That's a Billy Joel reference for anyone who didn't get my title of this blog. Last weekend I took a trip with nine of my buds to the DMZ in the far North East corner of South Korea in the Gangwon Provence. I had to wake up at 4:30 AM, take a three hour bus ride to Seoul, and then we took another three hour bus ride to a remote region. We stopped at a couple seedy museums along the way, walked through a small leaky tunnel used for supplies during the Korean civil war, and an observation tower to get a good view of the actual DMZ.
As you can probably tell from my pictures we were in no immediate danger and the soldiers we met were more of a novelty than anything. Imagine going to Disneyland and instead of taking pics with Mickey, you take pictures with smiling ROK soldiers shouldering machine guns.
For anyone who doesn't know the DMZ is a two kilometer buffer zone between North Korea and South Korea, this area is a window into past.
There was a time long before skyscrapers, high rise apartments, Starbucks, and McDonald's. The demilitarized zone offers insight to what the world was
like prior to commercial takeover. There are plush mountains full with greenery that I've never seen. It was the most beautiful sight I've seen here in Korea. Amazing that a place where so many lives were lost now holds a different perspective.
After leaving the DMZ area, we ventured off to some real danger, bungee jumping! I went skydiving in Colorado with my friends once and though some people might think that gives you some confidence, you would be wrong. Skydiving for the first time gives you a crutch and you don't have to do anything but go along for the ride.
Bungee jumping on the other hand forces you to actually leap off on your own. We jumped off a bridge with a plunge of over 160 feet with nothing but about two feet of water beneath you. Scary stuff!
All in all the trip was great, we had amazing food at the homestay and even though the DMZ wasn't as exciting as had hoped, I couldn't have asked for better company. Every day that passes here I become ever more aware of how much I will miss everyone here and the opportunities we have to travel at will at little cost or stress.
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