Day 6:

Today was the last day in Seoul, which bummed me out a bit, but at the same time today was one of the days I was looking forward to the most: going to the DMZ. Unfortunately, the JSA was not open, so we were unable to go to the houses on the border split over the Koreas, but we still got to go to the observatory with a great view of the DMZ. When we got there, we first went to the final train station before the border. This is also the place where you would be able to get trains to North Korea, If you are from a country whose citizens are allowed into the country. Next, we went to the Dora observatory, where we got to see this great view of the North Korean countryside:

After that we went to the 3rd tunnel, which is one of 4 tunnels that has been found by South Korea that go under the DMZ. It is very deep underground, and is only around 6 feet tall, so it was a bit frustrating for me to walk through since I am on the taller side. It was interesting to see this tunnel though because the North Koreans have denied that it is theirs, despite it coming from their direction, so it shows the true unsafety of this region, despite the agreed upon cease fire. After making it out of the tunnel we went to a museum across the road that had guns and other military items from the North found after the Korean War.

In the afternoon we got on a boat for a cruise along the Han river. Most of the group’s time was spent feeding the seagulls, but there were also great views of the financial district of the city, as well as live music. Afterwords, I finally got to try Korean barbecue. It was as good as advertised, despite being a bit different than the kind of barbecue I am used to. It was a great dinner and a fitting end to a wonderful week in Seoul. Tomorrow we travel to the ancient city of Gyeongju, which should be a completely different experience from Seoul!