The man I genuinely believed to be made of wax. Lovely complexion and brilliant at standing still, you can see why I was confused.
The Big Question: How close can you stand and what do you do with your face?
My brother and I, both still struggling with The Big Question.
Ostensibly the most boring picture I have ever taken, actually quite interesting. The dividing line between North and South.
The Joint Security Area. Pictured in background: North Korea
The aptly named 'Bridge of No Return'. At the end of the war, people crossed it to choose a Korea to live in. As I said, aptly named.
Kiljongdong (or 'Propaganda Village') complete with 160 metre flagpole, 31 metre flag and zero citizens.
Being Korean in front of North Korea. Meta.
To Pyeongyang! Or, you know, not.
Ben, looking far more ready for a journey to Pyeongyang than I do.
This week I’ve been lucky enough to have my brother visit, which (aside from being a lovely sort-of surprise this close to Christmas) has also been a spectacular excuse to eat all of the delicious Korean food I don’t usually allow myself, play computer games almost constantly, rediscover my love of Baskin Robbins and go on a mini-holiday to Seoul.
I really like Seoul, but I’m glad I don’t live there. It’s incomprehensibly vast, loaded with far too much stuff to do in one weekend, vibrant, crazy and more Westernised than I’ve become used to with living in Busan. That last one isn’t really a negative point, but it definitely makes me feel more normal than I usually feel living in a city where people in the street sometimes tell me they love me just because I’m a foreigner. God only knows what I’ll do when I get back to true normality, I’ll probably have some kind of nervous breakdown the first time my Korean Compliment Quota isn’t adequately filled.
The main reason for us going to Seoul was to visit the DMZ, which seemed like the thing to do when in Korea. For anyone interested, we went with Koridoor tours and chose the JSA (Joint Security Area) and 3rd Tunnel combined tour, which cost around 92,000 won each and lasted from 7am to 3.30pm. It was pretty awesome and I’d definitely recommend it. Here are some pictures for your viewing pleasure, although none of the tunnel as you’re not allowed to photograph in there**.
**Apparently for political reasons, but probably so that people don’t get stuck down there for hours, hunching and increasingly furious as the hundred people in front of them insist of taking picture upon picture of a wall painted to look like coal. That last part makes more sense if you’ve been there, or if you’ve read point 3 of this: http://www.cracked.com/article_17165_6-reasons-north-korea-funniest-evil-dictatorship-ever.html