A very exciting day today, we’re heading North… all the way to the Demilitarised Zone.The no mans land between two worlds, that of South and North Korea. We got to our tour bus nice and early and met our lovely, informative guide. After a quick passport check (needed to cross into the DMZ) we were off and running.

Our first stop was the peace park, which is a bizarre mix of amusement park, reunification hopes for peace type monument and memorial to the fallen soldiers from the countries who fought and fell on the side of the South in the Korean War, respite with a massive statue of general MacArthur, credited with ‘holding the line’ of South Korea and considered by South Koreans to be a big time hero.

Our next stop was the Dora observatory, offering panoramic views of the distant North Korean landscape, complete with propaganda village, a fake village built to convince onlookers that North Korea is the place to be. We were lucky to have a clear day and with the help of the binoculars we were able to get a decent view and grab a coffee in the canteen and watch some informative films before heading to our next stop.

The third tunnel dug by North Korea beneath the DMZ was discovered in the 1970s. and was built to facilitate a possible invasion. There are thought to be more of its kind, happily none of which have been put to use (yet). We walked the length of the tunnel as far as it went, thankfully this wasn’t too far North and after picking up some gifts, we explored the nearby museum and outdoor area, complete with tank and symbols of the hopes for reconciliation at sometime in the future.

Our guide was excellent throughout, telling of the harrowing journey defectors had made to escape the North and how they would smuggle North Korean currency with them to sell as it’s a valuable oddity in the South. She also told how North Korea worshipped Kim Jong II and how they’d been told all kinds of nutty stuff about him, like him being able to walk at two weeks old and talk at 8 weeks, apparently his Son was a chip off the old block and a child genius. Funny, but also kinda sad for the people who live there.

Our last stop was an all you can eat buffet, South Korean style which was quite nice. To round things off we did some shopping and I insisted on getting some predictably shit, but nonetheless extremely rare DMZ cognac. Result.