Day 6: DMZ

The DeMilitarized Zone (DMZ) is one weird place. 

It's weird that it is apparently the only DMZ in the world, but the barbed wire, tanks, soldiers and landmines suggest that it is actually really militarized.

It's weird that what was one country is split into two by a river, a Southern Line Limit (SLL) and a DMZ, closer than the north and south sides of Sydney Harbour. Imagine if people were shot or jailed for trying to get to Circular Quay from Kirribilli. 

It's weird that families were separated indefinitely and had no means of contacting each other, yet the north built underground infiltration tunnels with the intention of invading the south, like when you crossed the line dividing your half of the bedroom from your siblings half.

It's weird that this area which is so contested and has numerous war memorials, also has an amusement park and has been turned into a major tourist attraction with the aim of unifying both sides. 

And talking of cold war, it REALLY snowed today. 

Day 5: skiing at Jisan Forest Park

 Just an hour from the centre of Seoul...

...is a magic carpet....

...in a forest...

...and flying chairs that take you high in the sky. 

Day 4: Gangnam Style

Now we know what Gangnam style actually means: lots of high end designer fashion. We walked the length of K Star Road where each design house had a flagship store the size of a car showroom: Dior, Prada, Burberry, Chanel, Gucci, Louis Vuitton and so on. 

It's supposed to be like the equivalent of LA's Rodeo Drive and also like the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Except instead of stars on the pavement, they have K-Pop bands.  One of them is PSY, the performer of Gangnam Style. 

This Gangnam Style sculpture is a tribute, right outside Coex Shopping Mall which has an amazing integrated library. You just walk seamlessly from the shopping centre into the library if you need a place to sit quietly and read, or have a drink while you grab a book .

Day 3 wet weather options

Seoul Plaza ice skating for less than AUD $1.50  

It only started to rain toward the end of the session, so we took shelter in Lotte Department Store before subwaying to...

Dongdaenum Design Plaza (DDP) where they happened to have a K-Pop exhibition

Check this out: me standing in the stream that runs through the middle of Seoul in 2024 and my brother standing by the same stream in 2006 (wearing the same pair of gloves)!

Day 2: Snowyland

 

The only fresh fruit you can get: on a stick covered in candied sugar. The middle fruit on mum's stick is a tomato! 

It's a Seoul kind of feeling

 

First day achievements: 

1. finding a Daiso megastore (12 floors of Asian Reject Shop)

2. Finding a cat cafe

3. Some traditional stuff

Jet boat ride