We went to Korea last week. We stayed somewhere in Myeongdong, which is known as a Hallyu shopping district. We arrived around 9 in the evening (Korean time) and took a bus (no. 6015) to our place of residence. Because it was too late already, almost all shops were already closed. Fortunately, we saw a restaurant open till 1am and had our first meal in Korea. The restaurant is called Yoogane and is popular for their dak galbi. We originally planned to order one dish. However, the staff told us that we need to order two dishes since we are two people. Thus, to not complicate things, we agreed and ordered two dishes of chicken galbi fried rice.
Chicken galbi sizzling in pan
Photo taken while my friend mixes the food
The chicken galbi was stirred in a large pan in front of us. Rice was mixed once the meat was almost cooked. The fried rice tasted good. However, since I couldn't tolerate spicy foods, I kept on drinking water and wiping tissue. My friend was probably astonished. I noticed that she could eat spicy foods really well.
We went back to our place of residence after dinner and prepared for the next day. Our itinerary for the following day is to visit the DMZ between South and North Korea. We booked a tour with Kim USO in advance. Our meet up place was at the USO office which is near Samgakji subway station. We arrived around 7:00 am and rode a bus to DMZ. The bus ride was about 1-1.5 hours from Seoul to our destination (DMZ). We listened to the tour guide who gave us a brief introduction of DMZ. One thing to note was that Korea was once invaded by Japanese. Then in 1945 when World War II occurred, both US and Soviet Union declared war on Japan. Korea was divided into South and North, with the former being under US and the latter under the Soviet Union. The South and the North hold different ideals and had many conflicts during the past years. In fact, the tension between the South and North Korea remains up to this date, with the most current invasion attempt in 2013.
We visited the JSA building, Freedom House, demarcation line, and Dorasan Station during the morning. An American soldier oriented us about DMZ in the JSA building and then joined us on our way to the Freedom House and demarcation line. We were instructed not to point fingers to anyone or do any other behavior which is not normal. Pictures taken should always face the North in the Freedom House and demarcation line.
Facing north from Freedom House
American soldier just behind the demarcation line
We had vegetarian bibimbap for lunch with unlimited kimchi. I really liked the bibimbap since it was not spicy at all and it was full of vegetables.
After lunch, we went to the Third Infiltration tunnel which was built by North Koreans using dynamites but was eventually discovered by the South. According to the tour guide, the tunnel had three layers of wall wherein water will flood when someone attempts to break the second wall. Camera was not allowed inside the tunnel. The real challenge of the DMZ trip is walking inside this tunnel since we had to go down the tunnel for about 10 mins with the floor steep and slanted, and go up again afterwards. We were quite exhausted by the time we went up and reached the entrance.
We went back to USO office around 3pm. We also visited the War Memorial Museum which was quite near. Entrance was free to the museum. We then headed to Itaewon market and realized that Itaewon has several pubs. Crowds of people probably hang out here during the night. Since we still had time left, we went to Namdaemun market and Myeongdong. Many shops in Namdaemun were closed by the time we got there. We walked our way to Myeongdong and did some shopping. We ate at Lotteria, a fastfood restaurant in Myeongdong.
