Would you travel to ... North Korea?

[Simo]

I would go but would be very careful and probably make sure I was traveling with an organised group type trip.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I would go but would be very careful and probably make sure I was traveling with an organised group type trip.

that's the only way westerns can access as far as I'm aware... by organized tour. you certainly have to have an official guide with you from the moment you arrive at the border until the moment you leave. no phones or other communications devices are allowed, a bit scary!

 

[Flashback]

that's the only way westerns can access as far as I'm aware... by organized tour. you certainly have to have an official guide with you from the moment you arrive at the border until the moment you leave. no phones or other communications devices are allowed, a bit scary!

No live trip reports then? :mrgreen:

 

[etops1]

Hi guys,

I traveled over to the Hermit Kingdom earlier this year with Koryo tours. They're the longest running, most established, biggest (and most expensive) tour company operating in North Korea (or DPRK as they prefer to be called). Frankly I didn't want to risk it with a smaller operator though from all accounts the itineraries are similar e.g. flying in on the same plane, staying in the same hotel but if the kimchi hit the fan you'd want that extra experience.

It was the most amazing trip I've been on, extraordinary. There is a veneer of normalcy in Pyongyang where the elite live, about 10% of the population. The wide boulevards, impressively large monuments and buildings, people going about their daily "commerce", restaurants, expensive cognac in the stores, running water, Mercedes cars parked in the airport lot. Then you realise the complete paucity of cars on those boulevards, the lack of heating in those buildings (zero degrees in the war museum!), the film of dust on the cognac, that our party are the only people in the restaurant, the frequent blackouts. And looming above it all are the endlessly smiling portraits and murals of the eternal President Kim Il-Sung and Dear Leader Kim Jong-Il and on every corner a piece of Socialist art and on every building 10 ft. high slogans in Korean script imploring the populace to do this, that or the other for the good of nation/party.

I guess this is a aviation forum so I'll mention a bit about the flight in. Most of us caught the train out to China.
Air Koryo is the national airline of North Korea and operates JS152 from PEK-FNJ with a new Tupolev 204. This plane is allowed to fly to EU countries and I believe JS flew to Germany in April. The plane itself is quite comfortable with 3-3 seating, IFE on overhead screens (in Korean), free English copy of the Pyongyang Times or Korea Today and compete hot meal service on a 1:45 hour flight! They do have a business class section, I'm not sure if anybody sat there and certainly never hosted Kim J-I who exclusively took trains.
Sunan international was undergoing renovations when I arrived. This is in celebration of 2012, or Juche 101, the 100th anniversary of the birth of President Kim Il-Sung. Baggage claim was the longest I've experienced, yes longer than LHR and a few people reported their bags being relieved of a few cigarettes. Further security was done by hand, opening all carry-on and checked-in bags. I did not spot a First lounge in the terminal.

A lot of us in the tour group were conflicted with the ethics or morals of travelling to DPRK. I'm not going to proselytise that you all must go and visit. But I'll say this, the people there are desperately poor. Around one million people died of starvation in the mid '90's in what is known as the Arduous March. One million people in an industrialised country not in active conflict died because there was not enough food and the failed policies of the ruling party. And they have accepted it, and the communist monarchy is still in control. 22 million people, the population of Australia, live in conditions so far removed from their brothers and sisters to the south. It's just 3 hours by land from Pyongyang to Seoul yet it is 50 years behind the times. For me, I think the way forward is engagement and understanding, if not with the rulers than with the people. To overcome the mistrust and misinformation they have of the western world and for us to not ignore the great humanitarian disaster of the country.

I'd be more than happy to answer any questions about the trip! I may do a trip report when I get back home this week, I did take a few photos.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

A lot of us in the tour group were conflicted with the ethics or morals of travelling to DPRK. I'm not going to proselytise that you all must go and visit. But I'll say this, the people there are desperately poor. Around one million people died of starvation in the mid '90's in what is known as the Arduous March. One million people in an industrialised country not in active conflict died because there was not enough food and the failed policies of the ruling party. And they have accepted it, and the communist monarchy is still in control. 22 million people, the population of Australia, live in conditions so far removed from their brothers and sisters to the south. It's just 3 hours by land from Pyongyang to Seoul yet it is 50 years behind the times. For me, I think the way forward is engagement and understanding, if not with the rulers than with the people. To overcome the mistrust and misinformation they have of the western world and for us to not ignore the great humanitarian disaster of the country.

thanks for the report - particularly the paragraph I have quoted. Very moving, and certainly emphasises the seriousness that would go with a visit to that country.

 

[k3nnis]

Love to read the trip report!

 

[MEL_Traveller]

sooo... anyone else interested in the tour 11-14 September?

 

[seanpodge]

If I want to see misery and suffering I simply have to go downstairs to the Emergency department. Overseas travel for me is for relaxation - cultural exchange is reserved for restaurants and museums, I'm afraid. Besides, I suspect that OW doesn't have much of a lounge in Pyongyang and there's little chance of earning status credits...

Air China flies to Pyongyang from Beijing so you can get some points on *A.

Wikipedia claims that there is a business lounge although the *A lounge finder doesn't claim to have any lounge at FNJ.

 

[Drav]

I'd go, but the things putting me off are the following

1) Having to go on a tour group. Tour Groups have their place, but ive had so much fun just exploring different cities alone or with friends - I really wouldn't want to be forced into a tour group to travel anywhere anymore.
2) Accom: I like my luxe accom. Dunno that you could find that in NK.
3) Opportunity cost. It aint at the top of my list, and when I see the list of places I could visit for the cash id part with....I couldn't do it.

A very interesting question though. And it does make sense for people who have been to South Korea to want to see North Korea.