wall of recycled art. 

Pretty sidewalks walking throughout the village.

Sitting in the House of Peace.  These were just
walls of concrete.  Nothing exciting!

These fish were found throughout the village.  We could follow them to find our way so we didn't miss anything.

After we hiked through this adorable little village, Katie took me back to Nampo to the Jagalchi Fresh Fish Market.  This place was FRESH.  I pretty much gagged my way through the whole adventure.  These people will eat anything and everything from the ocean.  There was first a street we walked down the just had freshly killed seafood of anything you wanted slung on some wet boards.  GROSS!!! 

Jagalchi Fresh Fish Market -- EW!

Fresh octopus...eat up!  Katie said these are very popular to prepare and
chew on.  They are often found at baseball games instead of peanuts.

This looks so clean...sack me up a few of those.

A plate of seafood upchuck.  GROSS!!

I wouldn't even know hot to eat this.

How many times have you gagged?  There's more coming...she then took me inside to the live fish market.  This was everything about fresh.  I really don't know how this was sanitary.  There are just tanks upon tanks of live EVERYTHING.  Check out my video on Facebook.  Workers just wear their waders and wet coat and sling live fish around.  I watched who I thought was an innocent Korean lady straight knife off some fish heads.  SO GROSS!!!!

EVERYTHING IS ALIVE!!!  Except maybe that one floating.

These are called "penis fish".  I know, inappropriate, but the men
eat these for more testosterone...or so the theory goes.  So gross!!

This was just absolutely repulsive.  I didn't really like fish before, but now I really don't ever want to eat it.  VOMIT. 

Thankfully we soon left and walked around the little markets of Nampo some more.  Then we hiked up to the Busan Tower, but decided we didn't need to go up in it.  

Busan Tower

By this time, I could basically feel my ribs so I made Katie Teacher take me back to Busan and feed me.  She took me to Shabu Shabu.  This was another great Korean experience.  It reminds me of fondu a little bit.  They bring you a pot of broth that sets on an individual hot plate.  You get to choose beef or pork and cook the meat in the broth.  They bring plates of fresh vegetables and you wrap all of this goodness up into rice papers.  It was quite a treat!

Rolled me on the left, pot of broth and plates full of veggies.

One of my many masterpieces.

So that was our day today. It was packed full of goodness thanks to Katie Teacher. It is also about 98% humidity here so we both look and smell really fabulous now.