170311 to 19 Trip to Korea 3/3
Day 7: 170317 Friday – DMZ
Day 7 is our last major target tour site, the Demilitarised Zone, DMZ. We woke at 7:00am, and Denny picked us at 8:00am.
We reached Paju at 9:10am, where we bought tickets and had a simple breakfast at a food kiosk.
At 9:50am, we boarded the DMZ tour bus.
First stop, DMZ 3rd Infiltration Tunnel, where we descended an inclined 300m interception shaft into the tunnel.
Next stop, the Dora Observatory, at 11:15am. We saw North Korea with our own eyes.
It was rather hazy as the North was burning lots of wood. These photos are greatly enhanced to show the details through the haze.
At 11:40am, we reached the Dorasan Train station.
We then visited the Paju Unification Village and bought some books and souvenirs, before leaving the DMZ.
At 12:25, we spent half an hour at Imjingak, seeing the bullet-ridden train, the freedom bridge and memorials.
At 1:00pm, we reached the outskirts of Paju where we had Army Hot pot for lunch.
We left Paju at 2:00pm and headed for the National Museum.
We entered the museum at 3:00pm and spent more than an hour and a half there.
We then drove to the Namdaemun area, passing the Seoul Highway bridge which is being converted into an urban pedestrian park.
Namdaemun.
We walked about Namdaemun market and bought some stuff to bring home.
Our last photo with driver Denny.
Denny dropped us back at DDM Inn at 6:30pm, where YowCH repaired shoes for Samuel and Joseph. At 7:30pm, we walked out for dinner.
We returned to the hotel at 9:05pm. Here are some of the soju that we drank over the holiday.
We slept at 11:00pm.
Day 8: 170318 Saturday – City Tour
The second last day, no driver for today. We woke at 8:00am and left the hotel at 9:20am. First stop, the nearby Gwanghuimun.
Then we walked to DDP.
At 10:10am, we had some street food for breakfast as we headed to Dongdaemun.
This is Dongdaemun, under renovations.
We then walked a short stretch of the ancient Seoul city wall.
At 11:00am, we visited the City Wall Museum.
We went for fast food lunch behind Dongdaemun, at the local Lotteria.
We went back to DDP, before taking train to Jungno3ga Station.
We reached Jongmyo shrine at 3:10pm.
The shrine tour requires visitors to engage guides except on weekends, so we could roam about without guides (Saturday).
Inside these rooms, the tablets of the past kings are place.
We left the shrine at 4:35pm, and had some ice-cream before taking the subway back to DDMHCP Station.
We then walked to a local restaurant for dinner.
By 7:00pm, we finished dinner and returned to the hotel. We then packed to return to Singapore.
We slept at about 10:30pm.
Day 9: 170319 Sunday – Departure
Last day, we woke at 8:15am, and did our final packing. At 9:10am, we walked out for breakfast at DDP. Being Sunday, most of the shops were not opened, so we just had breakfast at a western coffee shop.
At 10:15am, we walked around DDP.
At 11:05am, we returned to the hotel and checked-out. We took the train from DDMHCP to Seoul Station, then transferred to AREX to the Airport.
We were rather early for our flight.
After checking-in, we bought take-away lunch at Lotteria at 2:15pm. The eateries were rather crowded.
We then spent up our loose change at the airport.
We boarded Asiana OZ751 at 4:05pm and the flight took off at 4:40pm.
We landed at Changi at 10:00pm and took a cab home. We reached home at 11:20pm. We quickly unpacked and the children prepared for school on the next day. The children then slept at 11:55pm while we slept at 1:00am.
We thank God for:
1. A good time on holiday as a family.
2. No political unrest at Seoul with the impeachment of the President.
3. Lack of large groups of tourists from China, as a boycott to South Korea allowing USA a missile base.
4. A great driver/tour guide who speaks good English, knows lots of stuff and teaches skiing.
5. Friends who gave good advice on where to go, and what to book in advance.
6. Nice weather, with snow fall (rare in mid-March) and enough snow to ski.
7. Great food.
8. A fantastic learning experience for the children.
We spent a total of about $10,700 for this trip.
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