Seoul Grand Park Zoo and DMZ

On Saturday I went to Seoul Grand Park Zoo. Let me start by saying this was one of the best zoos I’ve ever been to for several reasons. First of all the landscape is amazing: beautiful Fall colored trees, mountainous backdrop, grass, benches and other beautiful things. Second of all, the animals all looked well taken care of and [dare I say] happy. When I went to zoos back in the states there were many times that I thought to myself “That animal does not have enough space in there.” Here, all the animals were housed properly in a place that was similar to the environment they would have had back home. Finally, I have never (aside from safari zoos) been able to get so close to animals. The way the barriers are structured you’re able to get really close to some of the animals.

My favorite part was the nursery. The only thing that separated me from the baby lions I was in love with was a glass wall. The lions played with people’s hands as they ran them across the glass, and did adorable kitten things. There was also a baby orangutan that was being carried in a towel by a zoo worker. He brought it right up to the glass and it smiled at me! I was in love. The zoo is massive, we were there for about 6 hours and there are still things we didn’t have time for. We did see the dolphin show, which was pretty good but nothing amazing.

After the zoo we went to eat in Gangnam, which was described to be as “The Bundang before Bundang existed.” It’s another rich area of Seoul, but closer to Bundang than other areas. We went for Mexican food, which I haven’t had since before I left the States. I was very excited about my Fajita burrito, which ended up disappointing me. It didn’t taste much like Mexican food at all but what can I expect, I’m in Korea. Needless to say my craving for Mexican food has not subsided.

After Mexican we headed over to Dr. Fish (as my friend calls it, not sure if that’s proper terminology). Anyhow, this is a great coffee shop in Gangnam where I was able to get Roobios tea that was made just right and tasted amazing. The best part about this coffee shop? There are 2 tanks of little fish (one tank houses slightly bigger fish but they are still quite small) that you are supposed to put your feet into. While your feet are in the tank, the fish eat all the dead skin off your feet. I’m a pretty ticklish girl so after I got past laughing so hard that tears were rolling down my face, I actually enjoyed the experience. You sit with your feet in this tank for about 20 minutes and the fishies do their work. my feet have never felt so soft and so smooth before. As weird as it is, I think I’ll be going back there, it was great and I highly recommend that people try it.

On Saturday night I started getting sick, and barely slept that night. I had to wake up at 6:30 to get ready for my DMZ tour. We left for the DMZ at 9am, and arrived at 10:30 (I’m very close to the border).

The first stop was Imjingak, which is as far as people can go towards the North without permission. This village was built after people had to flee their homes in the North.. In the village is the “Freedom Bridge” on which prisoners were exchanged between the North and the South. We got to walk on Freedom bridge for a bit, until a fence blockade that was covered with various messages people had left. From the bridge we could see the Bridge of No Return, which went into North Korea. In Imjingak there is also a altar so that people who left family in the North could pray for them. Imjingak also houses the Peace Bell, which is a symbol of hope for the reunification of Korea. There are also remains of a train that was bombed during the Korean War. Although this village is quite a tourist attraction (there’s a Popeye’s chicken!) it was still very moving to stand in the places where so much history took place. I was most moved by Freedom Bridge, because so much hope and joy took place on this bridge.

After the bridge we headed to Tongilchon, which is the unification village. Here, families who were separated between North and South were allowed to reunite for certain holidays. I am not sure if this is still the case though. We had a traditional Korean lunch: rice, many side dishes (dried anchovies, tofu, kim chi, mushrooms, egg, etc), and 2 soups (porridge and a vegetable soup).

We then made our way to the 3rd Tunnel. During and after the war, North Korea had built many tunnels leading to Seoul in an attempt to make a surprise attack on the country. So far, 4 have been discovered but there could be as many as 20. The 3rd tunnel was tall and wide enough that an army of 10,000 could have made it to its destination in 1 hour. Scary! There are 2 ways to get to the beginning of the tunnel: first you can walk the entire way down a fairly steep ramp, or you could take what I call the roller coaster ride, which is a slow moving “ride” that gets you to the beginning of the tunnel. We were not allowed to take the ride, so we had to walk about 200m to get to the entrance. While in the tunnel, we were told to wear helmets and stoop as we’re walking. We got to walk about 500m of the tunnel, which was an amazing experience. One of the informational plaques said that after the discovery of the tunnel, N. Korea tried to deny it by saying that it was an abandoned coal mine. In preparation for this possible lie, while N. Korea was building the tunnel, they coated the walls in a thin layer of coal. South Korea didn’t buy this, obviously. Walking in the dark damp tunnel made me think of only one thing: 10,000 North Korean soldiers marching into South Korea, and the fact that so many tunnels are undiscovered.

The third stop was the Dora observatory, from which you can see into North Korea. Unfortunately I couldn’t take any pictures of North Korea because S. Korea had drawn a “photo line” and no one could take pictures beyond it for fear that those pictures would be given to N. Korea to leak secrets about S. Korea’s defense. Anyhow, typical Seoul weather…it was overcast. There were binocular viewer things that gave me a closer look into N. Korea and of the DMZ. I got to see Kijongdong, better known as “Propaganda Village,” which was built by N. Korea to make it look like it was a prosperous, thriving nation (which it is clearly NOT). North Korea hasn’t given up on this fake village, despite the fact that the gig is up. Lights are still turned on and off in the buildings of this completely uninhabited village to make it look like there are residents. Apparently, South Korea had/has a “Propaganda Village” of its own, although the language barrier made it hard for me to understand its purpose. I also got to see Kesung, the 2nd largest city in N. Korea, which was quite small and bleak. It was interesting to see the DMZ; it was lush, green, and dare I say beautiful. The DMZ is 2km area between N. Korea’s southernmost border and South Korea’s northernmost border. No activity other than wildlife takes place here, and it has a river running through it, so it has become an interesting ecosystem of its own. Apparently there are animals living in the DMZ area that don’t live in many other areas of Korea. Fascinating!

After the observatory we went to our final stop: Dorasan station, which is the last station in South Korea before entering N. Korea. There is a very optimistic plan for this station: to include it as part of a transatlantic Korean railroad, which will connect to all the other transatlantic railroads. As of now, it is a functional station that only accepts arrivals from a city somewhat near Seoul. As far as I could understand, only those arriving from that city could leave Dorasan station. In other words, I wouldn’t be able to take a train from Dorasan if I didn’t come in from that other city. Here, we were able to stamp a piece of paper with a passport stamp of the station. This stamp will be used if/when the line is opened for entry into North Korea. There is also entire section of the station devoted to entries into North Korea, which is obviously unused at the time. There is a great poster in the station: “Not the last station from the South but the first station into the North.” I thought that was very warm and hopeful.

Overall the DMZ trip was moving and something I knew I had to do in my time here. If time and money permits, I would like to the trip again with the USO. It costs more, but with that trip you are able to go into the treaty room, which would be my dream. The trip took a lot out of me, it was depressing yet hopeful at the same time. I wasn’t sure how to feel after I left.

So that’s that. My week has begun and I am sick, hoping to get better by Wednesday… cross your fingers!

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