One of my shortest visits but definitely a memorable one! Everything was just so... Korean! The food, the fashion, the people! I really enjoyed it!

It was about 6pm by the time I reached my hostel on Monday night. The people at my hostel are really lovely and mostly all came for the DMZ as well haha! I headed out for dinner and ended up at TGIFridays. I got a cocktail called Strawberry Shortcake which was delicious!!

Tuesday was Korean National Liberation Day so it was cool to be there for that! Also cool that North Korea also still celebrates this day! There were a bunch of events happening to celebrate but the weather was pretty crappy. I went to Seodaemun Prison, which was free entry for the holiday, to learn about the suffrage of Koreans during Japanese occupation. It was really interesting reading about all the conflicts between them and how many still remain to this day. In the evening I went to a free concert in the city centre. It was pouring rain so I didn't stay for long (however was given a free umbrella which made it a lot more bearable!). It was mostly classical music but it echoed really nicely off all the surrounding buildings! It was cool to see so much pride and patriotism from the South Korean people. On my way home I noticed gas masks in emergency containers in the train station. I hadn't really felt unsafe until I saw this. It was pretty intense knowing that an attack could come at any moment and that there was probably only 100 masks in this huge station which I'm sure is supposed to be reassuring but I can math and I know it's not enough if s*** goes wrong!!

Wednesday morning I got up early and had dumplings for breakfast! I was picked up for my DMZ tour at the hostel along with a couple of other guys from Canada who were cool. We got taken around to where the coaches were. The Canadians went on a different bus so I sat next to a girl named Norma who is Irish but working in Japan at the moment. We spent most the day together which was really nice exchanging opinions and travel stories! About 9am we got to the DMZ and had to get our passports checked as we entered. He didn't check that intensely on the way in but it was pretty intimidating none the less. Our first stop was the tourist centre and the third tunnel. We began by watching a video which was essentially pro-South Korean propaganda! It seemed like an ad for an American blockbuster the way they presented it! The third tunnel is one of the tunnels which were discovered that led from the North and reached as close as 40km from Seoul. There were 4 total which were apparently intended for simultaneous attack on the South. I'm trying to write in a balanced way but should say that I feel very angry about the bad rap the North gets and how everyone thinks the South is perfect. Anyways, next we went down the third tunnel. It was actually a fair way down at the beginning, like it's a fair way under ground! At the end you can see through the door to the next section but they've put up 3 secure doors so I wouldn't say I felt scared. The walk back up was a bit of a workout haha but it was only probably 10 minutes each way. Our next stop was a lookout where we could see across into North Korea where the Gaesong complex is. This area was used up until 2002/3 when relations were good and South Koreans actually went across to help train North Korean workers in the factories there and it was a very normal, very operational city with working lights/plumbing/transport whilst the 50000 or so people worked there. It's now completely deserted. My issue is that if the situation in the North is as bad as the media and governments would have us believe, why haven't they dismantled this city and moved it further north? I understand not being sitting ducks just over the border but in the case of dire circumstances surely they wouldn't leave so much deserted! Our last stop for the day was Dorasan Station which was once a working train station and is referred to as "not the last station from the south but the first station towards the north". I think my biggest take away from the tour was just how much the South want unity again but on their terms. Our tour leader kept saying things like "we are one family, we should be one Korea". And yes this is where I will rant because I think there are lots of things the South does which are not okay. For example, they give so much s*** to the north for brainwashing and not teaching people about democracy and free choice but in schools in South Korea (and indeed online when I tried to google!) it is not allowed to learn about communism or Nuche which is the philosophy of the North. I also don't think unity can be reached when South Korea won't compromise on political ideology even a little bit! I had a really good day and it was awesome to see everything with my own eyes. I would love to go to the North but expense is an issue with limited tours and high costs. When we got back to Seoul we had lunch with our tour group. Norma and I sat with a father and son from Britain who were really cool! The son was studying politics and so we started talking brexit and David Cameron! For dinner I went ans had chicken fajitas which were really yum and then just chilled in my hostel for the night, everyone was watching game of thrones haha!

Thursday I went out exploring again. I actually got asked for directions by 2 guys from Egypt and was pretty proud of myself when I knew the answer - I'm practically a local now haha! I went to the national war museum which was really interesting to learn more about the Korean War and I did a tour which gave a lot of insight. Our group actually had an American soldier in it, the leader thanked him for his service which was interesting to see. I picked up a free book about the war while I was there so spent the afternoon at a cafe eating cheesecake and reading that! On

Friday I got up and headed to the airport. It is a pretty small airport and you have to catch buses out to the planes. Off to Beijing for a few days before finishing up and heading back to Malaysia!