One day, a mysterious algorithm led me to find out about the existence of a mysterious station (what even is that YouTuber 'Fingernail Dirt' lol)
I looked it up and found out that even regular folks could easily go for just 12,000 won. Since I looked it up in the first week of December, I slammed down a reservation right away.
This stop is the terminal station, Munsan Station x1. The announcement for the final stop plays, letting you know that this is usually the terminus of the Gyeongui–Jungang Line.
But the route map clearly shows Imjingang Station, so why do they call Munsan the terminus? You can go to Imjingang Station twice a day on the same train, but you have to stop and transfer at Munsan. Seems like Munsan is the end of the normal urban area, so maybe the demand was too low.
This stop is the terminal station, Imjingang Station x2. The Pyeongyang–Seoul sign is impressive.
I applied without knowing anything, just thinking I was going to Dorasan Station, but it turned out to be an unexpected tour format. They visit Dorasan Station – Observatory – Unification Village – 3rd Tunnel. Full DMZ course, nice..
There’s nothing after Imjingang Station, but today, we can go to the next stop.
Crossing the Bridge of Peace, which was blown up during the Korean War,
Crossing the Imjin River,
That's where Dorasan Station appears.
This stop is the terminal station, Dorasan Station x3. The next stop is Gaeseong (Kaesong), they say.
Dorasan Station, Korea's only international station. Since it was intended to be the starting point for the Trans-Eurasian Railway, it’s huge for a facility that only allows extremely limited access inside the Civilian Control Line (CCL). The entry/exit ('kyung' - border crossing) gates and airport search facilities were fully equipped. Taking photos there was prohibited since it’s a military facility (it was marked 'Exit/Kyung' because going to North Korea is considered crossing a border, not moving between countries). Kaesong Industrial Complex workers actually commuted through this station back when goods were moving.
Pyeongyang-bound. So dope ㄷㄷ
President Bush’s autograph, and
The relics of Seonsang-nim (President Kim Dae-jung) were there.
The Inter-Korean Transit Office inside the station was also neat.
They said this was the land route used by Kaesong Industrial Complex employees.
If you follow the road by bus,
Dora Observatory appears.
Do you feel the limits of the border?
If you go up the road, there’s the observatory building. From here, you can directly see North Korean territory, and photography is completely restricted, so I have no photos. Originally, only the North Korean side was restricted, but since foreigners and assholes kept ignoring the rules and taking pictures, they just implemented a total ban, according to the guide. The guide confirmed it was an amazing day for weather, so Kaeseong came into view perfectly. I could clearly see the North and South Korean flags flying with the Sachon River (the actual demarcation line) between them, the Kaesong Industrial Complex, Panmunjom, and even North Koreans riding bikes. I saw the Rodong Party building too.
There was a cafe inside the observatory. I grabbed an apple pie (5,000 KRW FFS) and a latte (5,000 KRW FFS).
Next, we ate at Unification Village. I thought I’d be able to buy and eat some local specialty food there, but they just chucked a Korean buffet at us (13,000 KRW). It tasted exactly like the goddamn awful catered buffet that a university student council would pick after skimming some money off the MT budget. I felt bad because there were so many foreigners.
Next was the 3rd Tunnel. Plenty of people probably went to the 4th Tunnel tour dragged along by their moms when they were kids. This is the 3rd Tunnel, which is hard to get to normally since it's deep inside the DMZ. Since they let you approach within 200 meters of the Military Demarcation Line (MDL) via the tunnel, I think this might be the closest point a civilian can physically get to the MDL. It was warm underground, and I sweated my ass off going up and down the nearly 450-meter steep slope. Inside, not only was photography forbidden, but we also had to put all belongings in a locker, so no pictures. Nothing much at the very end—just a CCTV screen showing a bit of the tunnel connected to the North Korean side, and then it’s just blocked off by a wall. WTF, why did I even come to see this? After all the schedules were done,
I came back to Dorasan Station
and returned by crossing the Imjin River. Honestly, I didn't have high expectations, just wanted to say I 'went to Dorasan Station,' but I ended up stuffing myself with a mountain of a tour and really enjoyed it. You never know when North Korea will act out and the tours will stop again, so I recommend anyone interested should go at least once. I heard this tour was stopped and only resumed in '24. The price is cheap, so it’s seriously worth going.
"The OP got a huge dose of DMZ history and sights for cheap, but the food was rough and the apple pie was a rip-off. Commenters are more interested in snagging the commemorative tickets and stamps, proving that true travelers love merch."
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