South Korea

WHAT'S DMZ?

DMZ is the demilitarised zone between North and South Korea: it's a 4 km wide and 240km long strip of land where nobody since 1950 steps in. It's considered the most militarised area in the world. The only point to cross the DMZ is the Joint Security Area (JSA), where a small UN house with a table is placed exactly on the border to let North Koreans and South Korean sit to have peace talk without exiting their respective countries.

Nagorno map, click on to enlarge

• INTRO SOUTH KOREA DMZ

• THE TRAVEL IN SOUTH KOREA DMZ

• PRINTABLE FORMAT
  

When:
1st August 2015 in a 8h daytrip

Do I need a visa:
Yes you do despite you don't need to enter South Korea. You have to book it in advance (depending by the operator from 2 weeks to 2 days)

How I moved:
Mix of travelling by bus and on foot. Note that in JSA you will change bus getting on a military one.

Freezing or baking:
In August be prepared to get soaked

Where I slept:
The visit is always a day trip from Seoul; according to the package you take can be from 4h to 8h

What I liked:
DMZ's a unique place where you still breathe the cold war tension. I learnt a lot about the history behind it biased of course by the South Korean point of view. Unless you don't manage to enter North Korea (good luck) it's the best place to peek in such scaring country

What I disliked:
It's a group tour so be ready for this. It'll be a full bus of people (most of them South Korean) snapping pics around as they are in an entertainment park. In JSA you'll feel a sense of uneasiness being a heavily militarized area.

How much daily:
Tour price: 110euro pp. T 27 tour with VIPtravel is one of the most expensive I've seen, but I've preferred to pay 20-30euro more than risking falling in a crappy organization. The price includes everything, also lunch.

Tips:
Dress code applies : Normal blue jeans are OK to wear but no sleeveless shirts, t-shirts without the collar, short pants & skirts, sandals, military looking clothes and T-Shirts with flag or name of the nationality on it.

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TRAVEL IN SOUTH KOREA DMZ

Being the only way to visit DMZ I picked a tour booking it online 3 weeks before my visit (minimum booking advance is 2-3days). The tour has been postponed due to some military training, but luckily I managed to readjust my agenda accordingly. The agency I used is http://www.vviptravel.com (TOUR T-27, price:135.000KRW). I choised the full package (7.20 am- 5.00 pm) since I didn't want to loose anything. Most of the other packages are shorter and more economic.
I got picked up at my hotel at 7.20 by car and taken to the Lotte Hotel from where most of the buses leave. At 8.20am the bus was full (a mix of South Koreans Nort Americans, Australians,...)and we left. It take2 arounf 45min to reach DMZ from Seoul.


THE PLAN OF THE TOUR HAS BEEN:

1. Pick at the hotel 7.20 am
2. The Tunnel
3. Dora Observatory
4. Dorasan Station
5. Imjingak Park
6. Lunch
7. Camp Bonifas (Slides Show and Briefing)
8. JSA (Freedom House, Conference Room, Bridge of no Return)
9. Back in Seoul at 5.15 pm
   

Welcome to DMZ!

Our guide

A military guide
of other group

The parking;
as you see it's plenty of tourists

A mock up of the tunnel entrance

It's me on the train
inside the tunnell

The Third Tunnel of Aggression is one of four known tunnels under the border between North Korea and South Korea, extending south of Panmunjom. It is 1.7 km long, 2 m high and 2 m wide adn 73m deep. It is apparently designed for a surprise attack on Seoul from North Korea.
You will be equipped with an elmet and by a small train you will reach the bottom of the tunnel from where in a 10 min walk you will reach the 3m thick concrete casted at the border.

DORA OBSERVATORY

The observatory platform

The DMZ
(the fence 2km south from the border)

A military building?
Boh?