Imjingak

May 5 is Children's Day in Korea so everyone has the day off.  Mr. Nam had planned for us to spend the day at Imjingak Peace Park near the demilitarized zone (DMZ) that separates North and South Korea.  Technically, the North and South are still at war as no peace treaty was ever signed; only a cease fire agreement.

After a good night's sleep in the guest house, Mr. Nam invited me to go to the sauna located in that same building as the guest house.  Starting the day with a good sweat was a nice way to relax the muscles and clean out the body after traveling.

Then we headed over to Paris Baguette to pick out some breakfast food which we took back to Mr. Nam's apartment.  His wife Hoon had prepared additional breakfast items and also made French toast and served it with real Wisconsin maple syrup that we had given them when they visited last fall.  That was the first time I had seen French toast made in a wok, but it was delicious.

After a satisfying breakfast, we climbed into the van and headed to Imjingak, about 45 minutes away. The weather was gorgeous - sunny and warm.  It felt like a summer day with a high around 80.  The park was busy, but it is a large space so there was plenty of room to move around.  The park is an interesting example of the difference between the North and South.  I know of no peace parks in North Korea and if any exist, it is highly unlikely that any have a large lawn with a performance area, an amusement park with some rides, several souvenir shops and a historical remembrance of the war and a longing for peace.

Mr. Nam and Cami playing a traditional seesaw game

On the way into the park, we stopped to play a few traditional Korean games, then we moved on to touring some of the historical sites.  There is an old train that was stopped during the war in 1950 and abandoned.  It remained unmoved until 2006 when it was moved and restored.  See the full story in the picture below.

Registered Cultural Heritage No. 78

Steam Locomotive at Jangdon Station on Gyeongui Line

We also went up to the observatory deck and looked out over the land.  In the distance, you can see a mountain in North Korea although you can't see much of North Korea beyond that. 

Ian looking at North Korea from the observation deck 

After we toured the sites, we ate some lunch.  The kids wanted noodles from the convenience store so that's what we did.  I believe our kids would live off of noodles if given the choice.  In Korea, noodles are plentiful and varied and the convenience stores have hot water dispensers and chopsticks on hand so you can get your noodle fix at any time.  

Noodles for lunch

After lunch, we spent some time in the amusement park.  We rode the bumper cars and the peace train.  The kids bought several souvenirs with Alex, Ian and Ben buying swords.

Cami and Brian arm wrestling. 

Then we started the drive back.  Originally, Mr. Nam had planned to take us to the International Flower Festival near his home, but we stayed longer at Imjingak and we were getting tired so we decided to return to the apartment complex, let the kids play and rest.  The apartment has a large number of playgrounds for children and there are walking paths that connect the buildings.  With spring, there were blooming flowers everywhere.  Mr. Nam mentioned that the architect/designer that built the apartment complex also designed Disney.

Kids in front a sculpute at Mr. Nam's apartment complex.

The kids played and Mr. Nam and I walked on one of the paths.  It is so peaceful and relaxing, not anything like the hustle and bustle of Seoul.  If I were to live in Korea, I would like to live in a place like this.  

The Italian restaurant where we ate. 

Before long, it was time to go to dinner.  Mr. Nam had arranged for us to each at an Italian restaurant named Lunarich.  I enjoyed the bulgogi pizza and some of the pasta the kids picked out.  While we were eating it started to rain, so Mr. Nam went and got the van so we wouldn't have to get wet.  Then we went to E-Mart to shop for snacks for our day tomorrow.  E-mart is a local shopping center similar to Target.  After that, we returned to our guest house to get ready for tomorrow - a trip to Everland!