So....in another thread I mentioned my brother did a 4 day "organized" tour to NK for the hell of it. These are some of his pictures from the trip. I will try to explain the best I can as to what they are. So it is picture heavy, I generally just throw a bunch of pictures for people who are curious....



Inflight magazine choice


Children preparing for the victory day preformance


One of their government minders and two guys on the trip - waiting for the train to arrive with the people who trained in. You couldnt use the train in as an American. I found it humorous that they had Quilmes (Argentinean beer) sold there....and you can drink on the street












Their hotel is that building on the island











Propaganda everywhere



Karaoke in the park


They took them to a shooting range for whatever reason


Then karaoke in a bar


An amusement park - they apparently led groups in groups that go to rides together and then to the next one. They all walked in "squares" while doing this.



Mass dancing to celebrate victory day


The group leaders "forced" locals to dance with random guys in the group



Graveyard for soldiers


Entrance to the grand library


People in the library showing off their computers and "internet" that only showed books in the library


They took them into a room that was teaching of the life of the dear leader


Showing off their "large" music selection which included this country album and Madonna.


Victory day kids dancing



They took them to a "film" village that had different neighborhoods of different style of houses...the first is Europe, then Japan....and dressed them up




Notice the only fan in the room points at the dear leader....


Forced to watch children dance and sing at a school






DMZ from the other side


Random waterfall


Farmers


Old tombs...pre-NK.



The road to Pyongyang




More victory days celebration


Picture of Kim Jung Il looking at random things


And other things



A washed out bridge from a recent flood....

A couple of random other notes. They apparently have good beer in NK compared to Asia...most places brew their own beer including the hotels...

Not at the top of my list but fascinating nonetheless. There's a rumor that the metro station in the pic is the only one and everyone there is an actor. Did he get to ride it?

Yeah, actually that is over 2 stations I believe. He said he rode 6 different stations - all of which were over decorated. I had heard the same thing...and he had too. So it is not completely true...but probably is after those 6.

So did the locals try to talk to them? Also they had their 'chaperons' but did they feel overly watched? Food looked ok but taste? Had a chance last year but that work thing got in the way. Fun piks.

This is a trip I'd love to make someday, but I've got to find someone else adventurous enough to do it with me. It looks like he had a great time and got to see all of the highlights.

Tell him ..... well done and thanks for the pictures - incredible

Not easy to plan and execute that trip

Will do. It actually almost takes nothing to plan the trip FWIW. It is easier to go to NK than it is to get a freakin Russian visa.

He went through this site...

http://dprk.youngpioneertours.com

More or less, you contact the company, let them know the tour you want, give them some basic info, and wire them some money.

After that, you just show up in Beijing a couple days before and the tour group does the rest.

Also, he uploaded those facebook pictures on a layover in Dubai (we both grew up there, so he knew quite a few people still there). He is now on a flight to Ethiopia to meet up with some friends and someone working there in a volunteer job. After 2 weeks there....my Dad is flying in and meeting him in Ethiopia. From there, they are going to Eritrea, and then crossing into Somalia (the Somaliland section...so the "safer" section). After that, they are flying together to Erbil, Iraq....so the Kurdistan region which is relatively safe.

Yeah...my family has an issue with odd trips.

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So did the locals try to talk to them? Also they had their 'chaperons' but did they feel overly watched? Food looked ok but taste? Had a chance last year but that work thing got in the way. Fun piks.

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Their minders did talk to them all the time and had a good knowledge of the outside world. But then, they would throw out random comments on how the dear leader did these great miracles. So, you are confused as these people are smart but brainwashed or smart and forced to say these things.

As with people, they said that they didnt really have any issue seeing some people. Granted, almost none spoke English so it wasnt really something people were concerned about. For example, the minders grabbed girls dancing with each other at (what seemed) random and had them dance with them with minders quite far away.

And then they did some shooting thing in the park (where locals were) which I didnt post before...but here.





And a random one in the park where people were singing...

Food: He said they did not go hungry and the food was okay...but half the time they did not know what they were eating...for example


It was just called "sweet meat" soup...


Just another random meal...the waiter walked away and it flared up apparently...

Fascinating.

Since people are finding this more interesting than I thought some would...I will throw in something that he thought was really f'n weird.

After they dropped off the people at the train station that were leaving via train, they had a day to burn. The minders thought it would be a great idea to show them a maternity hospital. He was confused by this one...they dressed them up in gowns and just walked them into random rooms with babies.



This was a high tech room where you talk to sick patients who you cant be near - they were proud of it

They were proud of their xray machine




Tanning booth? He didnt describe this one....


Then they showed a video of what rooms they missed and how great they were.

There was also an intercom in there that said some things in Korean. The guide smiled and told them that the announcement was saying that the dear leader had just delivered honey to the patients of the hospital....

Such an effing weird country. But fascinating...

Backwards?

In most countries, you find super market fridges in supermarkets...in North Korea...you find them in museums



Or farming equipment?



I guess no one has them, so it is sort of fancy....

Overview of the museum...

It is really interesting. It looks pretty clean but maybe the quality of everything isnt that great?

Also that "tanning bed" looks like it can easily turn into an "electric bed" with the looks of that gizmo that is hooked up to it.

He did say that everything seemed extremely clean. But, when you have a country of forced laborers and only a few places that people go, it is not that hard to do....

awesome! and per that website, cheaper than i was expecting when i clicked the link. did he ever feel worried or concerned the government would arrest/imprison him for no/random/lookingforabribe reason? looks like a fun trip, but i'd be worried about accidentally breaking some law and winding up in a north korean jail for the rest of my life

That would be my main concern but no. As long as you followed the guides and didn't act up, it wasn't an issue. I actually saw an article on yahoo two days ago about a Dutch tourist who got arrested for trying to go into some voting station (they have elections???). He was just held for a night and released. It also said it was his 18th trip to NK.....

NK did forge an article by that guy and put it in (oddly enough) that magazine (believe it was) my brother had in the plane that more or less said how great their election system is and then said the Dutch guy wrote it. Strange story...

Very interesting. Thanks for sharing.

Any opportunities for them to "fraternize" with the local girls? I imagine that's probably frowned upon.

Ha...I didnt ask him that. I think there probably is quite a large language barrier...but there seemed to be other people at that one karaoke lounge.

However, they did take them out to Pyongyang's only club.



It was empty...

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NK did forge an article by that guy and put it in (oddly enough) that magazine (believe it was) my brother had in the plane that more or less said how great their election system is and then said the Dutch guy wrote it.

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Conditions for his release.

Apparently...he said he later found out about it through someone letting him know about it online. They even photoshopped his signature from his passport onto it.

They have elections all the time in DPRK (North Korea). The Worker's Party wins with 100% of the vote every time.

And, as a rule, anyone you meet on those trips has been pre-approved by the government to socialize with Western tourists. You will not run across anyone who they did not know would be there.

This is fascinating! Thank you for taking the time to post this.

I watched a documentary called Kimjongilia a few years back and it was really interesting. I would recommend checking it out if you are interested in North Korea.

It's nice seeing that they finally completed the exterior of Ryugyong Hotel.

You do know that the North Koreans lurk on TexAgs.com and now your brother is ****ed!

Yeah, apparently (I believe from what I read a couple of months back) that an Egyptian telecom company paid for it to be finished as part of a deal to build cell phone service throughout the country.

Not that anyone can use it except government people.

But yeah, it looks a lot better than it did. Still would not trust going into that tower - but I hear the hotel there did open (I believe you have to go on a more expensive tour for that). I also heard that the hotel is only in a couple of floors while the rest of the building is abandoned and unfinished. I completely believe that.

Nah. Even after the Vice guys did their rather scathing review of their North Korean tour, they were invited back again, this time at the request of the government.

Now, after their most recent expose where they snuck into North Korean logging camps in Siberia and spoke to unauthorized North Koreans, I doubt they'll be allowed back.

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You do know that the North Koreans lurk on TexAgs.com and now your brother is ****ed!

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When my brother signed up for his visa, he had to fill out a form for the embassy and send it to the tour group. It asked for a contact to verify his information and he put my number down. I was really hoping I would get a call from the NK embassy...

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Nah. Even after the Vice guys did their rather scathing review of their North Korean tour, they were invited back again, this time at the request of the government.

Now, after their most recent expose where they snuck into North Korean logging camps in Siberia and spoke to unauthorized North Koreans, I doubt they'll be allowed back.

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Vice is such a great website for those things...

http://www.vice.com/vice-news/north-korean-labor-camps-part-1

I watched that one a couple of months back. I still find it humorous the way they work (but it really isn't funny). I feel for those people stuck in that ****. I really had no idea NK had those camps in Russia until I saw that...

And FYI - Vice is generally NSFW. Just a heads up.

Especially that music festival in the Ukraine one...

[This message has been edited by defroach (edited 8/2/2012 11:57a).]

I'm ronery!

That was incredibly fascinating. I'm intrigued and actually would like to travel there some day.

This seemed relevant solely because it was taken a week ago and about the same time my brother was at an amusement park there....