Kamsahamnida! -- part two
Our second day in Seoul Cory and I decided that hey, we were in Korea so we should go to the DMZ. Our tour bus picked us up at 8 and off we went.
I've heard it said that a lot of parts of Korea are similar to America, but something is just not quite right. The first stop on our tour definitely fell into that category. We were at Freedom Bridge right on the border of the DMZ where POWs from the Korean War were allowed to go north if they so chose. There were monuments and statues and remembrances of the war and..... an amusement park. It's somewhat analogous to a local carnival setting up permanent residence near the Vietnam Memorial. There was also a fairly intrepid dog who kept crossing under the fence -- he obviously knew not his peril! If I were to cross under that fence it would spark some sort of international incident, no doubt. Must be nice to be a dog and have free reign of the place!
Our next stop was the Dora train station. On the way there our guide told us about how farmers near the DMZ are not allowed to use any chemicals in their farming (which makes sense) so everything they grow is organic and very tasty and they're some of the richest farmers in the nation. Well, in our second instance of Something Is Not Quite Right that day, there were bags and bags of this rice on display in the station.
DMZ Natural Good Rice
This was by far my favorite -- I love the juxtaposition of "natural good" and the barbed wire. Classic. I really wanted to bring a bag of the rice home with me, but I wouldn't have been able to take it through customs. Cory bought a bag though.
There was also a sign for trains departing to Pyongyang, and oh, I wanted a picture of Cory and I under that sign so badly, but it didn't work out. Alas.
Catch a train to Pyongyang!
It was very bizarre to see that sign after studying so much of the current situation there from a military perspective. We hear so much about how North Korea is such a closed society that it's hard to imagine being able to freely go up to the capitol like that. Not that I would be able to do such a thing, but it's good to see such progress being made, so long as it is used for good and not for evil.
Our next stop was the third infiltration tunnel (no pictures allowed, sadly). Yes, it's what it sounds like -- a tunnel built under the DMZ by the North Koreans to move troops surreptitiously in an invasion. It was discovered about 50km from Seoul, and after hearing about how many troops could be moved through it I have to wonder why people aren't terrified to live in Seoul. The great thing about the tunnel is that when it was discovered by the South Koreans and accusations were made to the North Korean government, they tried to cover by saying that it was a coal mine. Well, the rock is black so perhaps that story is plausible -- until you realize that the rock is painted black and the coal concentration in the surrounding granite is about 0.002%. Silly North Koreans. I thought it was a great commentary about the differences in the North and South Korean societies -- the North is so much more closed and its citizenry would be far less likely to question such a statement.
We also took in a short film about the DMZ at the tunnel site, which was one that thoroughly confused me. I can understand that the division between North and South and the DMZ can be viewed as a source of national shame, but they really tried to put this "The DMZ is where our children can frolic with bunnies and other fluffy creatures in the future" face on it.
A silly, fanciful side of me had been hoping that there would be soldiers stationed about the place that would be similar to the guards at Buckingham Palace where you could mess with them and they would have no reaction whatsoever. The closest I got was with a caricature-ish statue outside the DMZ theater:
Chillin' with a caricature
Next stop: Dora Observatory. From there you're supposed to have a great view of North Korea, including the Propaganda Village (that weirdly enough is starting to be inhabited by real people), but the day was very foggy so we couldn't see much other than a few guard towers.
This was our last stop, so after a lengthy drive back to Seoul, we got dropped off at the hotel, upgraded to a VERY posh suite, grabbed some food, and agreed that a nap would be a good way to combat my "waking up at two in the morning and conking out by seven at night" jet lag symptoms. After waking up I decide that it's definitely bogus that I have been in Korea for two days and have yet to have an authentic Korean meal. While waiting for a taxi, we get a recommendation for a beef-on-a-leaf place nearby.
I really wish we had had the camera on us, because this place was great. It was one of those tiny Korean storefronts that had about five or six tables in it and no English anywhere to be seen. Since "kamsamida" is the extent of my Korean language skills and Cory had been in the country for almost four months, I told him that I was going to let him do all the talking. So we take our seats at a table, which had a hole in the middle of it that a very, very hot stone was lowered into and a grilling grate was placed over. Cory then begins to order in what is probably the best way in a country that you don't know the language of which consists of pointing at food that's been served at nearby tables (I'm a fan of this method because it doesn't make you look like some jerky tourist who expects everyone else to know your language even though you are in their country).
A few minutes later a generous-sized piece of pork, kimchee, a delicious soup of unknown ingredients, a small dish of what appeared to be a cross between grass and green onions in a thin red pepper sauce, garlic, and daikon radish. Also served was a large basket of huge lettuce leaves. The idea is that you put the meat, garlic, and radish on the grill and when they're done, put the meat on one of the lettuce leaves with whatever else you would like to garnish it, roll it up, and eat. Delicious. At the end of the meal I felt very wholesomely fed -- everything that had been served was either vegetable or fresh meat and extremely flavorful. Bonus surprise: the garlic there is to die for. It's got some of the same spiciness that our garlic has but it's also slightly sweet and much more flavorful. I think I could sit there all day and eat the garlic by the clove.
Happily fed, we leave and walk out of the restaurant and head back to the hotel, ruminating on life in Korea in general and Seoul in specific. Once back, we make another attempt on Wallace & Gromit but only make slightly better progress through the movie than last night before I'm exhausted again. We retire, and thus end another excellent day.
I've heard it said that a lot of parts of Korea are similar to America, but something is just not quite right. The first stop on our tour definitely fell into that category. We were at Freedom Bridge right on the border of the DMZ where POWs from the Korean War were allowed to go north if they so chose. There were monuments and statues and remembrances of the war and..... an amusement park. It's somewhat analogous to a local carnival setting up permanent residence near the Vietnam Memorial. There was also a fairly intrepid dog who kept crossing under the fence -- he obviously knew not his peril! If I were to cross under that fence it would spark some sort of international incident, no doubt. Must be nice to be a dog and have free reign of the place!
Our next stop was the Dora train station. On the way there our guide told us about how farmers near the DMZ are not allowed to use any chemicals in their farming (which makes sense) so everything they grow is organic and very tasty and they're some of the richest farmers in the nation. Well, in our second instance of Something Is Not Quite Right that day, there were bags and bags of this rice on display in the station.
DMZ Natural Good Rice
This was by far my favorite -- I love the juxtaposition of "natural good" and the barbed wire. Classic. I really wanted to bring a bag of the rice home with me, but I wouldn't have been able to take it through customs. Cory bought a bag though.
There was also a sign for trains departing to Pyongyang, and oh, I wanted a picture of Cory and I under that sign so badly, but it didn't work out. Alas.
Catch a train to Pyongyang!
It was very bizarre to see that sign after studying so much of the current situation there from a military perspective. We hear so much about how North Korea is such a closed society that it's hard to imagine being able to freely go up to the capitol like that. Not that I would be able to do such a thing, but it's good to see such progress being made, so long as it is used for good and not for evil.
Our next stop was the third infiltration tunnel (no pictures allowed, sadly). Yes, it's what it sounds like -- a tunnel built under the DMZ by the North Koreans to move troops surreptitiously in an invasion. It was discovered about 50km from Seoul, and after hearing about how many troops could be moved through it I have to wonder why people aren't terrified to live in Seoul. The great thing about the tunnel is that when it was discovered by the South Koreans and accusations were made to the North Korean government, they tried to cover by saying that it was a coal mine. Well, the rock is black so perhaps that story is plausible -- until you realize that the rock is painted black and the coal concentration in the surrounding granite is about 0.002%. Silly North Koreans. I thought it was a great commentary about the differences in the North and South Korean societies -- the North is so much more closed and its citizenry would be far less likely to question such a statement.
We also took in a short film about the DMZ at the tunnel site, which was one that thoroughly confused me. I can understand that the division between North and South and the DMZ can be viewed as a source of national shame, but they really tried to put this "The DMZ is where our children can frolic with bunnies and other fluffy creatures in the future" face on it.
A silly, fanciful side of me had been hoping that there would be soldiers stationed about the place that would be similar to the guards at Buckingham Palace where you could mess with them and they would have no reaction whatsoever. The closest I got was with a caricature-ish statue outside the DMZ theater:
Chillin' with a caricature
Next stop: Dora Observatory. From there you're supposed to have a great view of North Korea, including the Propaganda Village (that weirdly enough is starting to be inhabited by real people), but the day was very foggy so we couldn't see much other than a few guard towers.
This was our last stop, so after a lengthy drive back to Seoul, we got dropped off at the hotel, upgraded to a VERY posh suite, grabbed some food, and agreed that a nap would be a good way to combat my "waking up at two in the morning and conking out by seven at night" jet lag symptoms. After waking up I decide that it's definitely bogus that I have been in Korea for two days and have yet to have an authentic Korean meal. While waiting for a taxi, we get a recommendation for a beef-on-a-leaf place nearby.
I really wish we had had the camera on us, because this place was great. It was one of those tiny Korean storefronts that had about five or six tables in it and no English anywhere to be seen. Since "kamsamida" is the extent of my Korean language skills and Cory had been in the country for almost four months, I told him that I was going to let him do all the talking. So we take our seats at a table, which had a hole in the middle of it that a very, very hot stone was lowered into and a grilling grate was placed over. Cory then begins to order in what is probably the best way in a country that you don't know the language of which consists of pointing at food that's been served at nearby tables (I'm a fan of this method because it doesn't make you look like some jerky tourist who expects everyone else to know your language even though you are in their country).
A few minutes later a generous-sized piece of pork, kimchee, a delicious soup of unknown ingredients, a small dish of what appeared to be a cross between grass and green onions in a thin red pepper sauce, garlic, and daikon radish. Also served was a large basket of huge lettuce leaves. The idea is that you put the meat, garlic, and radish on the grill and when they're done, put the meat on one of the lettuce leaves with whatever else you would like to garnish it, roll it up, and eat. Delicious. At the end of the meal I felt very wholesomely fed -- everything that had been served was either vegetable or fresh meat and extremely flavorful. Bonus surprise: the garlic there is to die for. It's got some of the same spiciness that our garlic has but it's also slightly sweet and much more flavorful. I think I could sit there all day and eat the garlic by the clove.
Happily fed, we leave and walk out of the restaurant and head back to the hotel, ruminating on life in Korea in general and Seoul in specific. Once back, we make another attempt on Wallace & Gromit but only make slightly better progress through the movie than last night before I'm exhausted again. We retire, and thus end another excellent day.