Saturday, October 13, 2012

DMZ Tour - Korea

During my stay in Korea, DMZ tour was probably one of the best things I've done. For those who have absolutely no interest in war history and your only purpose in visiting Korea is shopping, then sadly this tour is not for you~~

I've researched extensively online on the agencies that provides the tour and after some comparison, I recommend http://www.koridoor.co.kr/

2 simple reasons:
- Price (They are the cheapest)
- They are affiliated to USO (United Service Organizations)

And of course, they did not disappoint as well.. It was $$ well spent~~

Be sure to sign up the DMZ/JSA & 3rd Tunnel TOUR. It costs USD 80 or KRW 96,000.
They have another DMZ Tour which costs USD 36 but does not include the JSA. I would not recommend that since I enjoyed JSA the most.









Officially on the "North" side~~



Was told not to be funny with the soldiers or else face the consequences~~



North Korean Soldiers on the "other" side



The Bridge of No Return - Where POWs made the choice of settling in the North or the South and their decision is final...



A tree which was blocking the view of the North from the South, which resulted in the "Axe Murder" was chopped down at this spot... The North retaliated instantly by having the 2 US soldiers killed. This is in memory of the 2 slain soldiers



Rice planted and harvested within the DMZ, by the villagers living in one of the 2 South Korean villages

We couldn't take pictures of the 3rd Tunnel which apparently some of the tourists could not understand or do not want to.. I decided to respect the rules and so, did not take any pictures..

It's not as scary as what the tour guide said it would be before we went down.. But the climb up was seriously taxing~~ For someone like me who dislike exercising and of cos do not exercise, I do not like to go down again~~ But I did manage to climb up alive.. You are warned thou~~

The rest of the area you get to see this:



The Propaganda Village

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We also went to the Dorasan Station which was a gateway to North Korea from South Korea. Of cos, that did not happen.. The station is still there thou..

Some pictures and details of the tour is omitted so that you can experience it yourself.. But all in all, I would definitely recommend DMZ tour as one of your "must do" list in Korea~~