Travel stories #3: North Korea (DPRK) - Pyongyang; entry of the Hermit Kingdom (#3 NK)
Hi there, and welcome to the third post in the North Korea blog series. Please follow my blog for continued updates! :)
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- As always, please note all the pictures are genuine and mine *
North Korea is also called the Hermit Kingdom because of its isolationist practices. Main entry point for foreigners into North Korea is in most cases in Pyongyang through the national airport, Sunan International Airport. Air Koryo is the state-owned national flag carrier airline of North Korea, and usually transports tourists and diplomats from Beijing to Pyongyang. Most of the planes used by Air Koryo are Russian Tupulevs - it is already a majestic thing to fly in these things :)
The Air Koryo plane - a modern Russian Tupulev aircraft taking you from Beijing to Pyongyang in about 1,5 hours
The food on board of Air Koryo - it is pretty good, really, despite being called 'the worst airline in the world'
Pyongyang is a surprisingly clean and modern capital, by the looks of it. It features a number of impressive, concrete buildings, and often the sights are compared with the old Soviet era. Below already a sneak peak from Pyongyang, more to come! :)
Empty streets most of the time, the traffic is mostly formed by government employees
One of the giant sports stadiums in Pyongyang - this is still a small one though, in the following blog post I will show you the largest stadium on the planet, in one of the most spectacular shows ever seen by mankind
As always:
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See you next time!
Wow, just happened to see this post. I've always been interested in North Korea, but as western I'm quite afraid something could go wrong and I could get arrested. Of course, in most cases a western tourist has been arrested it has been for clear reasons - like trying to steal something from the country.
However, are you worried you might get in trouble with the authorities as you are taking pictures and writing a blog about their country?
Get out of there as soon as you can i agree
Americans are at much greater risk than e.g. Europeans given the potential for negotiational leverage. There have been very, very few Europeans that have come into trouble in history. As long as you listen to the guidelines given within the country, you are perfectly fine.
As for the picture sharing: I am well aware I can not share everything in here, and I will not. However, I will do my best to show you as much as possible without jeopardizing others (i.e. my guides could get into trouble in case I share some of my pictures online).
Thank you for sharing @finance2nomad
How long will you be in North Korea? I was in South Korea many moons ago and was very close to the border, just to take some pictures. Though very strict and I remember cannot pass the yellow line to take pictures. Look ing forward for more of your post!!
Upvoted and following you :)
Have a great weekend.
Hi there @xredsoulless, thanks for your follow! I am actually not in North Korea at the moment, otherwise I would have not been able to share these posts ;) Indeed I have been to the DMZ a couple of times from South Korea, and the rules are actually more strict on that side of the border (as it is co-regulated by the American soldiers and they are aware of the unpredictability of North Korean soldiers).
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Wow! Pyongyang looks so great there! I'm curious: How did you take photos? I've heard that photos are not allowed in that country.
You are allowed to take pictures, but also have to obey the guidelines given by your guides (e.g. you are not allowed to take photos of military, of NGOs working in the field, at the border, etc.). Video is even more restricted. You are checked upon leaving the country (at the airport).
Damn! :/
Woah! So do they actually go through your camera and look at your pics? What if you took a nudie lol!
Haha! Yes they take your camera at the airport and go through some of the pictures (obviously they can't check all these hundreds you have made!). They will scan for sensitive pics and delete... In addition, not all cameras are allowed, in particular they look at the size of your lenses.
Wow. Total invasion of privacy. That's crazy. And the internet... they don't have it do they? So, for ex, you couldn't upload to a cloud and then delete, right?
Must be like living in 1995 :)
No, foreigners generally do not have access to the internet in North Korea. You have to hand in your phone upon arrival at the airport, and you will only get it back once you leave the country. However, locals in Pyongyang do have access to the internet - they actually have 3G networks, but only in the capital (and for the upper elite).
But what do they do with their internet connections?
They are connected to the Intranet - not Internet! They can view government posts and some filtered news websites. It is a way for the government to control its population. Pretty insane.
nice photo log!
Great post!
It's so interesting to see NK from the inside. Everything is always so negatively portrayed in the mainstream media. I wonder how much of it is true?
I am actually thinking about writing about it monthly or so - The Ultimate North Korea factcheck :) Requires some effort though with all the news going around currently haha
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If somebody is interested in a simlar trip....but in Iran than check this here. This DPRK Post is definitly upvoted and followed. great.
https://steemit.com/travel/@arash91/ran-trip-part-1