The DMZ!

Wow! Can I say that again? Wow! What an incredible trip and experience this was! I had the most amazing time, and mad props to the USO for putting together such a great tour! We visited Camp Boniface, the JSA (Joint Security Area), The Dora Observatory, the 3rd Infiltration Tunnel, and of course the DMZ (demilitarized zone). It was about an hour and 15 minute bus ride from Seoul, which is nice to know, so, in case of invasion from the North, I have a little over an hour to get the heck out of the city! But anyways, there was super tight security getting in, and a ton of soldiers, both ROK (Republic of Korea), and American forces. We were met by our DMZ official tour guide, a Sgt. Bisnett (who was from Bisbee AZ--small world, huh?), at the gate, and he escorted us to Ballinger Hall inside Camp Boniface, for a 15 minute briefing on the history and current status of the DMZ, given by our other guide, another Sgt. (He wasn't as cute, so I forgot his name!) After the briefing, we piled onto buses provided by the military, and drove up to the actual DMZ and the JSA. As we drove, we were not allowed to take pictures, which sucked because we passed anti-tank walls, mine fields, and lots of soldiers with guns and other fun stuff! But then we got up to the JSA, and things became even more surreal. There were ROK soldiers everywhere, and they were all armed to the teeth, and wore these crazy dark aviator glasses, and many of them stood in the Tae Kwon Do first readiness postion. They looked fierce! We were told this was the intention, as they were constantly being observed by the NK soldiers, and therefore put on the most intimidating postures possible! I laughed at first, but then realized that this actually made sense, and in a situation as serious as this one, it was probably very neccessary. As we walked out of the main JSA building, we stood on the stairs of the building, and looked across at the Northern side. From here, we could see a single NK soldier standing on the top of the stairs for the reciprocal NK building to the one we were standing on. We were also told that in the darkened window to the left of the soldier, there was another NK soldier fully armed and wathcing us with binoculars. Can I just say that this was a totally cool feeling to know that someone was scoping us with 'nocs? Kind of gave ya crazy goosebumps. Anyhow, the JSA included several blue shack-type buildings, which had been hastily built when the Armistice talks began. These buildings rested on the actual border line between the North and the South, being half in one, and half in the other. Between the buildings, the line was shown with concrete slabs. Inside the buildings, a table rested in the middle, with speakers for the translators, and a small flag indicating the exact border line. Inside the building that we entered, there were two ROK soldiers, both in a readiness position, and at full alert. They did not move, nor seem to shift their gaze. We were told not to touch them or attempt to walk behind them. They were both black belts in Tae Kwon Do, and their force was the most intelligent of all the soldiers in the ROK army...basically, they were the best of the best. They were incredibly impressive.

So, after we left the JSA, we took the military buses up towards the actual DMZ and border line. From here, we were surrounded by Communist North Korea on three sides, because the DMZ curves and is not straight. It was amazing. There was a watch tower that NK soldiers were watching us from and you could see all kinds of military buildings. We also had a nice view of "Propaganda Village." This is a small city on the NK side of the border, that was dubbed "Propaganda Village" because they used to play Kim Jong Il propoganda 12 to 16 hours a day over loud speakers. The tour guide told us that they used to be able to hear it at night at camp Boniface, and Johnny told me that when he was stationed here a few years ago, and took the tour, he heard it as well. Crazy, huh?

After this, we went to the Dora Observatory, where we could look through scopes and see approximately 17 kilometers into NK. I was so excited, because not only did I get to see actual NK soldiers, armed and moving about their gaurd post, looking back at me through binnoculars, I saw some dude riding a bike...it was just so random, and normal, ya know?

Lastly we visited the 3rd Infiltration Tunnel. I'm not going to go into its history too much, as you would learn more to look it up yourself, but the short of it is that South Korea found the tunnels after a series of drilling searches, just as the North Koreans was past the actual border, in South Korea. We walked down a half mile, 80 (I may be exaggerating a little, but it was hello-steep) degree angled ramp, hunched over for another long strech, and finally came to a creepy little cement door, right at the the border. We could see the the holes where the drills had gone, and the blast marks from the dynamite. It was crazy, but totally cool! Anyhow, I then had to walk back up that fricking ramp, proceeded to almost have a heart attack, then sat in the fresh air for a while, listening to Sly and the Family Stone. It was a fantastic trip. Here are the pictures. I hope you enjoy!