During our South Korea trip, our son’s one and only request was to go to the DMZ. Now there are numerous tours of the DMZ, but it’s up to you to choose which combination of places to go to. I watched videos and read blogs before finally settling on a DMZ Tour featuring the Majang Lake Suspension Bridge. This tour would cover Majang Lake, Imjingak, Unification Village, Dora Observatory, and the Third Tunnel. Unfortunately, photography is now prohibited at the Dora Observatory and the Third Tunnel.
Majang Lake was definitely the highlight of this tour. It’s very picturesque. If in season, it’s a cherry blossom viewing site as well. The walk around the lake is relatively tame. There is no extreme uphill climb or anything difficult for someone with no mobility issues. Wheelchairs cannot be wheeled onto the bridge though so there’s that.
The Majang Lake Suspension Bridge opens at 9am so we had to wait for a few minutes before we could cross it. Since there were 2-3 tour buses making a stop at the same time, there were quite a lot of people. If you want the bridge all to yourself, you may want to opt for a private tour.
The bridge is long and it wobbles a bit but it’s overall pretty stable.
It’s a lot colder in this area compared to Seoul. The platform around the lake is even and easy to walk on.
Our next stop was Imjingak. It features several monuments and memorials related to the Korean War, separated families, and hopes for reunification. This is the Mangbaedan Memorial Altar where North Koreans in South Korea visit and perform their ancestral rites, bowing towards the direction of their hometown.
These ribbons contain messages from South Koreans to their family members in the north.
This bullet-riddled steam locomotive at Imjingak was used to haul supplies during the Korean War. It was the last train to cross the Korean border.
This is the Bridge of Freedom, which is more of a symbolic monument rather than an actual usable bridge. It was installed to pay respects to the displaced people who died yearning for their family and hometown in North Korea. After Imjingak, we boarded the bus to go to the Unification Village where we had a simple, homecooked buffet lunch. It consisted mostly of pork and vegetables, costing 15,000 won per person. There was seaweed soup too. It was not bad at all. The DMZ is famous for its rice, soybeans, and ginseng. I regret not getting more soybeans lol, I quite liked it.
We drove by the Crash Landing On You shooting location on our way to Dora Observatory and the Third Tunnel. Photos were no longer allowed after this point.
Dora Observatory features an upward sloping path towards the facility. Inside are huge windows that show you a nice view of the North Korean Propaganda Village. You can clearly see the North Korean flag without any magnifying tools. We could also hear South Korea blasting loud K-pop music towards North Korea at full volume — DNA by BTS to be exact while we were there.
Our last stop was the Third Tunnel. Before going inside, our tour guide warned us that the place is not recommended for asthmatic or claustrophobic people, seniors, and people with heart issues. Basically you don a hard hat and walk downwards through the tunnel that North Koreans dug in order to infiltrate South Korea. The tunnel is 1.6km long and has a steep slope so it requires a certain level of physical fitness to traverse. Hubby and daughter gave up halfway while my son and I finished it to the very end. If you make it to the end you would be 170m away from North Korea. Going down was pretty okay, it’s going back up to the surface that poses a challenge due to the steepness of the tunnel. Luckily there are several benches you can sit on to rest along the way.
This DMZ Tour featuring Majang Lake Suspension Bridge was definitely the highlight of our recent South Korea trip. I would go back to the DMZ to visit the other places we haven’t been to.
Booked this tour via Klook. It cost a little over ₱12,000 for the four of us. Meetup time was 7am. We got back to Myeongdong around 4pm.
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