Today, we had a somewhat early start. We met in the lobby around 8:20 am and got on the bus to go to Camp Casey, a US military base in South Korea. The ride was about an hour, and I slept most of the way.
When we arrived, they had to double-check our passport numbers and make sure we weren’t anyone suspicious. I hadn’t realized how much security would be involved in getting into the base. We all got cleared and started our tour. Our tour guides were two former Pitt students!
We walked for about 20 minutes before we got to the first thing we saw, which was an NBCRV. This is a vehicle for detecting and identifying nuclear, biological, chemical, and radiological threats in the field. Seeing this in person was a really cool experience as it was something very few people outside the military get to do. We then moved on to the next part of our tour. We saw a “deconstructed” NBCRV, as one of the officers described it. It was essentially all the specialized equipment from inside the NBCRV, but laid out in two huge metal containers. These are typically transported using standard military vehicles. It was interesting to learn about how the gear can detect and analyze potentially harmful substances in the environment.
After learning about those two things, we took a stroll around more of the military base. It was really big, so we couldn’t see everything. We stopped to take a group photo in a cute little garden area. When we finished that, we headed toward the Impact Zone, where we had lunch. They served pizza, calzones, salad, and lots of other options. I can’t lie.. it was kind of nice to take a break from kimchi vegetables and rice!
After lunch, we headed back to the bus and drove to Mount Soyosan National Park. Mount Soyosan is known for its scenic hiking trails and historic Buddhist temples nestled in the forest. To be honest, I was a little hiked out from yesterday, but Dr. Yun said it would be short, so I decided to go for it.
The hike ended up being short and pretty easy. It led us to a beautiful waterfall and a quiet Buddhist temple. I loved this little area—it felt like a smaller version of the temple we visited the day before. We took another group photo and began the trek back down.
Once we finished the hike, we had a long bus ride back to the hotel. My friends Maddox, Riya, and I decided we wanted to get our nails done. We’d actually tried yesterday, but the place was fully booked. Today, we had Dr. Yun call ahead and thankfully they had three spots open for a 6:00 pm appointment! We got back to the hotel, rested for a bit, and walked over to the nail spa. The ladies did a great job!!
After that, we headed to Coex Mall. This mall was huge and had so many stores we wanted to explore. Unfortunately, we didn’t have tons of time, but we prioritized our favorites stores: H&M, Onitsuka Tiger, Zara, and Olive Young. After shopping, we grabbed dinner and went back to the hotel.
That was the entire day! I am really looking forward to tomorrow because we will be going to the DMZ and a baseball game. I’ll let you know how it is tomorrow!!