Erik's Travels: dmz, hookah, dr. fish, the good the bad and the weird, bungie jump

(more pics added)

Friday-

DMZ!!!!!! For those who don’t know much about korea north and south korea are still technically at war and separated by a demilitarized zone that is very heavily guarded. We took a tour the dmz and got to go into an invasion tunnel that n. Korea dug under seoul. I learned alot from our tour guide, got to take some pics with soldiers, bought a peace of the barbed wire fence for my grandma, and bought some north korean beer!

Some of the things I learned-
-North koreans tried to assassinate the s. Korean president, but only managed to kill the first lady
-There are still 16+ undiscovered invasion tunnels under s. Korea.
-When the s. koreans discovered the tunnel we visited the n. Koreans painted the inside with coal to make people think it was a coal mine.
-When s. Korea proved to the UN that it was dug by n. Korea and opened it up to tourist n. Korea tried to take half of the profits.
-north Korea was so jealous of s. Koreas economy that they built an empty city to try and show off, s. Korea figured out that it was empty because all of the lights went off at the same time every night.
-There was a competition to see which country could raise its flag the highest. N. Korea won, but they have lost at everything else.
-17 cabinet members were killed by n. Korea, but the president was caught in a traffic jam, so he survived.

Friday night-

Had my first experience with soju, which is a tradition korean drink, kind of like vodka but not quite as harsh. It was pretty good mixed, but not so much straight. After some soju me and julie went to a hookah bar called rainbow. Very cool vibe in the place, like an opium den but without the opium. Really dark with lots of rugs on the walls, small oil lamps on the tables, no chairs. Just floor seats. There was definitely some overpass climbing before bed. I have pictures that explain it better than words.

Saturday-

Dr. Fish!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I had my feet eaten by flesh eating fish. It was great. You come into this really hip coffee house, order a drink and a dr. Fish. When you are finished with your drink you go by a window in the same room and they wash your feet and sit with them in a tank of flesh eating fish for twenty minutes. I as afraid that they were not going to let me get eaten because my feet are in such bad shape, but I lucked out. At fist it tickles so bad that you can’t stop laughing, and then the fish get cocky and really start digging in. They ate all of the scabs off of my feet and I think might have cured my leprosy. It was one of the strangest things I have ever done and it only cost two bucks. It is one day later and my feet are worlds better. Dr. Fish totally works.

The good, the bad, and the weird.
Me and julie went to see the most popular movie in korea. I have actually seen another movie by same director, but this one was way better. It took place in the 1930 In manchuria, was a western, was super violent, and was hilarious. Getting tickets was a little tricky, because you have to take a number to get service and there are assigned seats. We lucked out though, julie ignored her number and got the last tickets in the theater.

Sunday-

Bungie jumping!!! It was open today. We did it. It wasn’t that high, but I was terrified when I got to the tower. Julie said that when they called me to go up I went ghost white. My legs locked up and I didn’t think that I would be able to jump, but I did it. I did it! I’m not sure if it was fun at all, just terrifying. As soon as I jumped I forgot that I was wearing a harness and figured that I was going to die. I guess I was kicking my legs like I was swimming and all of the koreans on the tower were laughing at me. As soon as the cord kicked in I realized that I was not going to die and I relaxed a little. I’m so glad I did it, but not too sure if I would want to put my self through it again. Only time will tell.

DMZ (julies pics, i forgot my memory card at the apt.) you can't take pics at the tunnel or at the dmz lookout. camera restricted area!!!