Blogs from Pyongyang, North Korea, Asia - page 2

One thing they don’t like to give you whilst in North Korea is free-time. Free-time breeds curiosity and in North Korea curiosity can land you in a lot of trouble. After scoffing down a breakfast consisting of New Zealand Anchor butter and my first toast in a year, we were immediately on our way. Our guide Ms. Lee (one of four family names that make up 95% of the North Korean population), who had yet to crack a smile and Mr. Jang our guard, who seemed far more laid back, stuck to us like a wasp on jam. As there were only my wife and I in our tour ‘group’, we would be joining up with a larger Chinese group. No matter what your nationality is, all tour itineraries include the same attractions. The only difference ... read more

So have you guessed where it is yet? 5 Days - Maximum time on budget spent in the country, the length of my trip. So you should be able to gather that it was an expensive country to visit. 4 Names - Kim, Lee, Pakh and Chai These 4 names make up 95% of the population’s surnames. A question I found important to bring up was if everyone has the same name what happens to the post? There isn’t so much personal correspondence as it turns out. The names should indicate East Asia. 3 Adjectives - People’s, Republic, Democratic As a great traveller(his Travel Blog is His Dudeness) and great man(Ralf) once told me , the more political adjectives a regime had to fill its title with the more evil the regime was reputed to be. ... read more

North Korea. A country that regularly appears on the news, but for all the wrong reasons. Nuclear ambitions, famines, natural disasters, lack of human rights, abduction of foreigners, sanctions from other countries... (and also the recent sinking of a South Korean vessel and an embarrassing loss to Portugal during the World Cup)... The list goes on and on. The country, also known as the Democratic People's Republic of Korea or DPRK (The word "Democratic" raises many people's eyebrows), is probably the most interesting travel destination that I have ever visited. What makes the country so interesting is the mystery and secrecy shrouding the country. With the government controlling every single piece of information into and out of the nation, it's kinda difficult to get an idea of what things are really like inside the "Hermit nation". ... read more

Nearly 9 months living & working in Pyongyang, North Korea so guess it was about time to make a little excursion to the Pyongyang zoo! Weather is now fantastic and the sunny Sundays are a great occasion to discover some of the sites which might not have been as pleasant during the winter when the thermometer was closer to the minus 20 degrees! The Pyongyang zoo is located on the North East outskirt of the city surrounded by hills covered with forest and fields. The road leading to it, a massive 8 lines highway is absolutely empty…not much surprise here, as although the number of vehicles have increased in Pyongyang, most of them are not allowed to drive on Sunday so we had the road for ourselves (on both way!). Didn’t really know what to expect ... read more

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