DAY 2: DMZ and JSA tour

First official day of our trip was a trip to the Northern most border, the Demilitarised Zone:) Learning a little about World War II and the Korean War, I was quite excited about this trip:) We booked tour at Seoul City Tour website: http://www.seoulcitytour.net/English/eng_menu_02_02.html

Our tour itinerary (Direct copy from their website): 

• Tour Name: DMZ TOUR 3 
• DMZ(The 3rd Infiltration Tunnel Tour) & JSA(Panmunjeom) Tour
• Time Required:08:00~17:00
• Fee: KRW 135,000p/p - KRW125,000p/p (This price is special price for online reservation ONLY)
• Course: Hotel - Imjingak Park - Freedom Bridge - The 3rd infiltration Tunnel - DMZ Theater / Exhibition Hall - Dora observatory - Dorasan Station - Unification Village (Pass by) - Lunch - ID Check point - Camp Bonifas (Slide show and Briefing) - JSA Tour (Freedom House, Conference room, Bridge of No Return, Ax Murder Incident Area) - Drop off at Lotte Hotel (Sogongdong)

At many of the places, photos were not allowed or restricted to a certain angle only. Hence, to be safe, I  did not take many photos! They were really strict, did not want to risk my life hahaha!

This was taken at the entrance of the 3rd Infiltration Tunnel, one of many tunnels built by the North to Seoul with the aim of infiltrating the city centre through underground passage because the 38th parallel is heavily protected.

The tunnel was very deep and small. Walking through it, I experienced what it would be like to be a North Korean soldier if they had used this passage. We had to wear helmets because it was so low! Poor junwei had to bend down throughout!!

Photo zone! Before the tunnel, we watched a short film, which I felt was mainly propaganda, with hopes of reunification of Korea etc etc. However, it gave us an overview of the existing threat that North Korea pose. With 3 secret tunnels already found, we do not know how many more undiscovered tunnels there are...

At Dora observatory deck:) What a cute name for such a solemn  place though...

We could see North Korea in close proximity from this observatory!!

Dorasan Station has a train that links from South Korea to North Korea capital! I am very surprised that it was still in operation, though it looked like a ghost town to us, without a single sole in it. We asked the tour guide jokingly if we could get a ticket to the North, but it seems like not every one can take this train!

A lunch that was better than expected!! Beef stew:)

Next, we changed bus and tour guide to continue our JSA tour:) At a checkpoint, a soldier came onboard the bus to check if our identity matched our passport. Without a passport, we were not allowed to enter, it was THAT strict.

Before heading to the Joint Security Area (JSA), we were led to Camp Bonifas where we were briefed abut the do's-and-don'ts. Well, I dozed off through it so I wasn't very sure hahhaa! We had to sign an indemnity form as well! Creeps

At the JSA, we had to queue up and walk in perfectly two straight lines, even for photographs. entering the 'blue houses' which were actual conference rooms used, we could only take photos at a certain angle! We could take photos with these South Korean soldiers. They look aggressive but their role was to protect us civilians:) I was so scared to even step near!

Behind the blue buildings was North Korea territory! We were that close to the North! We could see one North Korean soldier on guard too. We could only take photos facing this direction and not the back (which was south Korea's side). According to speculations, junwei said because the government wants to depict that we (the world) are watching the North with our cameras only pointing in their direction. Interesting!

Then, we continued to the Bridge of no return and the murder site of one of the south korean soldiers and also passing by the Unification village, where civilians were given incentives such as no need to serve army and tax rebates just to live there.

Photo with the American soldiers that guided us!