Apologies to all my blog readers, but while in China I was unable ti use the blogger site of Google, censorship has its' sad place in the world....so you'll get Shanghai and Korea in one batch of blogs, and Peking comes next.
March 9 – Korea
Having had a day at sea to rest our legs, we set out early in bus # 2, with our guide Park (pronounced Pok), a lovely Korean woman. The high temperature for the day was going to be 38, if we were lucky, so we layered ourselves as best we could for our trip to the DMZ.
We traveled along the border between North and South Korea, as we learned the history of the Korean War and how the DMZ had been laid out. As we got to the first look-out for Freedom Bridge, we were warned about where we could and could not take pictures. We were a good six miles from where the North Koreans actually live, but the whole area along the DMZ is heavily mined, and very carefully monitored by both sides.
Freedom Bridge is the place where all contact between the UN and the two Koreas took place in the 50’s. On our bus was Colonel Bauer, a guest lecturer on board the ship who had served in Korea in the late 1960’s, and he was able to point out many camouflaged tanks and outposts that we with our innocent eyes would have glanced over. It had the same feeling as the Berlin Wall, but this had a much wider swath between the two sides.
Our next stop was to go into one of the tunnels which the North Koreans had built with the goal of attacking Seoul. They built many tunnels, of which four have been discovered thanks to a defector who pointed them out, but there is an assumption that there are many more yet to be discovered. Tunnel three was the one which tourists are now allowed to visit. We were warned, once we’d left the welcome center, that there were to be no photographs once we started into the tunnels. In fact, we were asked to leave everything in lockers – purses, umbrellas, anything on our bodies but our coats and mittens, and to don beautiful blue hard hats. Why this was required became quickly evident.
Our tour group was loaded onto a small open rail train, four people to a car, not unlike those joy ride trains one would take into the ‘tunnel of love’. We strapped on our safety belts and tightened our hard hats as the train hurtled down over 300 meters to reach the entry of the original tunnel. It was a most narrow ride and we had to make sure that we tucked our shoulders and heads to avoid bumping the edge of the tunnel sides which were solid, dripping, craggy granite. At the base of the shaft, we got off our train and duck-walked our way about ½ a mile to the point where we had to stop or we would be on CNN having defected to the North Korean side. The tunnels were originally built to be about four meters wide and three meters high , in order to carry troops and armament into the south, but with construction girders to avoid cave-ins, if you were much over five feet tall you were in trouble. The constant sound of blue hard hats ‘pinging’ against the roof or girders made for an interesting concert as we duck-walked to the no-go zone and back again to re-enter our small train, which would carry us back to the surface. A most eerie experience, and for those with bad backs or claustrophobia, it was pure hell. And to think, one paid good money for this historic opportunity!
Having returned our hard hats, and retrieved our worldly goods, we loaded the buses to go to the observatory where one could see quite clearly into North Korea. Again we were warned not to take photographs, but one idiot decided the rules didn’t apply to him, so he reached up and took photographs. WHAM! He was strong-armed by two South Korean Military Police, who pinned him against a wall, made him open his camera, show the photographs and delete them. Then he was marched back to the bus. They said no photographs, and they meant it. As our guide explained, if we simply took our pictures home and pasted them in an album, that would be one thing, but thanks to the internet and digital cameras, it would be a matter of seconds to have these pictures anywhere in the world and this could be a grave security risk.
So having had a fairly sober morning, we drove back towards a town where most of the soldiers serving the DMZ go for R&R, and where there are hotels to serve their families. We had a typical Korean meal consisting of many tasty tidbits of kimchi, onion pancakes, broccoli and bean sprouts, while in front of us a hot-pot made a wonderful stir fry of beef and vegetables to be put on steamed rice. With a fine local beer to wash it down, we were very happy campers…. all except one Canadian gentleman next to us whom we’d met on another trip where lunch was included. He doesn’t eat Asian food, he proudly announced, and proceeded to watch us as we ate everything in sight. This was our second time where he pulled this, and we both wondered why he had come to Asia in the first place. His wife sweetly explained that he eats on the ship, thank you very much, so he enjoys the trip….just not the on-shore food opportunities.
Back to the bus and on to Seoul for a few hours of shopping in the ‘artist’ quarter, a long winding street which was more like a tourist trap. We were dropped off at one end and walked to the other, where we met our bus again the most hidden Starbucks in the world. Because this ‘artist’ area tries for authenticity they did not want Starbucks to show their logo or name, so one is able to get a coffee, but you have to know how to find the nameless shop. Flakes of snow were falling as we ended our day and gladly headed back to the ship for some hot tea and a drink in the Martini Lounge.
March 10 – Last Day at Sea
We are now sailing back across the Yellow Sea, to get to Tianjin tomorrow morning, where the cruise officially ends. So we spent the day doing all the last minute things: exchanging business cards, packing suitcases to put them outside our cabin by 10:30 at night, filling out critique sheets about the trip, and having one last dinner in the Grand Dining room before retiring early.
It was a good cruise, if not a great one. The destination ports met all our requirements, except for Ko Samui, Thailand; we met interesting people on board, and we loved our days at sea, but something was missing. We couldn’t put our fingers on it but it was something in the service and the food that just didn’t match our Nautica trip last year, so that at the end of this cruise we’re not sure we have to ever take a Oceania trip again….but that’s now. Who knows what we’ll think in a few years’ time.
But now we’re on to our private tour of Beijing, and we’re both very excited!
No comments:
Post a Comment