Pyongyang North Korea

[midas]

Just interested if anyone here has been to Pyongyang.

If so how dis they do it and was it hard to get a visa ?

The North Korean airlines AIR KORYO seems to have

stopped flying and no other airlines seem to go there

so maybe tourism has also stopped ! ?

[mike_l]

Never been and I wouldn't imagine it's the kind of place you could easily visit independently, but have you seen this site http://www.koryogroup.com/ ? Seems to have all the information. Looking at it, the visa requirements seem to be: company letter including a contact phone number for your boss, copy of your CV, double entry Chinese visa, it takes a month to issue, and issued only from Beijing.

[midas]

Thanks Mike. Yes I already tried emailing them but they are not responding ??

With the apparent collapse of Air Koryo ( maybe because of surge in fuel prices )

could be that no one can get there now ?? Certainly Aeroflot and China Airlines no longer go there - so it will become an even more isolated country now !

[Khutan]

Could be interesting to go and have a look. I see they also offer Golf tours, very strange for a country like that.

Interesting "Culture photo".

[midas]

Mattnich - yes thats why I would like to see it. I went to Cuba

last January for the same reason. I am fascinated by these countries where

you are effectively staying in an " open prison " !! But looks as though the

DPRK is now effectively unreachable by air ?? I suppose there is always

the train from China - but I dont know if I am quite that keen !

[WhiteShiva]

Could be interesting to go and have a look. I see they also offer Golf tours, very strange for a country like that.

Interesting "Culture photo".

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Love the camera - typical North-Korean hi-tech-stuff, no doubt. Probably coal fired......

[tso310]

There is only one "Dear Leader" and its not little Kim. Sort him out Thaksin.

try this company their itinerie starts in Beijing.

http://www.regent-holidays.co.uk/N_SKoreaItineraries.htm

I hope Air Kyoro hasn't stopped flying I just love seeing those IL-62s at Don Muang, They are getting hard to see these days.

[thelittlevoice]

I'm dying to go there! Last year there was this travel agency that has a tour there, it was only about 30000ish Baht. I booked but there weren't enough people so they didn't go

I found Koryo to be very helpful though. They wrote back almost instantly! You may wanna try writing them again.

[midas]

Thanks Voice ! I tried Koryo again and they responded this time. So I am going to going on the last tour of year for 2005 !! Aparently they close the country to tourists during the winter so I am going in November on the last tour before they shut up shop for the year ! You should joing the group if you are dying to go there !

[The Dude]

I am thoroughly intrigued by the concept of going to N. Korea. Been to Cuba several times and what a spectacular country that is. I always have this fantasy where the attitude of the Cuban people could be instilled in the Thais. Sorry aint never gonna happen

[baht&sold]

I'll admit having held a long fascination with visiting N Korea as well. What must day to day life inside be like?? Hard to comprehend, must be incredibly difficult. Amazing, if you've seen the satellite view at night- almost complete darkness.

In this century, we've seen many historical collapses of dictatorships and the like all over the world and it must be just a matter of time the DMZ disappears along with the little tyrant/pissant who runs the prison, er, country. I have a feeling he'll only go by way of invasion tho, since it seems an internal revolt is not possible.

Tso310, apparently the mad midget with the giant ego doesn't fly, ever??? I'd like to see his worst fears realised at say 30,000 ft- no parachute and a gentle tally ho

Edited July 31, 2005 by baht&sold

[midas]

What intrigues me is that apparently the Dear Leader is known to enjoy watching CNN and foreign movies, RX 8 cars and enjoys huge amounts of imported cogniac !! It is even reputed that his son was spotted in a Ferrari showroom in Beiijing !

[corkscrew]

Just interested if anyone here has been to Pyongyang.

If so how dis they do it and was it hard to get a visa ?

The North Korean airlines AIR KORYO seems to have

stopped flying and no other airlines seem to go there

so maybe tourism has also stopped ! ?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I visited North Korea twice. The first time was when Kim Il Sung was still alive. The second time was about 10 years ago. On the second trip my daughter went with me.

It is a very strange place....the first time I went the population was not aware that man had landed on the moon.

My daughter took these photos on our second trip:

http://www.corkscrew-balloon.com/annie/korea/index.html

[danone]

hi - I've been twice to north korea.

air koryo flies to bangkok, but with an unregular schedule.

you have to catch the only other international air koryo flight from beijing - twice a week, saturday and thuesday (or was it wednesday?).

there is a rather large north korean embassy in bangkok - they're helpful, if you find the right person.

travelling as a tourist is no problem. just quite expensive. but its a trip you most certainly will never forget.

gd luck! -

d.

[danone]

forgot - here some images from north korea:

http://www.pbase.com/cyberholz/north_korea

[corkscrew]

Just interested if anyone here has been to Pyongyang.

If so how dis they do it and was it hard to get a visa ?

The North Korean airlines AIR KORYO seems to have

stopped flying and no other airlines seem to go there

so maybe tourism has also stopped ! ?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Here are some additional photos of our second trip to North Korea.

http://www.corkscrew-balloon.com/03/01/2xxx/11a.html

The girl on the left (in the bus in Pyongyang) is my daughter, Annie....the one who took the B&W photos that I 'posted' earlier.

[midas]

Thanks Danone. I have decided to go with Koryo tours

anyway. Surely when you went there, you could not just

go anywhere you wanted on your own ? Is that the case ? I have been told

even as an independant traveller , you still have to be accompanied

absolutely everywhere by government guides ? So may as well go with

a tour group and one of these guides did a documentary on the country

for the BBC - so he must have said the right things !

Air Koryo are no longer flying according to several travel agents

( its not surprising with oil prices at $62 per barell ! ) - so i have no

idea who we travel on from Beijing which is where the

tour office is. I assume it will be on China Northern Airlines.

[corkscrew]

Thanks Danone. I have decided to go with Koryo tours

anyway. Surely when you went there, you could not just

go anywhere you wanted on your own ? Is that the case ? I have been told

even as an independant traveller , you still have to be accompanied

absolutely everywhere by government guides ? So may as well go with

a tour group and one of these guides did a documentary on the country

for the BBC - so he must have said the right things !

Air Koryo are no longer flying according to several travel agents

( its not surprising with oil prices at $62 per barell !  ) - so i have no

idea who we travel on from Beijing which is where the

tour office is. I assume it will be on China Northern Airlines.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

The first time we went to North Korea (a two week trip) my girl friend and I went as private tourists. We had to get our 'visa' in Macau and then fly from Beijing to Pyongyang....thou it was possible back then to go by train. We had a guide everywhere we went (Kim). We stayed at the Hotel Koryo which is a twin tower if I remember. Each morning our guide knew what we had ordered the night before for dinner. Strangers would address us on the street by our names (obviously planted strangers).

The second time we went with a group for the World Wrestling Championships...very weird.

Only once did I escape my guide...that was when I went for an early morning run. He was quite upset.

Make sure you see Kim Jung Il's movie set.

You will really enjoy this trip...it's like being in another world. The underground (subway) is just like in Moscow, though the guide claimed it was not inspired by the Russians.

There is a bar on the ground floor of the Koryo Hotel that attracts a lot of people from the foreign embassies. Most of them speak English and you can get a lot of information there. BTW, your guide usually does not follow you while you are in the hotel.

[danone]

if no plane then take the train.

its a beautiful, nearly 24 hrs ride from and back to beijing.

dunno about any other airline.

[tso310]

You can listen to Andy Kershaw's trip to North Korea here

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/worldmusic/onl...orthkorea.shtml

There have been a couple of documentaries on UK TV this year on North Korea. Ben Anderson on the BBC was an excellent one and there was a fascinating one about the 1966 World Cup North Korea football team. If you ever get the chance to view them do so.

I wonder what the Dear Leader thought of Team America.

Edited August 2, 2005 by tso310

[thelittlevoice]

Thanks Voice !  I tried Koryo again and they responded this time. So I am going to going on the last tour of year for 2005 !! Aparently they close the country to tourists during the winter so I am going in November on the last tour before they shut up shop for the year ! You should joing the group if you are dying to go there !

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I'm actually building up our own itinerary and ask the company to see if they can make it. I'm not quite a fan of the plan they have for example DMZ, I've been there on S Korean side and even though I know both sides are not the same, I don't see the point of going from N Korean side. The trip is probably not going to happen anytime soon though. I'm totally broke after I booked my trip to Guam and Saipan for August, East Timor in September and Central America in October

[SeaVisionBurma]

Corkscrew & danone - thanks to you both for sharing the pics.

I have always been fascinated by North Korea, perhaps I'll be inspired enough to travel there soon.

The B&W shots your daughter took corkscrew are great - it is one medium of photography that does portray 'larger than life' situations very well.

See - you can be entertained even in the 'visas and migration to other countries' threads

[corkscrew]

Corkscrew & danone - thanks to you both for sharing the pics.

I have always been fascinated by North Korea, perhaps I'll be inspired enough to travel there soon.

The B&W shots your daughter took corkscrew are great - it is one medium of photography that does portray 'larger than life' situations very well.

See - you can be entertained even in the 'visas and migration to other countries' threads 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Thanks... I am very proud of her work with a camera. She was working with real film.