DMZ and Baseball
Today started relatively late at 930 and our first stop was to a small restaurant before the DMZ where we had some solider stew. This a recipe from the Korean war where food was scavenged from camps of other countries’ soldiers left and seasonal vegetables. The strew we had included hot dog, spam, crown daisy, green onion, and chili pepper and honestly it was one of the best meals of the trip I loved it.
We headed out to the Korean DMZ. The dmz was created in 1953 to foster peace between north and south Korea following the end of the 3 year and 1 month long Korean War that halved the peninsula. Littered with Mines that constantly move with the rain the DMZ is a very unique place and atmosphere to Korea today as well as its history. The first stop on our tour was the 3rd tunnel, one of four tunnels dug by North Korean soldiers in an attempt to invade South Korea. Discovered in 1978 this 1.7km long tunnel runs 435m into South Korean territory and has the beginning 265m open to tourists. Descending 400m below the surface down a steep hill you can explore this tunnel and even drink some water from a fountain that comes from North Korea. We then moved on to the observatory where we would normally be able to see North Korea if not for the foggy weather today. We then were able to briefly stop in Unification village (Paju) which is populated by old retired soldiers and their descendants to encourage peace between the countries. There the residents need special permission to leave and relocate due to their extensive knowledge of the South Korean military and its boarder operations. Paju is the farthest north residential area in South Korea.
Our next stop was the baseball game of Kwoom, Seoul’s team, and Lions, Busan’s team. The match was truly riveting with Kwoom looking to win in the first half, going into an overtime tie and then losing tragically in the second half. It was very unique because in South Korea baseball games have cheerleaders and MCs to the game to help hype up the crowd during it, and each player has their own theme song along with dance as well as some moves having their own song and dance as well. Overall compared to American baseball games the crowd was a lot more involved and interacting throughout the whole game. I also attempted the 9 for 9 challenge, where you attempt to eat 9 hot dogs in 9 innings, however I was only able to make it to 5 which I still consider a pretty substantial win.
At the end of the game at around 10 we headed straight back to the hotel tired and sweaty from the hot day. I immediately fell asleep after a very nice shower.
Signing off until next time.