Seoul

Seoul was cold. Like unbelievably cold. The locals insisted that it was warm, but really, there's snow on the ground and their lakes are frozen.

On day 2 we went to the DMZ. The guided tour took the entire day (that's a common Seoul theme - it takes an hour at least to get to destination X). On the tour we were instructed to not gesticulate at all to North Koreans. In retrospect it's a really dangerous place to visit, I'm not sure what enticed us (tourists) to visit. We saw one North Korean guard, and C saw some North Korean peasants way off in the distance in "Propaganda Village." The South Korean equivalent village is called either Unification Village or Freedom Village, I forgot which, it doesn't really matter, it's kind of propaganda itself too.

Here's the UN building inside the DMZ. The South Korean soldiers stand half exposed to the North in order to appear more intimidating. They also sport sunglasses of intimidation.



Bridge of No Return. I *think* South Korea returned a bunch of captured North Koreans, but North Korea did not really reciprocate. Our bus didn't let us out at this point, it was "too dangerous."



Inside the UN building, this is the table where the sides hold their talks. Half of the table is in north korea, half in south. No talks today. Apparently North Korean tourists also come into this building, so sometimes you can see them.



On the far top of the shot, you can see North Korea. That's what it looks like from the observation tower, kinda misty and dark. Our guide pointed out that the North hills have no trees, because they cut them down either to spy on their citizens or to use as resources.



Koreans near Tradition St in Seoul. The people in Seoul are poor compared to those in Tokyo and Hong Kong, but they feel rich? At least my cousin says its the most expensive place to live in the world.



Day 1 we went to Suwon, a suburb town about 2hrs out of Seoul. It's a fortress town, complete with a golden goddess in the mountain and palace inside. They're filming a really famous drama series in that palace. Didn't change the fact that it was COLD.



Last day in Seoul my cousin took us sightseeing. Here's the frozen lake + summer home type building in a palace in central Seoul. Afterwards she took us to a famous ginseng chicken restaurant (they put a whole chicken in my pot!!). Then we went to a night market/clubbing fashion district, and had dinner at an octopus restaurant. BBQ octopus in hot sauce. You know, they have the IQ of dogs. Koreans eat dogs too.