DMZ - Demilitarized Zone Korea

At the end of my South Korea trip I visited the DMZ. It is different to the Berlin Wall, because the South is actually waiting for the North to attack any minute. It is a strange feeling and before you visit you have to sign that you do it on your own risk.

In this strange environment even cutting down a tree can cause a small fight/war.

The first part of the tour is run by the USO and the second part of the actual DMZ by the US army itself.

On the photo below the building in the back is North Korea and the blue building in the middle is split between North and South in the middle. On the tour you will enter the building and because the door on the other side is locked, you can walk across a few meters into North Korea without being shot !

If any more info check the links on this article and watch the movie JSA.
















On the following video the american army soldier points out the area and at the end of the video you can see the next north korean town across the border.

Korea Seoul - Soccer feels a bit like home

On the 20.04.2008 I visited the game Seoul against Jeju, which Seoul won 3:1.
The ticket was 8 USD and the game was hosted in the Seoul World Cup Stadion of 2002.
The Stadion has a cpacity of 66.000 people, but was really empty.

Japan

In Japan I arrived in the evening of the 08th april 2008. On the 09th I just walked a bit around Tokyo bought a new external hard drive and exchanged the Japan railpass I bought in Australia. The Railpass is a real bargain and super value in this country. I got a pass valid for 7 days unlimited travel in all of Japan incl. the Bullittrains, but you have to buy it outside of Japan !

Already on the first day I was surprised how "cheap" Japan is. Travelling in Japan is cheaper then in Australia or at home in Germany.

On April 10th I started my one week tour through Japan and the first stop was Hiroshima.
I stayed all day in Hiroshima and besides the really interesting A-bomb Museum, the city has got a really nice castle.
Later that day I continued on to Osaka to stay the night there.

In Osaka I visited the Aquarium and when it got dark I went up 45th floors to enjoy the nice view of Osaka.

The next five night I stayed in Kyoto and did day trips based from there. Himeji Castle and Nara Temple. In Kyoto the hostel was really excellent and every night somebody was up to something crazy like Karaoke night. I decided to sing "only" two songs Everybody (Backstreet Boys) and In the Navy (Village People). My Singing was supported by the already drunk crowd.

The following day I had to leave town and took a train back to Tokyo.

On April 17th I fly from Tokyo to Seoul and will spend about 10 days in Korea. I will be back in Tokyo on April 28th 2008 to stay about a week in Tokyo and hopefully get a visa for China here in Tokyo.

I loved Japan and the people. Japanese are the nicest and helpful people I met on my trip so far !

Leaving Australia looking forward to 6 month Asia

In the moment I"m in Cairns and enjoying the last couple of days in Australia. I spent 32 days in Australia. About 1 week in Melbourne and Great Ocean Road, 2 weeks to go from Melbourne to Cairns and a last week in and around Cairns.

Here I could test my new underwater camera case and the diving photos uploaded under the DIVING CAIRNS section are much much better then the previous photos.

I was also looking forward to meet my parents in Cairns and was hoping to get some things out of my backpack and send it home with my parents. The problem was that my parents had bought too much things already and so we shipped a parcel of 10 kg back home.

The official family photo in Cairns together with a Koala !















I saw my parents again after being 6 month on the road and it is half time now !

On the 08.04.2008 I will fly to Tokyo and I will have about a week in Japan and will then fly to South Korea for 10 days to be back in Tokyo on the 28.04.2008. I will spent a couple of days again in Tokyo and then I will fly to China. The only problem is that I still do not have a Visa for China. Either I have to get it from the Chinese Embassy in Tokyo or in Seoul.

For those of you having not seen the last Blog notes. It is really worth checking out the videos !