N Seoul Tower

For Judi's last night in Korea, we headed up to N Seoul Tower for some beautiful panoramic views of the city.  N Seoul Tower was established as Korea's first total electric wave tower to send TV and radio broadcasts in the Seoul metropolitan area in 1969.  Over 48% of Korea watch and listen to broadcasts that come through this tower.  It was opened to the public as a tourist attraction in 1980.

They even had a lightshow in the elevator lobby while you waited for the elevator to take you to the top.

This city seems to go on forever!

Growing Too Fast

I was cleaning up the kitchen today when I looked over and saw this:

This baby is getting so strong!

DMZ Tour

Our last tour took us to Imjingak Park, across Unification Bridge to the DMZ, down Third Tunnel, to Dorasan Station, and back to Itaewon.

Imjingak Park: Located on the banks of the Imjin River in Paju, the park has many statues and monuments related to the Korean War.  The park was built to console those from both North and South Korea who are unabe to return to their hometowns, friends, and families because of the division of the country.                                

This is Jenny, our tourguide from yesterday.

She was a guide for some Japanese tourists today, but spent more time with Grace and Tristan than she did with her customers!

The Bell of Peace

Soldiers standing on either side of the bridge.

"Freedom Bridge

Opening up breaking the 50 year barrier

2000 1 1"

Freedom Bridge

This bridge crosses the Imjin river and is a former railroad bridge that was used by repatriated POWs and soldiers returning from the north.  Until 1998, it was the only point of egress in the western sector (other than Liberty Bridge) onto the DMZ, and the only direct link to Panmunjom. 

This train was once used to carry supplies to North Korea until a counterattack from the Chinese caused the allied forces to blow it up.

A memorial to those family members in the North who will never be seen again by their families in the South.

The Demilitarized Zone and the Third Tunnel: The DMZ is a strip of land 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) wide that serves as a buffer zone between North and South Korea.  It runs across the 38th parallel and is the most heavily militarized border in the world.

At the entrance to the Third Tunnel.

Unfortunately pictures are forbidden inside the tunnel so this is as good as it gets!

We all had to wear hard hats as the top of the tunnel was quite low in some areas - we all (the adults, that is) has to walk hunched over a good bit of the time so we wouldn't hit our heads.

The Third Tunnel of Aggression is a tunnel under the border between North and South Korea extending south of Panmunjon.  It was the third tunnel to be discovered running under the border between the two Koreas.  It was discovered in October 1978 based on information provided by a defector.  It is just over a mile long and 6.6 feet high and wide - large enough to accommodate 30,000 soldiers per hour, and was apparently designed for a surprise attack on Seoul as it is only 27 miles from it.  Initially North Korea denied building the tunnel, but the drill marks for the dynamite to blast the tunnel pointed towards South Korea and the tunnel is inclined so that the water drains back towards the northern side of the DMZ.  North Korea then officially said it was part of a coal mine.  They even went so far as to paint the walls black to back up their statement.  Studies have proven that there is no geological likelihood of coal being in the area, as the stone is granite.

Dorasan Observatory:  This is the northernmost observation point of South Korea.  There are binoculars set up where you can look over into North Korea at their propaganda village.  The most interesting thing is the incredible difference in the landscape of the North versus the South.  South Korea is lush and green, while North Korea has deforested ALL of their land so all that is left is bare dirt. Again, no pictures allowed past a certain point, and I didn't have my telephoto lens on, so I've got nothing to show other than the building below. 

Dorasan Station: The northernmost train station in South Korea, located just 30 meters from the Southern Limit Line barbedwire fence.  This station was built in hopes of and anticipation of unification between the two Koreas.  If that does happen, it will be the starting point of the transcontinental railroad - connecting the Trans-Korea, Trans-Siberia, and Trans-China railroads.  Right now it is just used as a tourist venue.

Itaewon:  A shopping district located just outside of Yongsan Garrison.  Full of shops and restaurants offering a wide variety of goods and all different types of cuisine.  When I lived here when I was little, I would always say, "Yoboseo, Itaewon!"  Which simply means "Hi!"  I have no idea why I did such a thing, but there's no explainin' why a 4 or 5 year old does the things they do, is there?

Another Korea odditiy - a doghouse on a scooter!

David thought he needed this suit.

Don't ask me about the fingers - Koreans do it whenever they have their picture taken, and I have no idea why.

A peek at some of the vendors and merchandise.

We had a fabulous weekend, and now I'm ready to go home and rest!  It was certainly a go, go, go kind of weekend.

But before I sign off of this post, I have to give Judi a little grief here: She said that she didn't care what we did, she just wanted to see some of Korea. She had also been telling us that she needed to get out and do some walking for exercise while she was here because she had been doing that at home. So, we took her out to sightsee. But we neglected to tell her that most of Korea was on the side of a mountain... She was pretty certain we were trying to kill her when we were done with all of our sightseeing - especially coming up out of the tunnel at the DMZ - heck, I was pretty certain I might keel over!

Ch'angdokkung Palace

Today was a day full of palaces and shopping!  First stop Ch'angdokkung Palace.

Ch'angdokkung Palace was constructed as a detached palace in 1405, the 5th year of King T'aejon of the Choson Dynasty.  With its unique palatial layout, its exquisite buildings, and the landscaping of its rear garden, it is known as the epitome of Korean architecture.

The throne room

One of the original buildings

Some of the gates and doorways were just neat.

The building on the right was built for the king's mother.

Interesting wall

All of the different colors and textures intrigued me

Next stop on our tour was the amethyst store!

I'm not a huge jewelry person, but I couldn't resist these beautiful purple rocks, so I talked David into buying me a ring. :)

Then we went to a shopping district (i.e. high-priced tourist trap) called Insadong.  There was a street festival going on as well.

Serving tea.

I'm not sure what this woman was doing, but she stood there for a really, really long time with her hands above her head listing to music coming frrom her little hand-held radio.  The only time she even opened her eyes was when some jerk came and intentionally bumped into her.

This young lady gave Grace a bracelet which symbolized Jesus' life, so Grace was able to share her testimony with her.

This man was making beautiful music on a wooden flute that he had made.  So we bought one...

Now to relearn how to play and teach the kids!