North Korea

A couple of weekends ago I took a trip with Britani to North Korea.  A country that is at war with South Korea, and a country that is on the United State's list of State Sponsors of Terrorism.  People are starving, and citizens who cross the border (intentionally or not) are shot without a second thought.  

Basically life for non-military people sucks there.

Except for where we went.  

We left Busan around 7 PM, and took the 3 hour KTX (speed train) ride to Seoul to meet up with the Adventure Korea travel group hosting the trip.  In all there were 2 buses full of foreigners, and we headed off for the border around 12:30 AM.

The trip to the DMZ (demilitarized zone between N. and S. Korea) was long - we didn't get through the immigration office until around 10 AM Saturday morning.  But the excitement of going through such a historically significant place and seeing the 2 militaries still squaring off with each other woke everyone up, despite not having got any sleep.

We finally arrived at Mount Geumgangsan mid-day.  The pictures tell the story and give you an indication just how beautiful it was that weekend - and that's all that needs to be said on that. (PICTURES HERE)

But what really got me overall was just how utterly fake the entire trip was.  Military personnel were scattered throughout the town, especially on the edges, and waved you away with a scowl if you wandered too far away from the happy world they had set up to show you just how great North Korea was.  The whole "town", if you could call it that, was obviously built for South Korean and foreign tourists.  The buildings were new, the restaurants were clean and delicious, the people were friendly, the hotel was spotless and beautiful....... and I couldn't help but wonder if there were people starving to death on the other side of the mountain while we were wandering around the duty-free store looking at North Face jackets and Rolex watches.  It just seemed altogether unfair, and I still feel eerie thinking about it.

To their credit though, the hiking was phenomenal, the Adventure Korea staff members were GREAT hosts, and I'd recommend the trip to anyone.

And of course, for some positive closing inspiration, a (short) True Story of a Grateful Whale.