DMZ trip with Gryphon

We finished reading some books about the Korean War in school, and so it seemed like a good time to visit the Demilitarized Zone (commonly, the DMZ) that divides north and South Korea.
You can't just pile in your car and drive up there, only authorized tour groups run through the USO are allowed past the Imjin river. So we rode a bus with lots of other people, most of whom were *not* US military or citizens. There were people from Israel, Germany, Switzerland, the UK and Australia on the tour with us.

The first stop was the UN base in the middle of the DMZ, and Panmunjom, where talks between north and south (and the various other countries involved) take place. This is where you step "into" north Korea while inside the blue building to Gryphon's left. Only, it was CLOSED because of swine flu, of all things. And, the weather was very bad, so we mostly just stayed under the eaves and I didn't take many pictures (didn't want the camera wet!). The arrow points to a north Korean soldier standing on the steps (also staying out of the rain) on the north Korean side. Gryphon loves the DMZ, can you tell? It was really a bummer not to get to go in.Here is a South Korean MP, who are dressed very snappily, with reflective sunglasses and super shiny boots, standing guard. Too wet to get a close up! They stand in a Taekwondo stance, and only very tall soldiers are chosen for this job. Next stop was the Third Tunnel, an infiltration tunnel dug by the north under the DMZ to sneak troops in. This had really changed since I was here last- last time I went, it was just a hole in the ground you walked into, with a guard at the end who sat in a chair and stared at the north end, presumably to stop anyone coming in from that side. Now, there is a movie on the Korean War, a tram that takes people down, and its been filled in with cement and water, so no guard required at the dividing line. Drat!
Here is Gryphon getting ready to don her hard hat before we went down. There was a "no pictures" rule, so I left the camera in a locker as requested. Of course, virtually no one else on the tour did, and they were all snapping pictures the whole way down! Next time, I'm bringing the camera!

Gryphon may be grumpy at the DMZ, but as you can see, she finds landmines fabulous. Actually, despite the rain and cancelled portions of the trip, we had a great time together. We are going to go back in the summer, when visibility is better. (I didn't even bother to take photos from the observation areas, where on a clear day you can see Kaesong, because it was so foggy.) And the swine flu (Korea is completely ridiculous about swine flu) is over, too!