Blogs from North Korea, Asia - page 4

North Korea ok it's way over time, but finally we've got some time and the facilities to do some bla-bla about North-Korea. (in the mean time we've been to Shanghai, Benxi and currently were at the 'base' of the yellow mountains, where we'll go tomorrow). So on the 24th of October we've took the plane to Pyongyong. But basically already on the 23rd espcially I got rather excited as we had a 2 hour briefing about North-Korea from the English tour-operator who had fixed this trip for us. Let's get some things straightened out immediately: 2 guides and 1 driver excorted us 24/7. we weren't able to buy stuff from locals. They bought for us. Only are certain designated 'shops' we could buy stuff, but only with Euro, Chinese RBM or USD. At one shop we ... read more

Our coach tracked The Han River out of Seoul the forty odd kilometers up towards the North Korean border in the morning gloaming, and if you hadn’t known your destination beforehand, you’d still have felt The Sword of Damocles hanging over your head; as almost the entire length of the riverbank is fortified with razor wire fences and guard towers, lest the North Koreans attempt an attack on the heart of the nation. Ominous sights which certainly instill a sense of foreboding. Until ironically, we cross The Bridge of Freedom, to Dorasan Railway Station, situated right on the North Korean border. Where newly built post modernist architecture adorns the fault line of the world’s longest running civil war. Cameras with a half decent zoom were banned on the tour, lest you might spy something you’re not ... read more

Hello everyone, This blog is about our recent weekend trip to North Korea! I'm sure most of you have all heard about the latest commotion over the recent tragic shooting of a S. Korean female tourist in North Korea? (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25634009/) Well, that is actually the same tour that we were on - about a month earlier. Now the tours are temporarily suspended until the North agrees to cooperate with the South in further investigating this unfortunate murder. We went in the middle of June - and although overall we thought the S. Korean company Hyundai Asan played too much of a role in creating this tourist destination / tour - we were quite intrigued by this communist country and feel lucky that we got to take part in such a unique and educational experience. We started ... read more

September 2, 2007 Hotel: Yanggakdo Today was our last full day in the DPRK, but just as busy as the previous two had been. This morning we would be visiting Kim Il-Sung's mausoleum, for which we had to be presentable. Shirt+tie for men and dress for the women. The mausoleum itself is huge gray granite/marble building with no windows, just a large picture of the Great Leader. It is always busy with locals who usually visit two or three times a year. When we arrived there was a long line of workers and women in brightly colored traditional dresses, pink, blue, green, etc. The other KT tour arrived as well, this was the American group, so they had managed to get in as well despite the Mass Games being canceled. There is a large courtyard in ... read more

August 30, 2007 Flight: Beijing to Pyongyang, Air Koryo 152 Hotel: Yaggakdo Hotel, Pyongyang At last.. today I would be going to the hermit kingdom, North Korea! I'd wanted to go now for a few years since I'd heard about Koryo Tours trips, and DPRK had opened up the past few years to Americans, letting them in for the Mass Games. My wife and I were actually scheduled to go on their Mass Games trip last year when it was canceled due to flooding, I wanted to make another attempt this year. M. couldn't make it this time and since their non-US citizen tours are cheaper (I am dual citizen US/UK), I signed up for one of the Mass Games tours using my UK passport. Tours to the DPRK are somewhat unpredictable; there had been flooding ... read more