View Full Version : Trip to North Korea
lewislewis
20-09-2005, 15:16
Well last year i visited the world's last bastion of Stalinism on an organised tourist trip, all supervised by the North Korean authorities. I'm not naive enough to believe I saw the real North Korea (though i certainly caught glimpses of it), but it was very interesting to see their regime's public face and visit a country that nobody else i've ever met has seen..if anyone is interested i'll talk about it, maybe post up a brief travel diary of what i can remember.
DrRingDing
20-09-2005, 15:17
I would love to hear what you saw and heard.
Ern would be soooooo jealous!
Anything like this? http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/3113352.stm
Hanfstaengl
20-09-2005, 16:39
Ern would be soooooo jealous!
Anything like this? http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/3113352.stm
yes, that would be most infirmative
Larry O'Hara
20-09-2005, 16:43
Infirmative--nice description. Like the BBC reference to 'revolving restaurants': presumably they each take it in turns to actually sell food...
Well last year i visited the world's last bastion of Stalinism on an organised tourist trip, all supervised by the North Korean authorities. I'm not naive enough to believe I saw the real North Korea (though i certainly caught glimpses of it), but it was very interesting to see their regime's public face and visit a country that nobody else i've ever met has seen..if anyone is interested i'll talk about it, maybe post up a brief travel diary of what i can remember.
I know friends that have been there, after what they told me, I didn't really think about bothering to go.
All cameras and phones taken away by the customs officers, not being allowed to talk to anyone that wasn't the tour guide! Staying in hotels in cities, where the only power that seemed to be on was at the hotel.
Would love to hear more though!
Thought about going but didn't see the point, is it worth it?
Did you meet any normal (not goverment employed people) North Koreans to talk to?
lewislewis
20-09-2005, 23:17
Apparently its alot more open since 2003 than in previous years, in retrospect for the amount of money i paid it was not worth going, and there are all kinds of issues in giving foreign currency to a disgusting regime...but the experience was really unique and worthwhile, and the presence of foreigners means the regime has to clean up its act in the cities at least.
That advert is a little off the mark. I definitely didn't pay for any flowers but a Chinese guy in our party laid them at the statue (i presume he paid for them). There are now billboards in Pyongyang, advertising products made in North Korea, such as the cars they're now producing (not sure which make, it was in Korean). The article's info on entry requirements is also inaccurate (i didn't need a CV or letter from my work place)
Visited all the regime monuments in Pyongyang, the 'Stalinist theme park' description is spot on. At night it was nearly totally dark, a few spots are lit up (Kim statues and shrines, hotels, the area around Kim Il-Sung square). I wouldn't say it was silent at night either, though very quiet compared to any other Asian capital, quite a few cars were (very dangerously) driving around. Pyongyang itself has been recently redecorated/buildings repainted, looks very modern, lots of people staring at us on the streets. More cars than i expected, lots of bicycles too which i wrongly thought were banned. I stayed in the Koryo Hotel btw.
Again the article is wrong on restaurants, they're scattered about the city, ones we passed in the bus looked quite full but not exactly bursting. Its a point of honour in North Korea to eat out regularly and they will save money for weeks to do so. The restaurants we ate in accepted limited currency and are thus designated for tourists, diplomats and Workers Party members. The food itself is traditional style, noodles etc, no western food. North Korean beer is quite good, umm the hotels all had bars too which sold Japanese, Chinese and South Korean alcohols as well as some European stuff (Russian vodka, French champagne etc). Unfortunately i didnt get to use these rollercoasters or revolving restaurants that the article mentions.
Thinking back, it seems NK was more open when i visited than it has been in the past. Yes my phone was taken for 'safekeeping' as was my passport. My camera wasn't, and i could take any photos i wanted apart from photos of soldiers. I could photograph government buildings (especially at the DMZ-highlight of the trip) if i asked permission.
The guides themselves were likeable enough, did a good job of defending what is the world's worst regime. I didn't argue with them, felt really uncomfortable. One of them said he had been to Hong Kong and China. The closest i got to talking to a 'normal' Korean was exchanging a 'hello' near the Mansu hill monument with a bypasser, his English was decent, he was very inquisitive and asked where i was from (he didn't know what Wales was) and wished me a good trip. My impression from watching the normal people was that inside Pyongyang, Nampo and Kaesong (the three cities i saw) they are eating enough and are priveleged, and are very 'wow' when seeing foreigners. Outside the cities they don't look up from working in the fields. Alot of non-mechanised agricultural equipment was in use (i.e oxen pulling plows) and quite a few were working by hand. The guides were very open about food, saying there had been 'severe food problems' in 'parts of the country' due to international isolation, the collapse of the USSR and natural disasters. They said the worst years were 1997/98 and that since then there had been a steady improvement. Don't know whether to believe this obviously. Visiting NK would be a Stalinists wet dream.
Cultural highlight of the tour was Kaesong, beautiful city with lots of traditional-style Korean buildings and pavilions, very good folk museum, happy children playing in the streets (that weren't starving). I think the famine is confined to the countryside.
Actual highlight of the tour was the DMZ border zone, Panmunjom, where NK faces South Korean and American troops.
Adventure travellers would love it, but be prepared for a total lack of freedom. Its definitely not a holiday, but its an experience of the failure of that ideology. Looking at international developments, they should be getting major fuel aid soon and free electricity from South Korea, which might brighten up a couple of those cities.
Any specific questions, i'll answer them.
phildwyer
20-09-2005, 23:20
Did you have a "guide" with you at all times or were you able to travel alone?
DrRingDing
20-09-2005, 23:29
How much did the trip cost and how long was the trip?
Was there much grub on offer for veggies?
I'm sure I heard from some one that a friend of their's had been sent out as an offical rep of their particular Stalinist sect, as a guest of the NK govt.
lewislewis
21-09-2005, 00:00
I'm sure I heard from some one that a friend of their's had been sent out as an offical rep of their particular Stalinist sect, as a guest of the NK govt.
Wow...in that case he/she probably got to see more sensitive sites than i did, possibly including Kim Il-Sung's Memorial Palace where his body is preserved.
Yes, I had three guides with my party (fourteen of us) at all times, we could wander around areas quite freely though, and nothing would stop us from talking to passers by (doubt they would've talked back though).
Vegetarian options?? Forget it. : (
Currency for tourists is now Euros.
Currency for tourists is now Euros.
Uh-oh. That'll be a US invasion, then :(
DrRingDing
21-09-2005, 00:27
Vegetarian options?? Forget it. : (
bugger
Dirty Martini
21-09-2005, 09:33
Fascinating stuff. Can you post up some photos?
Is it true they have the world's biggest sports stadium. Holds about 150,000 as rumour has it.
Is it true they have the world's biggest sports stadium. Holds about 150,000 as rumour has it.
Could be useful in the future :eek:
lewislewis
21-09-2005, 18:30
Is it true they have the world's biggest sports stadium. Holds about 150,000 as rumour has it.
yeah there's at least three massive stadia in Pyongyang, including the world's biggest.
They also have, bizarrely, what was going to be the world's tallest hotel, but only the outside structure has ever been completed. Its called Ryugyong, the guides were Very evasive about it, its a disgusting, scary building, by far the tallest in the country, looks horrible and sinister looming over the skyline. Google it.
I'll post my photos up when i get the time to transfer them to my laptop (probably next week), theres tonnes of photos on the internet that look pretty similar to what i photographed.
My trip (1 week) was 1190 Euro, going with VNC travel.
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