All right…this is a bit of a cheat. Although I DO have a few Korean items in the store, I get those in China so I’m really here just to play tourist with my brothers. Beau and I have a younger brother, Jay who wanted to turn 40 out of the country so we let him tag along on a buying trip. South Korea is one of those lucky stop-overs…one of those times where you get a mini-vacation for just about the same cost as a non-stop flight.

Besides, 40 is a big ‘un and if I can do an ice hotel for mine, Jay can come along and eat a bug or two for his. (Funny thing about those bugs…they were put down on the table as casually as tortilla chips at a Mexican restaurant so I figured they’d at least be tasty.)

But they tasted like bugs.

On the second day of Jay’s birthday (we crossed the international date-line on his big day so he got to turn 40 twice, lucky him), we did something that few people would actually CHOOSE to mark one’s transition into middle age…we toured the Demilitarized Zone between North and South Korea.

Who needs a stinkin’ clown and cake when you can have international conflict to cheer you up?

…mmm beetlejuice!

Beau’s Bowl o’Bugs

Beomeosa Temple

Beomeosa Temple

Eventual train link between North and South Korea

Jay and his big gun

Kyongbukkong Palace, the home of King Taejon

Thompson & Beau at the DMZ