a hui hou kakou

Visiting North Korea was long a dream of mine. I sort of made it there in 2006. I went on the DMZ tour from the south and on this tour you step a couple meters into North Korea in a U.N. administered meeting room. I almost got to Pyongyang in 2006 but the tour was canceled because of flooding, and once again in May 2007 but again it was canceled at the last minute. On my third and last try before I was going to leave East Asia I made it in. So it isn't an easy location to get to. Especially if you have a U.S. passport. It is expensive. All together it cost nearly two thousand US dollars for three nights in Pyongyang. Absolutely ridiculous! It is about what I spent in three months backpacking before I got to the DPRK (North Korea). But for me it was worth it. For years I have wanted to see such a closed country, after living in South Korea I wanted to compare them. The DPRK is an interesting place. Pyongyang is a city full of trees and interesting architecture. It has a feeling of grand decay. It feels like it is 40 or 50 years behind South Korea. The people are nice enough, the few I got to talk to. But it feels like everyone is in a cult that no one really believes in. I think before long the DPRK will follow the route taken by Vietnam and China. Open up but try retain political control. It would be good for everyone if the moved in this direction. I would love to go back when it is possible to go as a backpacker. To see those wide tree filled streets again. Talking with others that were there it seems I was lucky with my minders. They were mostly very free in letting me wander about, and almost always let me take heaps of pictures. I did have three though. My two guides, plus a driver. Not my style of travel at all. It was surprisingly not off the beaten track. Pyongyang had hundreds of tourists. They were however all people with money. Mostly Chinese, but a lot of Europeans and even a few Americans.

Arms of North Korea

Arms of North Korea

Map of North Korea Because I carry a U.S. passport I didn't get a beautiful North Korean visa in my passport. I had to carry this tourist card and then give it back when I left. I met another person from the U.S. there and it was the same for him except his tourist card looked nothing like mine. August 2007. The other side of my tourist card. August 2007. Pyongyang International Airport. Possibly the least busy airport I've ever been to. Ours was the only operational airplane. There were some others in various states of disrepair and in mothballs. This was exciting because it was my first time to ride on a Soviet built airplane. As with so many other things about the DPRK (North Korea) the contrast with the ROK (South Korea) is dramatic. Seoul's airport and Incheon is huge and modern and only of the busiest in the world. August 2007. The Tupolev I flew in on from China. August 2007. The empty road to the airport. My first impression of Pyongyang was it is a city filled with trees. August 2007. The most expensive hotel I have ever paid to stay in. It wasn't bad compared to the sort of place I usually stay. It was clean, like a standard western midrange hotel room. It was a disappointment that the hot water didn't work most of the time I was there. August 2007. Sculpture of a kimjongillia flower. Developed by an Indonesian for the Great Leader. August 2007. At the Arirang festival. 100,000 kids doing synchronized gymnastics and dancing. The background in provided by 20,000 kids holding cards. This is before the show started. August 2007. 20,000 kids doing a test pattern. August 2007. The actual show. It was quite impressive. August 2007. More of the Arirang. August 2007. More Arirang. August 2007. The show was very militaristic. The DPRK as a whole glories in the military constantly. It is one of the very uncomfortable aspects of the culture. August 2007. More nationalism. August 2007. The end of the show. August 2007. Pyongyang at night. It wasn't so very different from any other city at night. I had heard there were very few lights but it seemed well lit. I did hear later from a diplomat stationed in Pyongyang that during the Arirang festival when there are many tourists they turn on extra lights in the city, and that the surrounding countryside must do without electricity. August 2007. Instead of traffic lights in the DPRK there are people who direct traffic. It is interesting to watch since they are doing it very actively even when there are no cars on the road. August 2007. Me at the mausoleum of Kim Il Sung. August 2007. The mausoleum of Kim Il Sung. August 2007. Another empty tree lined road in Pyongyang. August 2007. The main university in Pyongyang. People in Pyongyang tend to be all wearing uniforms. The students have uniforms. Even the working class have uniforms. Even if they are very basic. August 2007. The largest building in Pyongyang is an abandoned hotel that was never completed. It is an impressive building, but looks very derelict in it's half finished state. It can be seen from almost everywhere in the city and adds to the feel of the town. August 2007. From what I heard there is a lot more traffic than just a few years ago. I saw a lot of busses and trollys although I didn't get to ride in any. August 2007. Posters and billboards with the Kim's were a common sight. August 2007. Sometimes Pyongyang reminded me of Russia. August 2007. Mangyongdae, the alleged birthplace of Kim Il Sung. August 2007. Kim Il Sung as a child. August 2007. Pyongyang is full of people walking and riding bikes. August 2007. Map of the Pyongyang metro. Once again the contrast with Seoul is amazing. Seoul has at least a dozen lines. August 2007. Going down into the metro. August 2007. Inside the metro is beautiful. Again this is something that reminds me of Russia. August 2007. Here comes the train. August 2007. Inside the train reminded me of the Berlin metro. I read that the trains are in fact old East German ones. August 2007. Also in the metro pictures of the Kim's. August 2007. The artwork was very nice in the metro. August 2007. More of the metro. August 2007. Ouside, the sign for the metro. August 2007. Pyongyang is a very orderly city. August 2007. At the central Square of Pyongyang. August 2007. More of the central square. August 2007. More of PyongyangAugust 2007. Giant statue of Kim Il Sung. August 2007. One of the many memorials in Pyongyang. August 2007. Me at the huge Kim Il Sung statue. August 2007. Captured US ship the USS Pueblo. August 2007. Me in the captains seat of the USS Pueblo. August 2007. Another war monument. August 2007. Nice statue at a center for children's crafs. August 2007. Musical and gymnastic performance. August 2007. Highway to the DMZ with a reunification monument. August 2007. The road to the DMZ was pretty nice. Virtually no traffic. Trees along the road. August 2007. North Korean countryside. August 2007. Sometimes how the road leveled out it seemed to be a landing strip. August 2007. Often one side or the other of the road seemed to be under repair. August 2007. More countryside. August 2007. More empty highway. August 2007. Sign at the DMZ saying 70km to Seoul. August 2007. Huge flagpole at the DMZ. August 2007. Negotiation room during the Korean War. August 2007. Looking at South Korea at the DMZ. I was on a DMZ tour from the south in 2006, and I was in the same location only just over the border. It is interesting to contrast the two tours. Both were full of propaganda. It was perhaps more ridiculous went I went on the south tour. This really surprised me. The tour from Seoul was also more strict. The rules and warnings much more strict. Saying they would take our cameras, or we could be shot, ordering us not to make hand gestures where the North Koreans could see because we might be spys. Coming from Pyongyang there was none of that. It was a lot more laid back. August 2007. This is the same negotiation room I got to go in when I came from Seoul to the DMZ. August 2007. When I came from the south I walked through that now guarded (southern) door. And the northern door was guarded by an even larger and much more serious South Korean. August 2007. South Korean flagpole. August 2007. The city of Kaesong near the DMZ. Very quiet place. August 2007. More of Kaesong. August 2007. A huge Kim Il Sung statue in Kaesong. August 2007. Central Kaesong, with the only big buildings of the city. August 2007. Former monastery in Kaesong. Now a museum. It looked just like ones in South Korea. August 2007. Tree at the former monastery. August 2007. Reunification monument. August 2007. This room is full of plaques from all over the world. Rather ridiculous. They are from pro DPRK clubs. I had the feeling it was either mostly made up or the North Koreans pay for these clubs to stay in operation. August 2007. People practicing something, and a good view of the Taedong River and the city. August 2007. Communist Party monument. August 2007. Pyongyang. August 2007. The Juche Tower across the Taedong River. August 2007. Pyongyang train station. August 2007. Largest Arch of Triumph in the world. Not as beautiful as the one in Paris though. September 2007. Arch of Triumph. September 2007. Busy day at the Pyongyang Airport. September 2007. Really cool truck providing the stairs to the airplane! September 2007. I thought it was quite funny how the seats fold down in the Tupolev airplane. September 2007. Pyongyang Airport, August 2007. Pyongyang and the Taedong River from the Yanggakdo Hotel, August 2007. The Kim Il-Sung Memorial, Pyongyang, August 2007. View from Mangyongdae, the alleged birthplace of Kim Il Sung, August 2007. Pyongyang's main square, August 2007. Pyongyang's main square, August 2007. View of Pyongyang from the USS Pueblo, August 2007. The DMZ at Panmunjon, August 2007. In August 2006 I was here from the southern side. Kaesong, August 2007. Kaesong, August 2007. Kaesong, August 2007. Pyongyang and the Taedong River from the Yanggakdo Hotel, September 2007. View of Pyongyang from hero graveyard, September 2007. View of Pyongyang from hero graveyard, September 2007. Passport Stamps |back to travels |