Seoul Day 2 | An Afternoon Spent Touring the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ)

Another photo story treat for you all! This will be about my second day in Seoul, 

and my once-in-a-lifetime trip to North Korea (for a few minutes).

We had two tour buses pick us up in the morning. This is a photo of the restaurant we went to for lunch - included in the tour package deal. Yes, very commercial, indeed.

I fell asleep on the bus ride, and was in and out of consciousness as the tour guide explained all sorts of rich and interesting historical facts about Korean history.

After lunch, we went through several check points before being allowed to pass to the next station.

Overlooking North Korea. I climbed a million steps to get to this point and take the next few photos!

Fellow ETAs surveying the land

Our buses waiting for us downstairs

We finally arrive. There were many points where we couldn't take photos. They had designated times when we could whip out our cameras, so cherish these images, folks! I worked hard to get them.

Young American soldier stationed in South Korea. We asked them how they came to be in Korea and they shared some interesting stories - something to the effect of: ...I was just going about my business, when I was called into my boss's office, and the next day I found myself in Korea!

South Korean soldier facing the North Korean side. The soldiers looked so tense. I was curious whether or not they kept this posture all day and all night long. Later, we were told that they only go out and stand like this when there are other people around touring, like us. Whew!

North Korean soldier checking us out using binoculars. Because of the aforementioned No Photos Allowed rule, we were all unsure of whether or not we could take photos upon arriving at this point. One of the American soldiers said: Oh, go ahead. Take all the photos you want. After all, they're taking all sorts of photos of you right now."

American Soldier: See those cameras over there? Yeah, they're taking photos of all of you right now.

I could see more than three South Korean soldiers facing the North side, but only one North Korean soldier facing us.
I wonder where the other ones are hiding...

American soldiers wandering back and forth as we took photos and went inside one of the blue rooms

I thought the soldiers were old, but they are actually young - some are as young as my youngest sister, 19 years old!

North Korean soldier in full view - unusual, since he had been hiding (sort of) from behind the posts earlier.

ETAs emerging from one of the blue buildings. Blue buildings are South Korea's buildings.

Inside the blue building. We couldn't touched anything, but we could take pictures next to the soldiers.

They stood very very still. I wondered how they learn to tolerate tourists like us...

After the visit to the blue building, we went to a souvenir shop bearing all sorts of military stuff.

Also, some non-military stuff. 

What an incredible day.

While I was out during the bus rides going to and from the DMZ, I was wide awake at the actual site itself. This experience has put all the talks about the North Korean Defector program into a whole deeper context. 

My interest in borders and border crossings, as well as what happens to certain bodies as they cross these borders allowed me to see the things I was witnessing under a slightly different light. There's a lot going on here. I just have to learn how to unpack and make sense of each of them.

MY QUESTIONS FOR YOU

Would you have gone to the DMZ for a visit? Would you buy anything from the souvenir shop Why/why not? Share your thoughts in the comment box below.