You are not allowed to take pictures but I found this out after I had already taken one. Apparently they sometimes come on the bus and make you delete pictures but this did not happen to me. At this point you have to get out your passport. Then the bus zigzags through a maze to get us to the JSA. I think it is so no one can blast on through either way so there are these barricades set up forcing you to swerve from right to left, left to right. Once we got to the JSA a US solider came on the bus. He would be our tour guide for the trip. For most of the trip camera are restricted so you’ll have to see the postcards I bought. Once at the JSA visitor’s center we had a briefing in an auditorium. The DMZ/JSA was expecting over a 1000 visitors the day I went so the soldier had to talk fast. It is a 15 minute memorized speech with a slide show of the history of North and South Korea. It showed maps 
and their 
dictator and president at the time. It was awful to see how the North invaded the South with no warning and completely took over the country in just three days. The North had been preparing. However, after the UN stepped in they quickly forced North Korea back to their own territory but unfortunately they had destroyed 90% of Seoul. When the briefing ended you were allowed to go to the bathroom. Everything was super strict including how we walked and dressed. On the way there are 2 villages so close to the border. Their population is very small, like 600. The only way to live in the village as an outsider is for a woman to marry in. No man can enter unless they are already there! They are farmers who are protected by the government. Usually as they farm there is a solider nearby since there are so many land mines in the area. You could see caution signs everywhere. By living in such a dangerous are the government gives them some perks. They pay no taxes, are guaranteed the same pay $80-100,000 a year even if their crops don’t sell, and the boys do not have to do the mandatory military requirement of two years. I enjoyed those facts. They typically grow rice and ginseng. You can easily spot the rice and the ginseng is covered in blue/black tents, which makes It easy to spot too. Our US soldier told us about the wildlife here. There are lots since the land has been untouched since the 1950’s. The strangest animal is called a vampire deer. I guess they do not tell the newbies about them and when the soldiers go for their run the vampire deer often charge at you since they are blind. This apparently is quite comical to the soldiers. The next location we visited was the Joint Security Area. Here we stood in a single file line looking at North Korea 
while a communist soldier used binoculars to stare us down and we were told take pictures of all of us. The Blue Buildings are the meeting rooms and are split in half by North and South. You are able to cross the line and
stand in North Korea but it is of course guarded. The silver short one on the right is North Korea’s which the USA and South Korea call the Monkey House 
since the North often shouts insults, curse words, and flips them off. The left silver building is for the Swiss, Poles, and Czechs 
who are neutral. We went inside the middle blue building and were able to see where they meet and discuss matters. It could someday be this place where the two countries reunite although that doesn’t seem too promising. We left there and went to another visitor’s center to peruse a gift shop. Everything was rushed and there was a feeling of tension in the air. After the JSA we went to a park to have lunch. The park has a small amusement park for entertainment because sometimes you have to wait long periods for your tour especially if they are conducting a military exercise. At the park there is a bell
that will hopefully be rung when the countries reunite. There is also a rock wall with rocks 
from all the countries that fought in a war who support South Korea. From here we could see the railroad bridge that has only been used once for a train
and that was to test it. Someday they are hoping it will easily connect the two countries. After the war was over it was used briefly for cars and walking people. We also saw a pool 
made in the shape of both Koreas which was next to the Freedom Bridges. 
It was on this bridge that many prisoners of war walked back to their “side”. We also saw a monument for all the families that were split up. 
Many South Koreans come here on Thanksgiving to mourn their loss since they have absolutely no contact with anyone in the North. After that we had lunch. The choices were bulgogi or bimbibap. 
Since I just had bimbibap I had the bubbling pot of delicious bulgogi with the sides. There were more gift shops to look at so I explored and bought some wild grape wine that is made in North Korea. Since the schedule was packed we were then rushed to the DMZ. 
Here there is an information center and one of the three found tunnels. North Korea claims they did not make the tunnels but they are sloped in the direction coming from the North and the dynamite is facing the south. 30,000 troops can be through to the other side in an hour. Four tunnels have been found so far to this day. Three tunnels were found by digging holes and pouring water in, if the water bubbles up that means there is dynamite indicating a tunnel. 
The last was found by satellite. The tunnels are deep. The one we went in was 73 meters below the ground. They think there are 17 more tunnels that they haven’t yet found. Scary! We climbed the ramp to the furthest point we could go. It was pretty steep incline and was 2 meters tall and 2 meters deep. We had to wear hardhats, but never once did my head hit. There was a tram but a school group was using it so we had to walk back up. It was about 2.4 km. It was cool, wet, and dark inside like a cave. All the dynamite holes were marked with yellow paint. The North Koreans mean business. The visitor’s center had mini models of the area we were exploring. It helped put it in to perspective. 
The last stop was the observatory center. 
Here there were binoculars to see to North Korea. The bad part was it was super foggy so my camera did not capture anything but I did get to see North Korea. Another thing is you can only take photos from a specific line 
so you have to hold your camera above your head and shoot. You can see a village there. Hyundai also has a factory you can see where South Koreans supervise the North Koreans for a decent wage. This is because the man who started Hyundai was from the North and he wanted to help his country. He is no longer living and I am not sure if he lived to see his dream come true. The funny thing about the village is right on the borders are two flag poles. North Korea had to make sure their pole was taller so it is 160 meters and the South’s is 100 meters. They have to be bigger and better! 
The flag is so bit that is weighs 600 pounds when dry! This was the last stop of the day. A quick trip to the restroom revealed a funny sign. 
From here most of us took naps as the bus took us back to the hustle and bustle of Seoul. Of course we were given a gift from K.U. It was a magnet. It was a wonderful excursion!
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