My First Korea Liberation Day! (Bike Touring Korea #22)
good morning from the DMZ Campground uh this is where I camped last night the concert and the festival is just right over there I ended up just camping here it was close uh I don't really like camping at campsites like this because for one it costs money and I would rather just find somewhere where I can camp set up my tent really quickly, sleep, wake up break it down and go but we're right next to the DMZ or this is a DMZ and so there's cameras everywhere it's a very tightly secured area as you can imagine and so I was just like you know let's just let's just pay the money and camp I could take a shower and uh get nice and clean but anyways I just wanted to show you where I camped really quickly I'm all packed up over here my bike is ready to go it's still looking good I mean I feel like I could have just camped in the parking lot right here but there's signs way over there saying no camping there's CCTV everywhere in this area and so I just bit the bullet, paid the money and camped in the campground hopefully I don't have to do that anymore though I bet it'd be cool to see a live performance here this is perfect look at that they got a stage right there a nice green grass slope right here it's pretty cool I have not tried one of these yet I see a lot of people eating them though basically just meat on a stick so let's see how it tastes damn I got the one with cheese in it that's pretty good and a kimbap talk to these guys good morning, all from Seoul? you came from Seoul today? yeah how long did it take you? two hours not too bad okay two hours and then from here going back? yeah nice nice nice you can ride the subway oh are you are you riding the subway back? yeah oh not cycling? too hot you're right yeah I guess they're taking the subway back nice all right so I've decided not to do the gondola I just sat down and read some reviews online and it said a lot of them were basically just saying you know you just get a ride over to the other side over there and you don't even get to see North Korea so I think I'm going to pass I think I'm going to pass I think there might be like a cemetery and a few monuments and things like that probably over there but there's tons of monuments over here that I can check out so we'll just stick to those check it out Dunkin Donuts right next to the DMZ kind of crazy and so yeah that's kind of the underlying message here at the DMZ especially here is uh peace no war and so a lot of the monuments a lot of the statues here are dedicated to uh spreading that message you know this right here is the Peace Bell there you go there's a group of what 25 30 Japanese people here coming to uh check it out pay their respects I'm sure this one right here is what I wanted to come check out this is the Mangbaedan, basically says after 36 years of Japanese colonial rule our country was liberated on August 15th 1945 and so today is August 15th today is National Liberation Day here in Korea okay yeah so yeah after 35 36 years of harsh cruel Japanese rule Korea was liberated and the people here obviously were really really excited and happy uh you know those 35 36 years were probably some of the darkest in Korean history and they all believed here in Korea that they would be liberated that uh that they would be granted their independence and well why did they believe that because two years earlier in 1943 uh, Roosevelt Churchill and Chen Kai Sheek, they got together at the Cairo conference or convention or whatever and in the Cairo declaration, they said that Korea in due time once the Japanese were defeated they would be granted and they would get their independence and well that was in 1943 two years later a lot of things have changed for one Roosevelt was dead and Chen Kai Shek he was in a battle with Mao in China uh kind of fighting for his life and so Chang Kai Shek, he's the guy that fled to Taiwan with his government and set up the Republic of China in Taiwan and so he's kind of a uh a controversial figure in Taiwan even today you know there's the Chen Kai Shek huge Memorial in the middle of Taipei but it's really interesting in Taiwan like south of Taipei about an hour there's a park that has around I don't know 100 200 Chen Kai Shek statues that have been discarded from different places in Taiwan I've been there it's crazy it's weird there's just a big park with a bunch of different Chang Kai Shek statues anyways yeah so The Liberation happened the Korean people believed that they were going to have their independence but unfortunately that is not what happened uh the Soviet Union they were actually already here and so for whatever reason uh hello for whatever reason uh the American soldiers the American troops they weren't actually here yet and so they proposed to Moscow and Stalin to draw this line in the middle of Korea and for whatever reason at the time uh the Soviet Union agreed to it yes this is The Liberation Day and people were so excited in 1945 but the darkest and kind of the the most tragic part of Korean history was about to start and they're still living it today wow and check it out there's a statue of Harry S Truman I mean everywhere you turn in this uh park in this area there's a monument there's a statue there's something uh dedicated to the Korean War and that time period a monument dedicated to United States forces in the Korean War uh over here we have a monument this Memorial is dedicated to the 247 Americans of Japanese ancestry who gave their lives in the defense and freedom of the Republic of Korea so Japanese Americans I mean this one right here is a statue and Monument dedicated to the veterans who fought during the Korean War yesterday we talked about the uh the Comfort Women and so there's a piece over there dedicated to them behind me there is a National Memorial for Abductees during the Korean War and so and it just goes to show you that the war in that time period was so messed up and so many tragic things happened that you know to remind ourselves of how horrible and and U terrible that time period was we have to build things like this and hopefully it does remind us that we never you know repeat those things again and it is closed today darn and so yeah there's a statue of Harry S Truman up there I wonder if Roosevelt would have stayed alive if his statue would have been there... you know it was Harry S Truman who ultimately decided to go ahead and drop the a-bomb on Japan and so a lot of people have mentioned and commented on some of my past videos about you know why wasn't Japan split up like Korea was you know Germany was split up East and West you know in Japan they were the aggressors just like Germany in World War II they were defeated. why wasn't Japan split up? well, I've been to Hiroshima and they even talk about this it's not like it's a conspiracy or anything it's just a theory that uh one of the reasons why America went ahead and went forward with the a-bomb was because they wanted to end the war as quick as possible and not have any Soviet Union interference and uh influence in Japan and so they dropped the a-bomb on August 6th two days later the Soviet Union declares war on Japan and I'm not sure when Nagasaki was but uh America they didn't have to I mean they didn't even have to drop the first one but like I said they wanted to end the war and they went ahead and dropped another A-bomb on Nagasaki and then two days later okay so August 13th two days later Japan surrenders and so they wanted to keep the Soviet Union out of Japan and so many people have floated that theory that that's exactly why America used the a-bomb when they did and so unfortunately Korea the victims of all of this they were split up and again we know how the rest of history unfolded unfortunately okay enough talking let's get on out of here wow another one Guam this Memorial is dedicated to all the Chamorro soldiers who gallantly served in the US Armed Forces during the Korean conflict 1950 1953 Steve what's up if you're watching this in uh in Japan I got a really good friend from Guam hope you're doing well man huh I was just about to leave and I was about to miss this North Korea money huh let's go check that out can I take videos no no ah no pictures okay all righty so he's got a lot of cash in there I'm I'm guessing it's all real it's all North Korean notes and coins and can't take any pictures in there but I went ahead and bought one and so I bought one with Kim Il Sung on it 22,000 Won which is like uh what's that 15 bucks and so I bet this it's hardly worth anything in North Korea but they're making some good money here like they have a booklet in there that you can buy that has all the notes uh all the different coins and it's like $110 and so nice little poem written on the wall here let me read it for you it says Autumn has already deepened in the forest pavilion and the poet's thoughts are endless the water seen in the distance is blue reaching the sky the frost touched maple leaves are red toward the sunlight okay any idea what this is though both sides and here we have Papon some very very uh happy looking guys though all righty which J City do you want to go to we have i think this will work and a blueberry(it was banana) juice.
like a blueberry shake and thank you to the nice couple that gave me this uh calming cooling sunstick at the the Meetup in Seoul so it also works as like a a sunscreen too I think it says SPF 50 so putting that on my arms really easy to apply thank you not going to go too much further it's too hot but I do want to get out of here and maybe find a good restaurant so let's see what we can find thought I was taking the bike course trail and then ended up on this road I should be able to get off soon though all right that's more like it that's what I like to see some nature a beautiful river right here all right there's a restaurant up here I think that's kind of my only option I'm getting kind of out there let's see what they serve please be open okay so I'm going with the number one option once again it's Tofu Hot Pot soup I guess the dude working here is a hoss(big guy) dude is, a he's a big dude so I just have this ready to go I'm going to ask him if he plays any sports he's pretty freaking massive exercise for living all right some tofu mushroom soup is what I'm looking at I have to be careful with the mushrooms though sometimes I eat mushrooms and like it just makes my stomach hurt and we got all the sides right here a lot of the same, got kimchi the green leaf not really sure what it is but I've eaten a lot of it um not sure what this is but pretty good this kind of looks like green beans right here not not green beans though and then I think this is just some tofu maybe some grilled tofu looks like it's kind of pan-seared he said to dip it in this sauce that ain't bad that's good the soup is freaking good so it doesn't look like anything special but it has a nice flavor it has a little bit of a spice to it uh it has these little chunks of meat in there that are really good tofu the vegetables it's a very nice soup and uh took out all the mushrooms feel bad I should have should have said something but I don't want to get an upset stomach oh thank you I think that uh that guy's calf is bigger than my face Gibli? I think that's Gibli and that is just a big random huge grass field freshly cut too huh why would you have a grass field out here like this? I want to go just walk barefoot in it it looks nice that's what I like to see people out by the river camping swimming yes okay I'm definitely going to go jump in the water let's go say hello all right now I need to figure out how to get down there that definitely ain't it okay this one looks like a safe bet come down here do some fishing this is kind of what I was looking for on my first uh tour from Busan to Seoul nice looks like they're barbecuing and cooking some things up out here too looks nice W how's the water cool? feel good? it's so hot so hot oh yeah it's actually pretty warm it's not icy cold or anything but it's going to feel good when I get in yeah there you go yeah she got the right idea I love how they just put the tables in the water too this is going to be awesome if I can find places like this all along the river there are lakes this is what I'm talking about then I'll actually have to buy some food and maybe do some cooking and uh have some stuff ready for breakfast cause I've been depending on restaurants and convenience stores a little too much I have to say that's all right though that's all right all right I'mma continue on thank you so much see you see you great pit stop that was awesome hopefully I can find more of those wow look at this one if you can see through the trees but it's a nice one beautiful garden got a lot of benches and pots and plants and not a bad place and looking at a long stretch right here looks like it goes on forever so over here too we have just a huge field of grass and it looks like I guess what they do out here is they just grow huge fields of grass and then cut out huge strips of it and then I'm sure just you know replant it wherever it needs to go I haven't tried this yet I have this new tripod and it it extends pretty far out but maybe I can get some shots like this now so I think I'm getting a little taste of what it's going to be like going East I heard it's very mountainous and uh just about to get to the top of one but I am soaked that looks like a lovely place to stop I'm exhausted after that hill too let' go check out this place maybe they have a bingsu bad news, no bingsu let's see how their peach ice tea is another cool little cafe I like the furniture all mix matched huge bookshelf huge rock slabs for tables pretty cool I'm tired more Hills more Hills and the bugs are back all those little flies wow okay the crematory for un troops in Yenchoen this facility was built in 1952 for The Cremation of un troops killed during the Korean War wow okay it doesn't say how many people were cremated here I mean this is crazy just like that in a chimney like that are you are you serious bugs are out that's an interesting one looks like a brand-new house but built like in the old traditional style man hey what's up hey come here hey come here man a you're you're kind of limping there huh something happened to your back hind leg oh man poor little guy hey little buddy now you're going to act like you don't see me huh come here yeah it's okay it's okay what's up little man hey you okay yeah yeah it's all right thought it was a puppy but he looks full grown oh poor guy crazy and just like the uh the sign I saw at the beach way out there on Seongmodo I think was the name it says if you find an explosive similar to the picture on the left do not touch it and report to the military base so there's some mines floating down this river too do I want to go swimming I'm sure it's okay but looks like there's a campground right here not doing it though there's a sink over there in a water hose all right what I want to do I want to find some food I want to find a place to rest and just chill out minding my own business here nothing to see nothing to see that'll make a world a difference so trust me all righty so I just went to that 7-Eleven over there and there was like eight dudes outside like a lot of older guys and I just asked them where can I find some good Korean food and they just pointed right across the street and they said here so is that the front door king rib soup cow bone soup cow bone soup, sounds good to me and then this is what you guys have been telling me to order but they're sold out look at that that big rib right there and I need to start asking for no mushrooms not bad mhm it's okay it's okay I see telling me to get a little bit of the rice get some of the broth and eat it that way so hot so hot think I'm getting the hang of it that's pretty damn tasty that is good and I almost missed it too there are noodles in here some glass noodles okay glass noodles don't have a lot of flavor that's pretty good all righty so that didn't take long at all and so I'm in this park over here kind of tucked away in the corner I'll show you tomorrow it's an Alice In Wonderland Park they got a lot of creepy stuff over there but the camp ground is up there on the the ledge up there I don't think they'll see me but should be all right but uh yeah I'm tired I'm going to jump in here what I do is I set it up real quick and I just try to throw everything in there real quick and uh try to keep the bugs out cuz I don't want any mosquitoes flying in there obviously and so when I get in there I just I just take off my shoes real quick and jump in there and zip it up real quick cause having mosquitoes in the tent is not what you want so that's what I'm going to do uh thanks for joining me today and the journey continues tomorrow I'll see you guys later peace but I don't know you tell me what is that? what is that? no penguins
2024-08-27 14:43
