Its that tme again! Blogging from Backpackers-Korea hostel in Sinseol-Dong, Seoul central. Its my last night here in wonderful South Korea, and its been another very eventful week. Here's a quick summary:

Day 1: Arrived early evening, totally had the M*A*S*H theme song stuck in my head, was at first rather dissapointed with the hostel location but that changed quickly. Great staff, english-speaking and good for a laugh, subway is close and gets you anywere in 15 minutes. Had my first Korean bbq with some Englishmen, korean style setup with steel chopsticks and sitting on the floor, really tasty beef with kimchi and korean vodka (soju)!

Day 2: Walked around Seoul to do a little sightseeing. went to Gyeongbukgung palace where the king used to live, guided tour in english was Hillarious! Gorgeous old temple buildings and the guards putting on a traditional show for us was just icing on the cake. Met an australian dude that i went out with to the Hongik university area for a few drinks and more korean bbq:)

Day 3: This is a perfect example of my style of backpacking. I really dont know much about whats good to do in some of the places im traveling to, so when I get to the hostel ill ask around and hear whats worth seeing. Today i went bungee jumping for the first time! and it was epic! I traveled 4,5 hours to get there (nowhere near my designated time of arrival) and only 2 hours to get back. I got to see a part of Korea that was really stunning. Clear blue sky, quiet open fields and the most breathtaking mountains ive seen in asia. I actually got off at the wrong train station (one too many) and ended up sitting for 20 minutes at an empty station in the middle of the countryside. Had a moment of zen out there ill tell you. Avg 10 degrees in the city, must have been over 20 in the countryside, soo good. When i got to the bungee place it was pretty deserted but that turned out to be a good thing, no que! 50m jump into the water and all the instructions i got from the non-english speaking instructor was ''1,2,3 BIG JUMP!'' Travelled for 7 hours total for 3 seconds of fun. Totally worth it.

Day 4: And this is the story of when Mattis went to North Korea. Once upon a time there was a country named Korea. They had a war in the 1950s which seperated it into two parts, the north and south. Long story short, South Korea, fun, for the people and not hostile...North Korea, communist, blocked off from the rest of the world, and a bloody scary place dictated by the same family for almost 3 generations.

Basically how this works is that no man woman or child is allowed into north korea unless your on a tour, guided by the UN/American military stationed at the border. Thats what i did. The tour is called DMZ & Panmunjeom. DMZ stand for ''Demilitarize Zone'' and is the line in-between the border. The stretch of land between the two countries is a 4km non-armed area with 2km on each side of the J.S.A (Joint Security Area) which is the one single place north koreans will discuss international affairs with the UN. This is where they took us.

First stop on the bus from Seoul is a checkpoint approx. 3kms from the JSA or 1km from the south korean DMZ line. An american military offical got on the bus and checked everyones passport and we rolled on. Arriving at the DMZ line, we were informed from that point on not to take any pictures before they said it was okay, we were not to bring anything but our cameras (not even camera case) and if you brought a jacket you must wear it at all times, no carrying basically. Starting to feel the seriousness of the situation! We changed buses and got on an official DMZ bus which took us to Camp Bonifas which is the UN's Command Security Force JSA area and home of all the soldiers stationed at the border. We were given an official military briefing on the situation and had to sign a contract stating we accepted and understood the methods and proceedures of the tour. Never payed such close attention to anything in.my.life.

Briefing completed, next stop, the JSA. I can honestly say there arent many things that scare me, but I had fear instilled in me just before entering this place. We were told when you see the guards, dont make eye-contact, dont gesture towards them, dont point, dont take pictures, dont wave, nothing. They know taekwondo and will not hesitate to punch you in the chest. Right. So we formed two single lines and marched with the american guard through a safe house to the other side where we had our first sight of North korean territory. Today, the only place where border crossings are allowed is inside the conference buildings of the Military Armistice Comission (MAC) and this is the room where I officially set foot on North Korean soil. I got one photo, thats it.

After that we continued the tour around some of the points of interest, guard towers overseeing the border, ''the bridge of no return'', ''ax murder incident site'', ''the third infiltration tunnel'' which was completely insane in its own rite! The north koreans built a tunnel, 200 metres underground from their side of the DMZ line, alltheway to underneath Seoul city! 4 tunnels have been discovered, many more are believed to still exist. Off bus, gift shop, back to Seoul.

There is more to tell from this incradible tour but i just cant fit it all in, ask me when you see me:)

Day 5: Last day in South-Korea, went with two canadian girls to Seoul Tower which is the highest building in Korea. Great veiws over the city and an amazingly beauitful autumn day made the cable car ride up and the walk down the mountain something special to rememeber.

Overall impression of South-Korea: Modern, high-tech & friendly like Japan, cheap like China. Unique and the envy of many other asian countries! Absolutely want to come back one day. Kamsamnida korea!

Mattis