After Thailand and Cambodia, Dad and I went to South Korea. We stayed in Seoul for two nights before flying home.
We took a tour of the DMZ (demilitarized zone). The first thing we visited was the Freedom memorial which is right outside the DMZ.
There are huge fences everywhere blocking of the zone.
The Freedom memorial is where Korean families in the south who are separated from their families in the north come on holidays to remember their loved ones they can't be with.
There are lots of different signs and memorials places around the site.
People have left white ribbons with peace phrases written down them.
The Freedom bridge is where the last POW exchange took place as the 39th parallel was closed.
Me on the bridge.
Freedom Bridge between north and south Korea.
The entrance to the bridge is gated off and covered with memorabilia.
Flags, ribbons, and papers tied to the fence.
The area is blocked off with lots of barbed wire.
Dad on Freedom Bridge.
Me with the bridge.
Explanation of the POW exchange.
Freedom Memorial.
There were cool sculptures in the distance but I didn't have time to explore- we were on a strict schedule. The tour bus had special permission to go in and out of the DMZ so we had time limits every where we went.
You could use the binoculars to look across the zone towards North Korea.
After the memorial we went into the DMZ and toured a tunnel that the North Koreans had dug into South Korea. The tunnel is deep underground and you can walk to the edge of the South Korean side and then it is barricaded with concrete walls and barbs wire.
This is a map of the tunnel we went down- you couldn't take pictures inside the tunnel.
This sculpture was near by.
It demonstrates a torn Korea.
And the hope that one day it will be reunited.
The last place we went was Dorasan Station.
Dorasan is the last train stop in South Korea and hopefully one day if the Koreas are reunited it will be the first stop into North Korea.
In 2008 President Bush and South Korea's leader commorated the opening of Dorasan station.
Pictures of Bush and his speech were on display.
The leaders both signed symbolic railroad ties and wrote notes of hopes that the Koreans would one day be united.
Outside the station there were cool benches to sit on to wait for the train.
