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Last Tuesday I took a trip into the 4km-wide and 240km-long buffer known as the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) which slices the Korean Peninsula into two fiercely opposed countries. Lined on both sides by tank traps, electrical fences, landmines and two armies in full battle readiness, it is one of the scariest places on earth. It is also one of the most surreal since it has become a major tourist attraction with several observatories allowing you to peek into North Korea. For history buffs and collectors of weird experiences a visit here is not to be missed, although it left me feeling depressed – more on this later.

The place that most people want to go is the Joint Security Area (JSA), 55km north of Seoul, inside of which is the truce village of Panmunjom. The only way into this heavily restricted area is on an organised tour and I chose to take the popular one run by the United Service Organizations. The following will give you an idea of what to expect.

Though your tour will likely be a quiet one, the soldier ‘tour guides’ will remind you that this frontier is no stranger to violent incidents, the most notorious being in 1976 when two US soldiers were hacked to death by axes by North Korean soldiers after the former had tried to chop down a tree obstructing the view from a watch tower. Camp Bonifas, the joint US-ROK army camp just outside the DMZ, is named after one of the slain soldiers.

Some of this history was related by the USO volunteer guide (in my case, Joseph, a sprightly Korean retiree) on the bus as we drove out of Seoul. At Camp Bonifas, US soldier guides took over, making sure we all signed a disclaimer absolving the authorities of any responsibility if a gun battle – or indeed war – broke out during our time in the DMZ. After a rapid-fire briefing on what we were about to see, and how we should behave (absolutely no photos unless we are instructed it’s OK), we boarded specially designated buses to travel into the JSA towards the collection of blue-painted UN buildings that constitute Panmunjom. Official meetings are still sometimes held here and in the main conference room, mikes on the tables constantly record everything said. Straddling the ceasefire line, this is the only place where you can safely walk into North Korea. South Korean soldiers stand guard inside and out in a modified ‘taekwondo’ stance – an essential photo op – and their North Korean counterparts keep a steady watch – on my visit from quite a distance.

Back on the bus we were taken to one of Panmunjom’s look out posts from where the two villages within the DMZ were pointed out. On the south side is Daeseong-dong, a government-subsidised village where the resident families live in modern houses with high-speed internet connections and earn a tax-free annual income of over US$80,000 from their seven hectare farms. There’s an 11pm curfew, and soldiers stand guard while the villagers work in the rice fields or tend their ginseng plants.

On the North Korean side of the line Gijeong-dong is known by the South as the Propoganda Village because virtually all the buildings are empty or just facades – the lights all come on and go off here at the same time at night. The village’s primary feature is a 160m-high tower flying a flag that weighs nearly 300kg, markedly larger than the one on the South Korean side. It’s believed that some workers from the nearby Kaesong Industrial Complex may now be living in Gijeong-dong.

Before leaving the camp we drop by the Monastery Visitors Centre selling DMZ baseball caps, T-shirts and other souvenirs. Nearby is the world’s most dangerous golf course, with just one 192yd, par three hole surrounded by barbed wire and landmines – it’s all very M.A.S.H.

Next on the tour itinerary was a visit to the Dora Observatory, where you can peer through binoculars for a closer look at North Korea, including Kaesong city and Kaesong Industrial Complex, where North Korean labourers make all kinds of things for South Korean conglomerates. At the foot of the mountain stands Dorasan train station, currently the northern terminus of South Korea’s rail line and a symbol of the hope for the eventual reunification and a chance to ride through to Pyongyang.

Lunch is taken at a tourist complex where more DMZ souvies are on sale. Then it’s on to on to another area DMZ-themed area built around the Third Infiltration Tunnel. Since 1974 four tunnels have been found running under the DMZ, dug by the North Koreans so that their army could launch a surprise attack. A walk down here – some 70m underground – is not for the claustrophobic or the tall. As you creep hunched over to reach the coiled barbed wire at the triple concrete wall blocked end of the tunnel you’ll quickly realise why they issue hard hats to protect heads from knocking the low ceiling. The guide pointed out how the North Koreans had painted the rocks black so they might claim it was a coal mine.

Joseph pointed out that these tunnels were being dug in the 1970s at the same time the North Koreans were engaged in peace talks  with South Korea – thus proving their two-faced nature and how South Korea could never really trust their brothers across the border. This lingering mistrust and suspicion on both sides is the saddest aspect of this on-going conflict – “reunification” is a word you’ll hear a lot during a DMZ tour, but as a reality this seems as far off now as it probably did back when the barbed wire, land mines and armies were set down on both sides of this tragic border over 50 years ago.