[gdl_gallery title=”My North Korean Vacation” width=”270″ height=”300″ ]
In the summer of 2012, I ventured on a journey to what is often considered the most mysterious country in the world – the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
With friends’ reactions generally along the lines of ‘Oh, you must mean, South Korea!’ it would be a lie to say that I didn’t have high expectations. My adventure started with a phone call to the North Korean embassy in London, based in Ealing. The mystery was elevated when nobody answered- on multiple occasions. There are conflicting neighbours reports of this covert building, and whilst one newspaper article stated that the embassy staff were very concise with regards to taking turns to take out the trash, another wrote that they were not accustomed to returning neighbourhood childrens’ footballs when these were accidentally kicked over their gate.
However, after eventually filling in a large pile of forms with seemingly the same questions, no I am not a journalist, and no, I will not carry any South Korean printed media into the country, the visa agency arranged my visa, which i was told we would be able to pick up from a representative when we arrived in Beijing.
The airport was an empty hall, apart from six men behind immigration desks, and two portraits on the back of the wall – one of Kim Il Sung, and one of Kim Jung Il.
After a flight that was surprisingly full of Europeans, some of which working in Pyongyang, and others just like us, going on holiday, we landed in Pyongyang. The airport was an empty hall, apart from six men behind immigration desks, and two portraits on the back of the wall – one of Kim Il Sung, and one of Kim Jung Il. This vacuous space was, however, filled up with a revolutionary tune blasting through the speakers. Immigration and security were a walk in the park – our visas were checked and we were not given a stamp in our passports, regardless of how much I smiled and pleaded with the immigration officer. The main question at security was whether we had carried any books, especially anything South Korean or North Korean travel guides, and if so which ones. We were reminded that the same amount of books must also be taken back out of the country. This was followed by a quick glance at my camera, and then meeting my driver, and a young student who was my tour guide.
Throughout the next six days, the efficiency and determination by which we were lead from sight to sight was striking. Some of these included the Grand People’s Study House, the library, to the Workers’ Monument, to the Arch of Triumph, to the Great Martyr’s Cemetery, the Arirang Mass Games, the Stamp Shop, a secondary school and a department store. At each and every one we were delivered a well-rehearsed story, and was followed by the same question; “Do you favourite it?” Of course my response never varied from, “Yes, yes I favourite this statue/building/stadium. Your country is beautiful”. And it really was. The countryside was absolutely stunning, and the historical sights we were shown were very impressive.
We were told that there was a stop which was on both of the lines, and that you could get off, and switch onto the other line. Unfortunately, I did not have any Beijing metro or London tube maps with me, as I’d loved to have showed my tour guides.
In reality, my favourite sight was the Pyongyang metro. We took the metro for four stops, which were all equally exquisite. The walls were covered in mosaics of Kim Il Sung as a child with his parents, Kim Il Sung in the middle of heroic deeds, and soldiers marching proudly through the countryside. Again, revolutionary music was blasting from every available speaker, and people were dressed in similar dark green coloured uniforms. I wondered whether they were commuting somewhere, or whether they were placed there for my benefit, as I was told sometimes happens. Regardless, I was amazed by how far down the metro was (the deepest in the world at 110 metres or 360 feet with one single escalator down) and how proud the tour guides were of their intricate system. We were told that there was a stop which was on both of the lines, and that you could get off, and switch onto the other line. Unfortunately, I did not have any Beijing metro or London tube maps with me, as I’d loved to have showed my tour guides.
One thing that really stood out was the tour guides’ persistent conviction that people in North Korea felt real grief for the South Koreans, and their poor living conditions under American imperialism. On top of this, everyone I spoke to held on to the continuous hope for North and South to reunite soon. This was surprising to me, although I don’t know how the average North Korean resident feels about this, as we did not get to talk to any. Any movement away from the tourist sights or towards groups of people not in the tourist industry made our guides nervous.
Wandering around the hotel was an option, but leaving the hotel without tour guides was not permitted
Throughout the entire trip, we ran into the same tour groups as everybody was on the same schedule, seemingly visiting the same sights in accordance with tour guides’ rigidness. However, making friends between tour groups was not really something our tour guides encouraged – we were kept separate. Wandering around the hotel was an option, but leaving the hotel without tour guides was not permitted. As the hotel was on an island surrounded by a moat, and a lone large bridge was keeping me from the rest of the city, it was difficult at times to not feel constrained and isolated.
After this journey, my initial curiosity about this beautiful country has not been dampened, it continues to intrigue me all the more; this will certainly not be my last encounter with North Korea. Some of the most interesting sights, like Kim Il Sung’s, and now also Kim Jung Il’s, Mausoleum, were ‘no longer on the itinerary’ and could not be added, for reasons unclear. And, with the looming opening of the new Ryugyong Hotel, expected to have been the largest hotel in the world when building commenced in 1987, a second visit is definitely justified.
