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Showing posts from March, 2017

Sinuiju: a city bordering China

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The next day we left for the town of Sinuiju at 10am, only 3 of us from the group and some very annoying guys from another group joined us. The train journey itself was nice and was a sleeper but we were so tired that we did not see much of it, just slept most of the way. The tour was very fatiguing as we were up most days at 6am and in bed by 1am! We met our local guides on the train and travelled with them, they were very nice and friendly and helpful. Its a shame we spend only 24 hours with them! When we arrived, we arrived a place called Dongrim, we went to the hotel which was nice and new with much better rooms than the one in Pyongyang. We then went to a frozen waterfall, however as I was exhausted I was able to skip going all the way to the top and chill in my room for bit, much needed!! Hotel in Dongrim On the evening I had a massage and went to bed as I wasn't in the mood for socialising with the rest of the group as they were annoying. The next mo...

Statues, Universities and Food Poisoning!

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The following day we were up early again to visit the square where the two giant statues of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il stand. We had to pay our respects to the two leaders and bow at their statues,  this is a must on any DPRK trip, if you dont want to bow, I believe you have to stay in the coach, but this is considered very rude in the DPRK. The statues were very impressive and grand in size. On the afternoon we visited a university in Pyongyang where we could interact with the students and see their classes in action, however this felt a little uneasy as they were to learn and we could just go in and take pictures and film anything we wanted. However the experience was still great. There were various rooms in this university such as classrooms, video and TV rooms using old VHS, and a music appreciation room. At the end of the visit we got to interact with an English speaking class, two of the guys on our tour were speaking to them and one even asked the group if they had e...

Museums, Monuments and Ships!

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After the palace we went to the  Revolutionary Martyry’s Cemetery – The resting place of the greatest of the anti-Japanese revolutionary fighters each grave features a bronze bust of the hero laid to rest within. This was a spectacular memorial place with an amazing view of the city. By now though even though we were pretty much allowed to take pictures of anything we wanted, I felt as though the time available to this was always very limited due to the schedule. Often when taking pictures Ms Pa was often telling me to hurry up and move on! We then got to visit the Juche tower which is the biggest tower in the city, it can be seem from many places in the city including our hotel! One thing that was a little strange in this area was that the area seemed generally clean and tidy but they were hundreds of flies annoying everyone, at one point one girl on our tour got a fly in her eye and it was quite red for a couple of hours after. We went to the top of the tower and had a gr...

The Food

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Throughout the duration of the tour we had many meals at various restaurants through-out the city. The food was for me personally mediocre, it was not the best but not the worst, often a buffet style on the table and not so much meat. The guides always used to sit together by themselves but were always on hand to help us if needed. I asked our western guide why they sat alone and not with us, he told me that it was because its their time where they also can have a break. The guides did work very long hours, so it this was understandable.  At the majority of the restaurants, towards the end of the meal the waitresses would often start singing 3 or 4 songs for us with a choreographed routine, they would often start with the hit 'pan gan sumenan' which in Korean means 'nice to meet you'. This song is still in my head even weeks after coming home! On one occasion the entertainment was very elaborate with many masks and costume changes, sadly though ...

Mausoleum of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il

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On the second full day in the DPRK, we had to be up early in the morning again this time to visit the mausoleum where the great leaders are currently lying in state, sadly there are very few photographs here as photography was forbidden for most part of the morning! Kumsusan Palace of the Sun We arrived at the entrance around 8am and had to wait until about 9 for us to be able to enter, we were instructed how to bow, how to show general respect with our arms and where to remain silent. The bowing was fairly straight forward, just a case of leaning forward with our arms in a straight line. When in the mausoleum we were briefed that in the DPRK putting your arms in front is disrespectful and that behind your back or to the sides is considered respectable. At several points we also needed to remain silent to show respect. On entering the mausoleum we had to all walk in a straight line in groups and remain silent, then we proceeded to check in all our belongings, all ...

Kaesong and Sariwon

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On our way to Kaesong, again we got to see a lot of DPRK life going on around us. We arrived about 1 hour later at Kaesong itself and really got to see many locals, the atmosphere was amazing it was really surreal . We got to see the (from Wikitravel) Nam Gate , or the South Gate, was built between 1391 and 1393, at the same time as the inner citadel of the walled city. The citadel used to have seven gates, but only Nam Gate is left. During the Korea War it was severely damaged and rebuilt in 1954.   After this we then had lunch which was erm... different... en route to Sariwon After lunch we headed to what was probably my favorite city in the DPRK, Sariwon. Along the way I really needed the toilet and as the bus was bumpy it was hard to hold it so I asked the guides how much longer to the nearest toilet and they said 45 mins!! The guides though said I can stop anytime and go against a tree, so I did! I wasn't expecting to do this in the DPRK!! This wa...

The DMZ (border between North and South Korea!!)

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The DMZ was a surreal experience for me as only one year previous had I visited the DMZ from South Korea when I was in Seoul. Never did I imagine that one year later I would be standing on the other side! 2016 DMZ from the South My first 'step inside' the DPRK 2016 The DMZ tour started with a tour of the souvenir shop about 2 km from the border (first shop of many to come on this trip!!), I bought a nice hoodie with 'see you in Pyongyang' and the north Korean flag written/drawn on it, have barely taken it off since! After the souvenir shop we then met our DPRK soldier who escorted us through the DMZ. He gave us first a brief history lesson about the DMZ and the war which our guide Ms Kim translated for us. After this we then proceeded towards the DMZ itself where North and South meet, but just before we went into the room where the armistice agreement was signed in 1953 and we viewed the book where it was signed and again were told more about ...