Howdy all, hoping today’s post finds you well. It is almost a compulsory thing to do when visiting Seoul, visiting the DMZ, and I must admit to a perhaps pretty natural curiosity into what North Korea is really like, and on this trip a DMZ tour seemed to be about the best I could manage, so I booked a day tour through the hotel that I stayed at.

The tour was ‘DMZ Panmunjon’ which you can Google to find presumably the tour that I took. I paid around $80SUD or $50USD, so I think the price was very reasonable. I was up early in the morning and waiting for the bus and tour at the Courtyard Marriott which was just a five minute walk from where I stayed.

In fact a couple of buses pulled up and there wasn’t much organisation but eventually I was pointed to the front bus, both seemed to be the same company. It was time to head up northwards from Seoul, half the bus was on one tour with an English speaking guide and the other half had a different guide speaking Chinese. The bus was a pretty big one. I will say at this point I imagine that the tours all tick off the same things and are very similar. I was under the impression I was going to a special bridge of some kind, but that was not part of my tour, so there is another tour that is slightly longer. I think we left around 730am in the morning and were expected to return at 2pm, but it was a bit later maybe 3pm or so.

The first stop after maybe a couple of hours is the Imjinpak Information Centre. This is just outside the DMZ proper and EVERYONE stops here. There’s a giant car park with many buses and a few cars and a huge building which is the tourist centre where the guides go to get there tickets to the DMZ. There were at least two passport checks, soldiers coming onto the bus and checking too.

If you are unfamiliar with the DMZ, it stands for De-Militarised Zone and is a two-kilometre wide strip between North and South Korea. The tour, despite the seriousness and grimness of the situation, is really made for the tourist and photo opportunities etc. In fairness though, our guide was really really good.

At the Imjinpak Information Centre guides get out of the buses and they get tickets for the tunnels and I think the Observatory as well. The main two stops of the day. But there’s a lot going on around the Information Centre, there’s even a ropeway/cable car which I guess takes you to the edge of the zone.

But also there is the Friendship Bridge across which prisoners have been returned to South Korea. There are still many though that disappeared without a trace. There is a train station – Dorasan Station –  KoRail used to run a train to this station but it stopped running at the end of 2023. There’s also an old steam train that is definitely not going anywhere again.

Perhaps the highlight of this first stop – oh there was also a fairground with rides I should mention – but the highlight of this stop is the little shop selling North Korean money (which they get in China I believe) and I would say making quite the decent profit. It’s a little hut and it does a roaring trade. Of course I got mine!

The Dora Observatory is next and probably the main stop. You drive into the DMZ and make your way up a hill to the car park by the old observatory which is now abandoned and looks much smaller than the Dora Observatory. And in some ways that makes it kind of cooler too! You walk up a hill to the Observatory. It’s got two or three levels. There’s like a big lecture hall where guides chat to you about the DMZ with one side all glass and you can look over it.

Then it’s upstairs to the rooftop to stare across the DMZ into North Korea. There are telescopes and these boxes with screens that can zoom in a little but in the sun were very hard to see anything on them. Through the telescopes you can even see people going about their business in North Korea, houses, buildings and flags. And that’s about it really, that’s what you’re there for.

Next stop is the Third Infiltration Tunnel, where sadly photography is not allowed. The North Koreans over the years have tried to tunnel their way all the way to Seoul if you can believe that, and this is one of the tunnels that I think was found when part of it caved in. It was found in the 1970s, and today the South Koreans have drilled their own, much wider tunnel to access it. They even have another tunnel for a small train to access it for those who don’t want to walk.

The access tunnel is much easier though to navigate than the actual North Korean tunnel, which is low (hardhats essential) and narrow. Then you hit a block and can’t go any further. It’s hot and humid and the walk back up is steep but it’s also a cool experience. Here there is a gift shop and you can grab a bite to eat too, and as part of the area there is a big ‘DMZ’ sign just so you know where you are! Also you watch a short film first about the tunnels.

Finally it’s a stop at the Unification Village, which is still in the zone. I think. There’s a ‘supermarket’ and it was supposed to be run by people from both North and South but today it’s only run by people from the South who live in this ‘village’ – you only really see the shop and restaurant and a sign. Oh there is also ice cream there!

And then the long drive back to Seoul. And time to reflect on the day. I’m glad I’ve done it, but really it’s not the most mind blowing exciting experience. It’s taking advantage of a bad situation, and I don’t see either side really particularly committed or even wanting re-unification one day. Which is sad. To take a glimpse from a far off distance into North Korea was pretty cool but then I quickly got frustrated as I couldn’t really capture it well. My advice is get a huge telephoto lens! There are a lot of people going to the exact same spots all through your day too and the traffic back to and through Seoul was somewhat frustrating too.

So. Is this something that is for you? Are you a Korean history buff perhaps? People occasionally ask me if I’d want to visit North Korea, to which I answer ‘yes!’, it would be fascinating, right? Or would it? I can only presume it would be way more interesting than a tour to the DMZ!

Thanks for popping by! Take care wherever you are in the world – and May the Journey Never End!