On the road at 7am for our DMZ visit. As we get closer we start to see rows of barbed wire and watch towers, first one strand then two then three strands of wire surrounding the watch towers close together along the river banks.

We get to the ticketing plaza where our guide runs in to secure our slot and manages to get us an early bus that uses the monorail to get into the tunnel. Our passports are checked 3 times to gain entry into the Korean military land bordering the DMZ

The DMZ is a 2-4km strip of land founded in 1953 and undisturbed by humans for 70 years. A ceasefire exists, but no peace agreement but reunification is what the south hopes for. Our guide (and other literature we encounter) seems to believe that this will happen.

Four tunnels so far have been discovered all in the 70’s coming from North Korea to South Korea since the ceasefire. We don our hard hats and board our monorail for the journey down the narrow passageway to the original North Korean tunnel. The tunnel is very tight and it’s a good thing we are wearing hardhats as we bang our heads several times on the low ceiling.

We actually get to within 170 meters of the DMZ via the tunnel. It is currently not possible for tourists to get to North Korea and the current president has ratched up tensions by firing missiles into the south china sea on a daily basis. The DMZ is the most militarized border in the world creating a 250km separation between North and South Korea.

We drive to Dora Observatory where we can see North Korea in the distance. In the foreground bordering the DMZ, farming is ongoing. Through the binoculars we can see a watchtower flying a North Korean flag.

The DMZ area itself is forested and full of wild life and is a sanctuary for nature. At the reunification market we try jangbean soyabean ice cream an interesting grain taste to it.

We go to Heyri for a farewell lunch great pizza and pasta. Back into Soeul for a visit to the War Memorial Hall of Korea. There we see rows and rows of names of those killed in battle during the Korean War from 1950-1953. Many nations participated and many Americans in particular died

The War Memorial shows us the history of the Korean War with exhibits, movies and artifacts (planes, tanks, boats, etc). We are struck by how badly out manned the South Koreans were by this surprise attack. China and Russia were aiding North Korea and the UN forces (mostly USA) were aiding South Korea which resulted in over 3 million deaths in 3 years in South Korea.