A couple of weeks ago, a couple of friends/fellow Det 2 wives and I flew to Korea to visit our guys.
We flew Space Available, which if free, but does not give guaranteed tickets (which is key info for later).
The flight there went really well. It's a short trip, under 2 hours. We flew into Suwon, South Korea, then a bus took us to Osan Air Base, where we had to wait an extra night for the guys. Rough seas kept them from pulling in as scheduled.
We stayed three nights in Seoul at the Dragon Hill Lodge, a military hotel on the US Army base in a GREAT location. There are frequent shuttle buses to and from the various bases too for military members (*cough* get on that, Japan *cough*).
The first thing we did the next morning was get on a bus for the DMZ.
It was creepy. And the creepiest part isn't even that you're looking at North Korea (that's just disturbing). It's kind of treated like just a tourist attraction. We had to stop for tickets before the bus could drive into the DMZ, and the ticket place has a carnival ride. An actual fairground ride. It's one of those big boats that swing back and forth. So we got our tickets (bypassed the ride), and then proceeded through the very formal military checkpoint into the DMZ.
This is North Korea. It's a view of the joint industrial complex , a real village, and a fake village. Yep. A fake village to show everyone looking at them from South Korea how prosperous they are.
You can put a coin into the super powerful binoculars and see people walking around, just see North Korean citizens. You can also espy a gigantic statue of Kim Il Sung.
Next, some pictures of the "first train station on the way to North Korea," and not the "last station in South Korea." There's a whole wall outside with the names of people who contributed to building this including our tour guide.
We received train tickets (that of course, didn't work), and were also able to go down to the platform.
We also took a trip down, down, down, and into the third tunnel. It is number three of five, that North Korea dug toward South Korea for an eventual invasion. When South Korea found the tunnel, the North denied it knew anything about it. In fact, they suggested it was South Korea that had dug them, despite the dynamite holes facing south.
Oh, and after they admitted they'd dug it, they then said it was a tunnel for coal mining... despite the fact that it's a grante-rich area with no coal... and the "coal" down there was just granite smeared with coal dust. True story.
It was definitely the most interesting part of the trip. The prettiest, however, was Gyeongbokgung Palace in Seoul. This is the main gate:
Pretty impressive.
The grounds are huge, and the South Korean government is still rebuilding most of the buildings from the ground up. They were almost completely destroyed by the Japanese.
The main hall inside is huge, and made very carefully to blend into the natural landscape around Seoul.
They also had a very cool way of heating the buildings:
The buildings are built on, of course, granite. That little door is where they would build fires to heat the rooms and floors during the winter.
The picture above is of the guardians that guard the four cardinal directions.
My eyes are closed in that one, but it's the best picture I have.
The best part of Seoul? The food. Sooooooo good. Korean BBQ first and foremost. We ate twice at the Maple Tree House in the Itaewon area. Itaewon has great restaurants and nightlife, and is close to the US Army base.
We ate once for the Korean BBQ and went again for the Bibimbap.
Bibimbap is kind of the best food ever. It's rice and veg and whatever else, but the best part is that it's served in a piping-hot stone bowl, which makes the rice on the bottom all crispy and amazing. Buyer beware, it's not always served in a hot bowl, so ask before you order. Or just go out and buy stone bowls and make them yourself. I may be pricing some on Amazon.
The time flew by. Seoul has so much to see and do. It was a great trip, and interesting to see the country and city where I was born. We all took the bus back to Osan and the guys took yet another bus back to the ship. The ladies and I shared a room, and hoped to fly Space Available the next day, or the day after that.
Aaaaand that did not happen.
Weather delayed the flight, and then another flight, and though we wanted to be home on Wednesday, lo, we did not arrive home until Friday night.
An extra three days in Osan were not on the schedule, and turned out to be pretty inconvenient once we found out that we weren't allowed to shop on the base stores. There is a strict rationing policy for US forces in Korea. Each family gets a ration card, and if your sponsor is not in their system, you cannot shop. In Japan and America (and hopefully other countries), anyone authorized to use the stores (active duty, dependents, retirees, etc), can use them on any base.
So, the three of us spent a lot of time drinking margaritas at Chili's. The good news is that they have a Krispy Kreme in the food court.
So, we left on a down note, but we didn't care because we finally, finally, got a flight out.
