The trip began at 11:30 on Friday night. Matt and I left Suji at about 9:30 and hopped on the 1550 bus to Yangjae station. From there we rode the train to the Nambu Express Bus Terminal, located inside the Shinsegae department store in Gangnam. We didn't know exactly where the bus was going to pick us up from this point, so we waited around for quite a while until Matt finally managed to see the bus a bit down the road from where we were waiting, so we were able to get on board. I sat next to an Irish girl named Keri, and off we went.
The bus ride was quite long. It took us about six hours to get to our first destination, and during that entire time, I could not make myself get to sleep. It became nearly-painfully warm inside the bus, and anyone who knows me will tell you I cannot sleep when it's too hot. I spent most of the trip instead listening to music that I thought would get me to sleep but unfortunately did not.
After a few rest stops, we finally arrived at our first destination: a beautiful beach near the Eastern part of the DMZ (still on the South side).
As you can see, the sun was just starting to light up the sky out over the sea. We loitered on the beach for about an hour, watching the sun rise and eating a quick breakfast (mine was a delicious dish I call "M & Ms with water").
We left the rest stop at the beach and continued North. We stopped to change buses at what appeared to be some sort of tourist stop not far from the beach, and after that short interruption, we headed for border control. Our tour guide talked us through the events of the trip as we neared the border. When we finally got there, we had to leave the bus and walk through metal detectors, passport checks and the usual rigamarole on the South Korean side of the DMZ. Then, we finally left South Korean land.The first thing I noticed about the DMZ was that it is strikingly beautiful. There is obviously very little development (other than the road we were traveling on, a series of fences and the aborted inter-Korean railroad), and the scenery was breathtaking. What surprised me was how much it reminded me of the Badlands in South Dakota. Lots of exposed, bleached rock outcroppings, scrubbly brush growth, and dusty ground. The ocean to our right as we traveled North, our tour guide announced our official entry into North Korea - or at least the North Korean side of the DMZ.
Getting through customs on the North Korean side of the DMZ was another matter altogether. We were approximately halfway through a long line of buses (probably 40 in all) creeping slowly toward the customs tent. Here the scenery was even more stark and beautiful, and I got a good long view of it because eventually the line of buses came to a complete halt. About every 50 meters along the side of the road were posted North Korean soldiers, almost completely motionless, holding red flags in their right hands. Our tour guide told us that if they saw any tourists in the buses taking photographs, they would raise the red flag and stop the entire line of buses. This was what we assumed had happened. However, much to our surprise, soon other soldiers came over and instructed us to get out of the buses.
We grabbed our luggage and started walking toward the tent, in front of the stationary soldiers who were watching us carefully. As it turns out, two of the buses ahead of us in line had had a minor collision, which brought the whole process to a standstill. When we finally got to the customs tent, our entry was actually fairly straightforward and uneventful. We lined up and waited for what was probably about 40 minutes while the same song played over and over (some hokey tune with lyrics that translated to "Welcome!" over and over again). Apparently, there was also somebody dressed up in a bear suit, but that particularly wonderful detail escaped my attention.
We got on another set of buses and continued to Onjunggak, our destination and the location of the hotel, restaurants, and branching-off points for the two trips we would take during the rest of the weekend. It was very strange to have such a spread-out little oasis of South Korean business in the rugged mountain landscape, which was just as striking as it had been in the DMZ. And finally, I was once again allowed to take pictures:
The large building on the left of the picture is our hotel. It was ultramodern and seemed very out of place with the rest of the experience. However, in this shot you can see the rugged landscape that surrounds Onjunggak.
And here's me representing the Alma Mater in North Korea.From the plaza at Onjunggak, we didn't even have time to unpack and move into the hotel before they loaded us onto a smaller set of buses and we began what I have since referred to as "Mr. Kim's Wild Ride."
The buses first drove us North out of Onjunggak Plaza and past the hotel available for North Korean visitors to the plaza. While I was not allowed to take any pictures at this point, I should mention that this hotel was shockingly reminiscent of the Tower of Terror at Disneyworld. While at some point it was clearly a very nice establishment, the cobblestones in the parking lot were overgrown with grass, and vines crept up the pillars in the facade of the building. The windows looked dusty and unwashed, and there was absolutely no sign of life save a very short and sharply dressed Doorman who approached our buses as we slowed to a stop.
On the other side of the buses from the hotel was a rather large mural of Kim Il-Sung and Kim Jong-Il, the father and son legendary leaders of North Korea. Our tour guide announced that these two were referred to as "Dear Leader" and "Great Leader," respectively. We also weren't allowed to use their actual names while in North Korea, so we had to adopt these names as well. Our entire tour group assembled for a photograph in front of the mural, a photograph we weren't allowed to take ourselves. This was the tiny doorman's job, apparently, to handle all the photo-taking of the sacred mural. Our South Korean tour guide couldn't find room to squeeze in, so he lay casually in front of the group, something which caused us all to laugh. This apparently made the doorman very angry, as he refused to take the picture until our guide assumed a more dignified position.
This little stop over, we began to ascend the mountain to our first hiking destination. Again, I wasn't allowed to take pictures during this part of the tour (although I could have easily managed it), but I will try to encapsulate the experience for you.
First, imagine the weirdest carnival music you've ever heard. Take a calliope and play it backwards, add in highly-synthesized piano and a cheap drum machine 2-4 march beat. Now play it at double speed, through crappy speakers, and way too loud. This is the music that was pounding through the bus as we caromed up the mountainside. It was like a low-budget Disneyworld run through with a fine-toothed Communist comb to remove anything of musical value.
Second, the bus was traveling about three times faster than any sane bus driver would take this mountain road. The road was about 70% switchbacks, and so I felt like a pinball improbably bouncing uphill through dense woods and out over questionably-stable stone bridges over a dry riverbed. I'm sure the scenery outside was beautiful, but I was too busy holding myself into my seat to really enjoy it. I swear the bus was up on two wheels at least three times.
Third, there were these... statues occasionally popping up along the side of the road. They depicted a number of "friendly" forest friends, anthropomorphic animals along the lines of Mickey Mouse or Donald Duck. But let me tell you, friends, these animals came not from the mind of Walt Disney, but instead from the depths of Hell. I sadly couldn't take pictures of these horrors (we were moving too fast, anyway), but at the top of the mountain there was a little tableau of three of them. These pictures are not for the weak of heart.
So, that's a... raccoon-bear thing missing his hand, an overweight pig with what appears to be a stein of beer, and a slightly menacing rabbit with green panties. I have no idea what the significance of these concrete and long-faded paint statuettes are, but they lined our ride up to the top. And is it just me, or does the bouquet of flowers the rabbit is holding look a lot more like a mace? Add to that the fact that all three have RED EYES and the menace is complete.After that bizarre nightmarish carnival ride, we arrived at our first destination: Manmulsang. Despite the forbidding spectre of those three animals at the foot of the path, Manmulsang was strikingly beautiful. The hike was very difficult, at times quite steep and winding, and rather long, but the view from the top was definitely worth it. Allow me to share a few of the highlights.
This was just beginning up the trail. I'll just shut up for a bit and let the pictures speak for themselves.
Hey, who's that sweaty creep at the summit? But nice glasses!So, after a much easier and less eventful descent (although it did involve a stop at a spring blessed by Dear Leader himself and guaranteed to extend your life by thirty years per eight onces, it was running very slowly so I figure I only got about 3 extra years out of it), we rode the buses back to Onjunggak and checked into the hotel. Bear in mind I still had not got more than about an hour of sleep in the last 48 hours, so I was wiped out. Rather than hit the natural hot spring spa, Matt and I decided to get a good three-hour nap to prepare for nighttime activities.
Thus concludes part one of my North Korea entry (finally)! Expect a faster turnaround rate for the next two parts, as well as perhaps a few interloping entries about what I'm actually up to these days (over two months after my trip to NK). Bis dann!
