Winter In Seoul, South Korea – Day 5

So this concluded my last day in Seoul. 5 days full of new experiences and met several new friends along the way.

I woke up around 7:30AM.  I'd prepared all my things and brought along my baggage with me since I will have a tight connection from DMZ bound to Incheon Airport. The four of us, including  Neung, a Thailander guy who arrived from Bangkok last night, left the house leaves the house around 9:30AM to catch our DMZ train at 10:34AM. So far, everything was doing great. All was according to plan. We alighted the train in Seoul Station at approximately 10:00AM. We walked towards the nearest exit.

Okay, but this time, the luck was not in my favor. I already tapped my card to exit the station when suddenly, my baggage does not fit-in in that particular type of tapping point - the one that has a rotating bar. I should have exit to the one with a gate type, I was trying to use the help machine yet the customer service on the other side was not an english speaker. I was quite worried since I had few minutes left and have to store my luggage to the lockers inside the Seoul Station. Until an old lady approached me and asked if she can held a hand. I told what happened and she immediately called the customer service and boom! I was good to go! Thanks to the old lady. Now, I need to run to catch the group.

There are several lockers of different sizes inside the Seoul Station, and then my 2nd unfortunate event happened. All the big lockers were occupied. And we barely have 10 minutes left before departure. I asked the information center if there are other places where I can leave my baggage and there, she point out the travel center at Basement 2. Quite far and long walk but time is running out. No choice but to run. I paid 7,000KRW for the baggage. and run back again to the departure area.

Me, Jojo and Neung were able to catch the train bound to DMZ. We reached the platform level just in a nick of time. Since Jenny went to DMZ few days ago, she decided to go somewhere else and will just be back in Seoul Station on the same time of our arrival.

The DMZ train were like an old school train compared to the ITX and KTX. When we went inside, the interior is very pleasant. Not the usual interior of trains. What amazed us is that DMZ train had a mini games during the trip. though we don;t understand anything they are saying, but I guessed it was fun.

The trip took about 1 hour and 30 minutes. From Seoul Station, we stopped on a few stations to pick some more passengers. DMZ ID were given and a form to be filled up (Some sort of Immigration Card). Then, when we reached Imnijgang Station, we were told to alight the train. We went inside the Imnijgang station for verification and clearance to proceed to Dorasan Station (where DMZ is located). We rode the same train after. 10minutes after departing Imnijgang, a pre-recorded audio were played inside the train and started to explain the areas we currently passing thru. Cool isn't it?

We reached Dorasan Station around 12:00NN. After alighting the train, we headed towards the exit where Military men where everywhere. Then the danger of DMZ area were playing in my head know. We lined up to the Walk Tour package and paid 8,700KRW. The other one is around 12,00KRW but I forgot what is the difference of the two package.

We rode the coach bus and went to our first destination, DORASAN OBSERVATORY. The first thing we did in the Dora Observatory is to listen to the lecture about DMZ. All the rest will depend on google. Since all the lectures where in Korean. Good right? haha!

After the lecture, we stepped outside towards the observatory. There several binoculars available to closely see the North Korean territory. Must put 500KRW in order for the binoculars to work.

Second destination is our Lunch. We did't purchase int he restaurant hence they allowed us to eat inside with our packed lunch. haha! We are cheap traveler.

Next destination is the Third Infiltration Tunnel. We were asked to proceed to one of the building. We were given Transcriber device and head inside the Audio-Visual Room where we watched a 15 minute film showing about Korean War. From here, we went to the building on the other side where the The Third Tunnel is located.

We were told to leave all our belongings to the lockers provided. Camera is strictly prohibited. Yet we managed to sneaked in our mobile phones.

We took Hard hat before we started our journeying going down the tunnel. As far as I remember, the total length of the connecting Tunnel (this is not the third tunnel) is roughly 750m and the path is quite steep. I almost backed out! after few minutes and few stops along the way, we reach the entrance of the third tunnel.

The worst part of this trip is going back up to that Connecting tunnel! There is some sort of Tram on the right side of the connecting tunnel. But they say that Blue Hard hat holders are the only one who has the privileged to ride the tram. Maybe they are the one doing the Travel Agency Package and not the Do-It-Yourself style.

Heading to our last destination, the Dorasan Peace Park. While strolling along the area, I saw this bridge which made by Filipino Artist. #proudtobepinoy

We departed Dorasan Station at exactly 4:10PM. We reached Seoul Station around 5:30PM and Jenny is already waiting for us in the platform. We spent few minutes together in the Main lobby of the Station then I bid goodbye to my friends. I immediately run towards the travel center to picked up my baggage and went further down to purchase ticket for Airport Express.

Another unfortunate thing happened. The next trip is 6:30PM. I was a bit worried not to catch my flight back home. Then the Train departed on time and I reached Incheon Airport around 7:20PM. Quick run from Station to Check In area. The queue was quite long and most of the passengers where Koreans and I am the last person to check in. Queue in the security and Immigration is long as well.

Good thing that the flight was delayed. I able to catch my flight back to Manila.