When Chinese New Year 2012 came round, I found myself living in Hong Kong, my new home. It would almost have been too obvious to spend the new year at home in Hong Kong, and when I found out I had 8 days off work, it meant booking another trip. I toyed with the idea Read more about From Teaching in Yuen Long🇭🇰To Drinking in Manila, Philippines🇵🇭[…]
Having just stepped across the border into North Korea as casual as you like, it was time for a rare sight. Something that you won’t see often in your lifetime. The third highest national flag on a single flag pole in the world, FLYING HALF MAST. The reason? Kim Jong Il had just died. Read more about DMZ Tour Part 9: Flag at Half Mast, North Korea🇰🇵[…]
On a cold afternoon with a clear sky ahead and a beating down sun, Panny Yu and I stepped nonchalantly across the border from South Korea into North Korea. Or, as it should be officially from the Republic of Korea into the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. This border is one of the most Read more about DMZ Tour Part 8: Stepping Into North Korea🇰🇵At Panmunjom[…]
After lunch somewhere in the DMZ, we changed buses, and our new bus was heading to Camp Bonifas and into the JSA – Joint Security Area. Don’t worry if all these acronyms and constant place names confuse you, they sure as hell confused the life out of me, and even after research I’m still baffled Read more about DMZ Tour Part 7: Camp Bonifas, The JSA and Crazy Golf[…]
Lunch in the DMZ was next up on the agenda. We ate at a tiny wee roadside restaurant near Imjingak, just south of the actual North Korea border. The countryside was immense and on Christmas Eve, a land covered in snow gave a dreamlike impression. Something that I longed for in childhood. The restaurant. The Read more about DMZ Tour Part 6: Lunch in the DMZ[…]
In 2004 I flirted with the idea of visiting the Caribbean, with my childhood friend Michael McClelland. The reason being, we were mad Northern Ireland fans and Northern Ireland organised a 2 week tour of the tropical islands as a warm up for the 2006 World Cup qualifiers. However, the tour was confirmed in 2003, Read more about Caracas🇻🇪 To The Caribbean – 7 Years Too Late…[…]
After Dorasan Station, it was time to visit an area known as Imjingak, a settlement right by “Freedom Bridge”, a bridge which links North Korea to South Korea (basically), but is not in use. We crossed the Imjin river on our tour bus and ended up at Imjingak, which to me seemed like a touristy Read more about DMZ Tour Part 5: Imjingak[…]
With the sun beating down to hide a false temperature in the South Korean snow, we were heading on the road to Pyongyang, North Korea, just near Dorasan Station. An unfamiliar eerie-ness accompanied the trip to Dorasan, from Paju. The significance of Dorasan Station is that it’s in South Korea, but the track connects to Read more about DMZ Tour Part 4: Dorasan Station – “Next Train To Pyongyang, Please!”[…]
At Paju, Panny and I were able to go into the third tunnel. This “work of art” was allegedly built by the North Koreans to gain a secret access and gateway into South Korea, one of many that have been found. You can wear what you like, as long as you have a blue hard Read more about DMZ Tour Part 3: The Third Tunnel[…]
Apart from the fact that “Paju” is a city of apparently 375,000, I sensed it’s real purpose could be as a northern protection point for Seoul in case of any attempted invasion or attack from North Korea. However, the city itself appears to be rather “fake”, and a lot of this is owed to the Read more about DMZ Tour Part 2: Paju[…]