Last Day in Korea

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larvae Yummy!

Soldier checking our passports

Displays

One soldier who let us take his photo

amythest

lunch

view from hotel room

Bob the shoemaker
Our time is winding down quickly. We spent our last full day in Korea. Tomorrow we leave for the airport at 10:30 am. We ride the free shuttle from the hotel, and then our plane leaves at 4:30.  It is going to be a longgggggggggg day tomorrow. We will get to relieve Thursday twice!

Today we took a tour to the DMZ (Demilitarized Zone).  We actually had to pay for the tour! After all those free tours in China it was a sacrifice to shell out the money!  But we just had to see it.  

We met the bus outside the gate of the military base and drove about an hour thru beautiful green valleys and rice fields. Reminded me of China.  Our tour guide was 27 years old, and single. Really cute guy! Reminded me of my sons!  But he certainly had some opinions of things. He told us that the Koreans don't like Japanese, Americans, or Chinese. I asked him who he did like and he said the Koreans like North Korea. He wants the North and South to get back together. I found that interesting. I haven't really found anyone that likes the Japanese, and after hearing of all the atrocities they have committed over the years I can understand that. 

We met a family of 4 who were there picking up their missionary. They had been at the temple yesterday, but we hadn't noticed them. They were in the later session. They are from Orem. Isn't it a small world?

We arrived at the DMZ that serves as a buffer zone between North and South Korea. It cuts the Korean Peninsula roughly in half crossing the 38th parallel. It is 155 miles long and about 2.5 miles wide, and is the most heavily armed border in the world. We stopped at a rest stop to use the bathroom and get a drink, and it was there that I tried a larve. I just had to do it so I could say I tried it. It was crunchy and nasty, but it wasn't moving like those grasshoppers that Adam, Mindy, Jake, and Kevin tried last year! Ha!

Korean Demilitarized Zone - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

We had a Korean military policeman come on and check our passports. I took a picture of his back, but then the tour guide told us we couldn't take pictures. As we left the border he said we could, so several of us took some out the window. Then they stopped us again and came on the bus to see who had taken the pictures. Nothing happened and we continued on. 

It started pouring rain, pouring! We went to a building and watched a film about it, then toured a little museum. We then went over, put on hard hats and went down the 3rd tunnel. It was a long walk down, and quite cold. At the "end" of where we could go was barbed wire and a cemented door. Wonder what was back there!  We then made the long trek back up the hill and out of the tunnel.

We made another stop to see another film and to have a look over to the North. We could not see very well because of the rain, and they would make you stand behind a line to take pictures so you really couldn't get a nice shot of it!  But we were there!

One more stop to see a few more displays, and then the bus ride back to Seoul. We stopped for a few minutes at a amythest factory. I found a necklace and decided to make it a nice gift to remember Korea by.

They dropped us off at Ichewon and we did a little more shopping, had lunch, and picked up our custom made shoes. We left a Book of Mormon with the shoemaker who was reading his bible when we walked in. We also left his business card with the missionaries. I found a charm from Korea for my charm bracelet and another coach bag!  Couldn't help myself!  Cathy can pick which one she wants!

We had a nice Korean lunch that had rice on the bottom and covered with vegetables and an egg. It was yummy. The soup was good too, but the little mini fish, leaves, and kimchi were not eaten! 

We headed back to the hotel and started packing for the trip home. Bonnie is so nice as to take a few things home for me so I don't have to drag them to Utah first!

We have really enjoyed Korea, and are so glad we made the stop here!  I can check this off my list now!  On to new countries!