A visit to the DMZ

One of the things that mom and I both agreed upon for our visit to South Korea is that we wanted to take a trip to the DMZ, the demilitarized zone along the border of North and South Korea. The only way that you can do that is to book a tour through one of the many companies that goes to pretty much the same stops. We ended up doing a full day joint to the DMZ and the JSA. One of the selling points of the company we used was that a North Korean defector spent the day with us and we could ask questions to gain a better understanding of what life there was like, why people try to get out, and what it takes to actually get out.

Our day started in the DMZ, with a trip down the third tunnel. Called this because it is the third tunnel that South Korea discovered. Discovered? Yes, North Korea had dug (at least) four tunnels under the entire buffer zone along the demarkation line that would allow them to come up well within the South Korean half. As you can imagine the discovery of these tunnels threw South Korea into an uproar. Today the third tunnel is more of a tourist attraction. We got on a "tram" (think seats like a low key rollercoaster) to go down and down. Then we were able to walk down to the first of three barriers that block the demarkation line, and peer through a small window to the second barrier. While an attack from North Korea does not seem likely to come this way anymore, there is still plenty of defence of this possible point of entry.

Our next stop was at Dorasan Observatory where it is just possible to see the electric poles that designate you are looking at North Korea. At times repetitive music would drift in the air, propaganda being played from "propaganda village" across the border. Frankly, we didn't have a clear enough view to make this all that interesting of a stop.

View into North Korea from Dorasan Observatory

We then stopped at Dorasan Station, which is a fully functioning train station ready and waiting for when the border opens up. They claim they are not the last station in the South but the first station to the North. Kind of crazy to imagine how much money has gone into building rail lines and stations for a path that is not allowed to be travelled.

The highlight of the day though had to be a visit to Panmunjom, the site of the Joint Security Area (JSA) along the border. There we were instructed to leave everything except for a camera behind and were joined by an armed guard to visit the famous blue conference room. In the JSA, the demarkation line separating North and South Korea is a clear concrete divide. Guards from South Korea stood partially shielded behind buildings eyes firmly fixed on the North.  

We were given about ten minutes in the conference room where the armistice was signed. Yes, technically, I crossed over to North Korea on that day. We were well warned not to attempt to exit the door on the far side of the building, however pictures were encouraged! So of course we had to take a few. Proof that we were actually in North Korea....by about 5 feet.

We used Panmunjom Tour Company and were pleased with our day.

Walking Seoul's Wall

 

When I get to a new city I like to walk, and walk, and walk. Being on my feet gives me a chance to get a feel for the place and as I like to spend as much time outside as possible is a natural choice for one of my first days of a visit. For Spring Break this year my mom and I travelled to Seoul, South Korea and realised we had an extraordinary choice for where to walk - alongside part of the old city walls that ringed the original city. There are actually five different sections of the city wall that have marked paths along or near them, as well as 4 main gates to check out and 4 smaller gates. 

     

We ended up choosing one of the more gentle sections to walk, the Naksan Mountain Trail which starts at Hyehwamun Gate and goes until Heunginjimun Gate. Coming in at a little over 2 kilometres it is a fairly short walk (although perhaps for uphill then we had anticipated). We were able to walk along the old walls (partially renovated, although you could still see the three different types of stone blocks used from different time periods) almost the entire way. There were several places to stop for views of the bustling busy city of Seoul. 

        

However I think my favourite part had to be the imposing giant city gates. Often set in the middle of a circle amongst busy city streets, they had amazing paintings on the underside of each gate. It definitely paid to look up! I saw dragons, phoenix, turtles, and deer along with some other creatures that seemed to be a cross of some mythological being and an animal. These vibrant colours and well preserved images were well worth a stop to check out.

In fact, we enjoyed walking the walls of Seoul so much that later in our trip we decided to head out to the town of Suwon, where we could actually walk the entire loop around their town walls. These walls were in remarkably good shape, and we were able to walk along the top of several sections. Technically these walls are part of Hwaseong Fortress, dating back to the Joseon Dynasty. The walls stretch over five and a half kilometres in total length.

 

It was interesting to see the difference in the walls from the interior and the exterior. We realised fairly early on that we were walking the inner trail of the walls. This makes the walls seem not quite as impressive as they actually are - as there is a raised dirt mound on the inside, allowing for defenders to reach the arrow slits and canon points of the walls. When I wandered outside one of the gates and looked back at the walls I realised that the walls were at least twice as tall as we had been experiencing. Quite an engineering feat back in the 1600s. I have to admit that I think walking the walls in and around Seoul was one of my favourite things about the city.

Manila American Cemetery

Over the Memorial Day weekend I decided that it was finally time for me to go visit the Manila American Cemetery. After all, I can see it from my bedroom window, but had never gone. Unfortunately for me I had forgotten that it was Memorial Day weekend, and so I headed over for the normal opening time of 9 am. If I had been an hour earlier I would have been able to attend the memorial service that is held every year. Oh well. I still stopped to admire the wreaths that are donated by different organisations, one of which is always the school I work out. Since we were originally founded as the American School, it seems fitting that we play a role in this day.

The cemetery has to be the most peaceful location within walking distance of my apartment. Covering 15 acres, the cemetery is an oasis of green set up in a circular design. At the heart is a memorial hall, two curved open areas contain walls engraved with the names of over 36,000 Americans and Filipinos, the Tablets of the Missing,  who died in the region during World War II but whose bodies were never recovered. 

    

The green rolling grounds hold another 17,184 headstone, commemorating more of those lives lost during the war. It has a hug impact to see cross after cross, with a few stars intermixed, stretching out across the hill. At the same time the symmetry of the lines and curves is eye catching. This weekend there was an American and a Filipino flag in front of each headstone. Decorations that were put out by volunteers the previous day. 

May's Museum: MO_Space

By the time May rolled around I wasn't really up for much of a outing to a museum. Instead I decided to stick closer to home, in fact within walking distance of my apartment. On the top floor of a furniture store there is a small two room gallery that has a rotating set of exhibits. MO_Space is an artist run gallery. Dedicated to showcasing work from Filipino contemporary artists the exhibits can be quite a contrast.

This month the two rooms were set up as two different exhibits. I quite enjoyed the brightly coloured paintings on the wall and the floor in Patrick Cruz's people without property. Each time I went back to look I noticed more details (many of which reminded me of Native American legends). It was eye-catching and vibrant.

The second room was a compilation of work by different artists along the theme of visionary. There was a lot more variety in these works, some of which I struggled to find the connection to (not the ones pictured about, these were two of the three with a religious theme). However it pushed me to consider what it means to be visionary.

MO_Space

Bonifacio High Street, BGC

11am - 8pm

Free entry through Mo Design Store