SPECTACULAR TRIP FROM NORTH AFRICA
SPECTACULAR TRIP FROM NORTH AFRICA
LEARN MORE ABOUT SPECTACULAR TRIP FROM NORTH AFRICA AND DISCOVER MORE INFORMATIONS ABOUT NORTH KOREA IF YOU PLANNING TO VISIT IT.
SPECTACULAR TRIP FROM NORTH AFRICA
On a tour to North Korea, you’ll witness items like a bear skull from Romania, a train carriage provided by Mao Zedong of China, and a sword Muammar Gaddafi of Libya gave to the country’s leaders. There are excursions to North Korea that you may take even if Kim Jong Un’s remote country may not be on the itinerary of the typical traveler. You may learn more about North Korean culture by traveling there as part of a tour group.
Frequent flyer Gabriel Hung popped over to Pyongyang for a quick visit. Here is his experience of his tour of North Korea.
TOUR OF NORTH KOREA
I went on a short trip to Pyongyang with Koryo Tours, a British tour operator in Beijing that specialises in North Korea touring.
We flew from Beijing in retro Soviet-made aircraft from the 1970s.
The seats were uncomfortable and cabin attendants told us photography was prohibited on board, but I took photos anyway.
I was in a group of 15 travellers.
We had three local guides and a camera man.
We were told the camera guy was there to film a video of our vacation but I’m convinced he was there to conduct surveillance on us.
The Arirang Mass Games is what attracts most tourists.
Seeing 200,000 performers in a stadium is an awe-inspiring sight and watching hundreds of kids doing synchronised gymnastics with military precision was really cool.
PYONGYANG
I stayed in Yanggakdo International Hotel, which was comfortable and basic.
The hotel had very slow and unreliable lifts, though.
On the surface, Pyongyang appeared to be a normal city.
People seemed happy and healthy.
We had contact with the locals on the street, in the metro and at the amusement park. They seemed as interested in us as we were in them.
They stared at us a lot, especially when we were screaming our heads off in the amusement park.
PHOTOGRAPHY
Yes, we were allowed to take photos as long as we didn’t take any of army personnel.
Our photos were not examined upon departure.
MONUMENTS IN PYONGYANG
We saw lots of monuments!
TOWER OF THE JUCHE IDEA
We saw the Tower of the Juche Idea, a 170m tall column in the world.
The guide was proud to tell us the column is the second tallest in the world, built in honour of Kim Il Sung’s philosophy Juche.
It was unveiled to mark the president’s 70th birthday in 1982.
In front of the Tower of the Juche Idea is a 30m statue consisting of three figures: one with a hammer, one with a sickle and one with a writing brush (an idealised worker, a peasant and a working intellectual).
MONUMENT TO THE FOUNDATION OF THE KOREAN WORKERS’ PARTY
The Monument to the Foundation of the Korean Workers’ Party is a hammer, sickle and writing brush representing the workers, farmers and intellectuals.
Each of these is 50 metres high, in recognition of the Party’s 50th anniversary.
GRAND PEOPLE’S STUDY HOUSE
There’s the Grand People’s Study House in front of the Taedong River and the Arc of Triumph, which, according to our guide is the world’s tallest and bigger than the one in Paris!
It was built to commemorate the Korean resistance to Japan from 1925 to 1945.
They seem to have a soft spot for the gifts given to their leaders.
There’s a museum with more than 220,000 items, including a bear’s head and a bullet-proof limousine.
There was one gift from the New York Group for the Study of Kimilsungism.
I’m not sure if this group actually exists!
MONUMENT TO THE VICTORIOUS FATHERLAND LIBERATION WAR
We saw some school kids visiting the Monument to the Victorious Fatherland Liberation War.
VICTORIOUS FATHERLAND LIBERATION WAR MUSEUM
Later an army guide who spoke good English showed us through the Victorious Fatherland Liberation War Museum.
She made us watch a video denouncing American imperialists and blaming the Americans for starting the war.
She lectured us while walking through the museum about aircraft used in the war and told us about a strange tree that saved many people!
PYEONGYANG METRO
We also visited the Metro, which is designed like the system in Moscow, and took a cruise on the Taedong River.
