On Day 9, we visited the War Memorial!
Mentioned previously, my bf and I are huge war geeks. Following our DMZ tour, the visit to the War Memorial satisfied that war-geek itch pretty good.
How to go:
Line 4 Samgakji Stn. 3 min. walk from exit 11, 12.
The place was pretty easy to find. I remember finding it such a fresh change because that station was so empty, as opposed to those we frequented to way too often in Myeongdong and Dongdaemun.
We were greeted almost immediately with this dome-like structure and a statue of two POWs during the War.
Touching photo of a man serving the military using his day off to visit the War Memorial. Those enlisted get very rare days off, if I am not wrong it is 7 days off for 6 months with permission, and on public holidays, but they are must be in their military gear at all times.
:-(
The Korean War touches me in a very deep way which I cannot quite explain. I feel deep sadness when I think of the POWs, their families back then and their families now.
I guess the recent Kim Jangnam murder saga in Malaysia does not help. There are now Malaysians who are banned from leaving North Korea, and who knows what their fate will be.
As we walked further in the museum grounds, we could see planes and tanks ahead so naturally that way we headed.
The War Memorial of Korea is split into an indoor exhibition AND an outdoor exhibition of the planes, tanks, helicopters and others that were used during the Korean War from 1950-1953.
A replica of the PKM-357 which was sunk in an ill-fated dispute along the maritime boundary near Yeonpyeong Island in the Yellow Sea in 2002.
The patrol boat was sunk when two North Korean patrol boats opened fire on two patrol boats from South Korea.The patrol boat sunk, along with six killed and eighteen wounded.
After that, we went into the patrol ship replica (mentioned above):
The ship was true to size and could fit a lot of people. There are even bullet and blood replicas on the walls of the ship, which you can see in the pic above.
After the tour outside in the lovely 6 degree weather, we proceeded inside. Entrance was free.
The War Memorial is split into two kinds of important Korean history: one of the Korean War and one of the Wars back in the Joseon times (and earlier!). It was all very, very educational, interesting and heartbreaking to read, learn and see. There were many interactive shows, artifacts and factual reading to help you understand what happened back during the War.
On the ground and lower floors were the "ancient" history bits:
I took a lot of photos but I am not really captioning everything because I think it will be really great if you guys visited the place yourselves because it was such an amazing experience for us.
The War Memorial of Korea is so properly-kept and is clean and interactive. I saw loads of little Korean children running around and I found that so refreshing because it is only right they know what happened, or rather, is happening in the country and know of all the people who fought for their rights and freedom, though some would say they never got it.
We finished in the early afternoon at the War Memorial. I think we spent at least 3~4 hours there.
Our next destination was the N Seoul Tower.
We decided to take a bus up there.
How to get there:
Circulation Bus No. 2: Chungmuro Station (Seoul Subway Lines 3 & 4), Exit 2 (in front of Daehan Cinema) or Dongguk University Station (Seoul Subway Line 3), Exit 6.
We took the Bus No. 2 from the Chungmuro Station exit. There is a bus stop a walk away, in front of a clinic/ hospital. The No. 2 bus came pretty quick but it filled up pretty quick too so we waited for the next one. Make sure you get on the right bus!
The ride up is a very windy one, in a tight road. After the bus drops you off, you have to walk a short distance up the hill to get to the tower.
For a tower that looks so close, it sure took a lot of effort to get to.
For a tower that looks so close, it sure took a lot of effort to get to.
Getting there..
Almost there....
Beautiful sparkly lights at the staircase. There were a lot of people so this shot was quite hard to snap.
There are many shops and restaurants at the bottom of the tower, so you don't have to worry about a bite or a drink.
Thank goodness for selfie sticks!
Being me, I made my BF take me to buy a love lock to put at the balcony
Misty view from the top!
This wasn't a love LOCK but it was the cheaper option (almost B$10 altogether along with the marker)
From Paris to Penang to Seoul :P
It got dark pretty fast but the view was spectacular. We did not go to the top because it was so foggy and we had to face the fact that we wouldn't be able to see anything.
Absolutely worth the effort going up there!
Xx
