Asia Trip 2023 Day 9 - History Lesson
Today marks our last tour of this trip and it's the one we were both most excited for. After getting room service a little after 6 AM (a bread basket with orange juice and coffee) we met our tour guide Tiger in the lobby to start an 8+ hour tour to the DMZ.
We arrived an hour later at the Imjingak Peace Park where Tiger went to go get us tickets for the 11 AM shuttle while we were given an hour to explore the park on our own. We went to the small amusement park which wasn’t open yet and then to several of the various statues and monuments that circle the park. Eventually, we made our way to one of the two food courts where Jenn made a beeline to Dunkin Donuts where she and I both got donuts and I had an iced coffee.
A little after 9 AM we met back up with Tiger who first sat us down and gave us a twenty-minute history of the Korean War and what lead to the splitting of North and South Korea. Jenn and I were riveted every second of the retelling and it was helpful to get the context ahead of the rest of the tour. We both commented later in the day that we wish history had been taught like this in school it would have been a lot more interesting and impactful. From there he took us around the Peace Park and explained each of the various monuments including a train that was destroyed during the war and several spots where you could see bullet-ravaged concrete pillars. The most meaningful moment came right before we boarded the buses where Tiger explained that his family was separated after the war and that his father would bring his family to this exact spot and wish well on his grandfather who was still in the North.
At 11 AM we boarded the bus which took us to three stops in the DMZ starting with the 3rd Tunnel which was one of four tunnels found by the South Koreans after the war. We had to put our phones and all electronics in a locker before making the 30-minute roundtrip journey down the tunnel to one of three walls that separated it from the tunnel leading to North Korea. It was damp in the tunnel and busy so if we were at all claustrophobic it would have been a problem. But we made it through and picked up our stuff before taking a few pictures and getting back on the bus.
The next two stops were very brief. The first was a small museum that had a number of powerful binoculars that allowed you to look into North Korea. Specifically, there is a farm village where you could see people working the field along with a small outpost where we saw two North Korean soldiers doing patrols. From there we visited a small market where the local people come to sell their goods. The highlight (not pictured) was the soybean ice cream which was phenomenal. The tour bus arrived a little after 1 PM where we parted ways with Tiger for 30 minutes and had lunch. Jenn chose the burger restaurant where we split a plain cheeseburger and fries. It wasn’t anything to write home about but it did the trick.
After we met back up with Tiger we finished the tour of the grounds before getting back into his Genesis and driving to our last stop of the day, the suspension bridge of Gamaksan Mountain. It was about a thirty-minute drive from the DMZ and required a 15-minute hike to get to it. In comparison to yesterday’s hike to the Seoul Tower, this was child's play. When we arrived at the suspension bridge the views were breathtaking. We learned that this is a very common route for North Korean spies and at night the area is patrolled by South Korean soldiers. We walked up and back to the suspension bridge and took a ton of photos as we went. We climbed our way back down and back to Tiger’s car to take us back to the JW Marriott.
The tour was scheduled to end at 5 PM but with traffic, we ended up getting back at a little after 6 PM. We said our heartfelt goodbyes to Tiger who was easily one of the best tour guides we’ve had. He subsequently texted us a really nice note the next day that touched both Jenn and me.
We unfortunately had 6:30 PM dinner reservations and during the drive were able to push it to 7 PM. We did a very quick change of clothes and left ten minutes after we got back to the hotel and got in another Uber to take us to tonight’s dinner L’Amant Secret. The Uber dropped us off a little before 7 PM and we were fortunate enough to get a great seat with a window looking out over Seoul. This restaurant was French themed which was obvious from every corner of the restaurant's beautiful decor. We started off with a great glass of champagne and one of the most clever starters we’ve ever had a take on tea and cookies. We had a couple more small bites before we moved on to some delightful fish dishes as well as one of the best bread courses we’ve had this year. We flipped main courses today, I went with the Korean steak and Jenn had the lamb, once again both were perfect. It was at this time though that the evening got even more special because behind Jenn out the window was a tremendous firework display being put on nearby at a free BTS 10-year concert. The fireworks continued throughout dessert which was a beautiful cake with a heart in the middle of it along with a sorbet and an assortment of chocolates in the form of lips.
It was a phenomenal dinner in a beautiful restaurant. But by the time the check came the day had caught up to us and we were exhausted. After a harrowing taxi drive back to our hotel we skipped watching anything tonight instead going to sleep right away and closing the books on one of the best days of the trip so far.
