[TiredOldHack]

VOK balloon flights are of an order of risk comparable to that of making a low-level pass over eastern Ukraine….

[travelworld2]

More detailed North Korea travel report to follow!

[canucklad]

LOL alexpo……Why do you think they serve Guinness & Jamison’s? My mate says it’s on Marlborough St for those of you with less to confess : )

Looking forward to your review travelworld….

Another place to add too, after yesterday’s reflections…. Contalmaison in the Somme… Family history and all that ….. On a similar sad theme, Auschwitz…Lest we forget !

[FaroFlyer]

Hi Alex, a good post. You can try before you fly on this website
http://www.airpano.com/List-Aerial-Panoramas.php
Might help to narrow it down.
My list is:-
South Africa going next Jan
South America, Brasil and Argentina
India where I shall also be on my own according to Mrs FF
Caribbean
Russia was on the list but is now off

[Kavajo75]

Spitzbergen
Papua New Guinea
Bhutan
Cuba
Mecca (no chance, I am not Muslim)

[julmops]

I’ve travelled quite a bit over the years but still an awful lot of places on my bucket list …
Vietnam (never managed to go there but it fascinates me)
New Zealand (for the diversity)
Maldives (just for what it is !)
Japan (intrigued by this country)

Closer from home I’d say:

Norway (will be fulfilled next year on a fjords cruise)
Faroe Islands (something mystical about them)

[Bath_VIP]

Skywards,

It is the International Space Station, not NASA’s. You can of course visit as a paying tourist with the Russians on one of their Soyuz rockets. Need to be a friend of Putin though these days!

Somebody mentioned Auschwitz. Clearly this is not a fun visit but I believe that these places of history are worthwhile. I always regret turning down the opportunity to visit Elmina (?) in Ghana 20 years ago which was one of the main slave ports. I saw a documentary subsequently about it and it was fascinating.

[jjlasne]

I think Dennis Rodman is putting together a charter to Pongyang…

[jjlasne]

North Korea, not North Vietnam which no longer exists since the fall of Saigon and South Vietnam.

[jjlasne]

You can actually do a Circle Pacific like this: LAX, Santiago, Easter Island/Rapa Nui, Tahiti, LAX or v.v.

[jjlasne]

Space, the final frontier.

[travelworld2]

As promised, here is my trip report on North Korea which I visited a couple of months ago on a “Long weekend in Pyongyang” organised by British tour operator Regent Holidays.

I should say at the start that all travellers, as a condition of getting a visa, are asked to confirm that they are not journalists and will not publish any articles about North Korea on their return. Doing so might impact on the guides who escorted us. In my view I’m not publishing an article in completing this trip report. However, for he avoidance of doubt I will offer no comment on the regime and the political situation there, nor cover any topic which might be viewed as sensitive.

Departure was from Beijing on a four year old Tupolev, complete with winglets. Operated by the national airline Air Koroyo, the aircraft was full, mainly with North Koreans heading home. Rousing military music greeted us over the PA as we boarded. The aircraft was clean and tidy with rather more legroom in Y class than you’d see in Europe.

Other than an announcement that we were crossing the border into the Democratic Peoples’ Republic of North Korea the flight was uneventful. As the day was clear we could see at a glance the contrast between the built up Chinese side of the border and the undeveloped DPRK.

On arrival we were expecting a lot of formalities on immigration but it was a breeze with no questioning, simply a stamping of passports. The baggage carousel showed a huge number of items being brought in by North Koreans- TVs, electronics and other domestic appliances. At customs they simply wanted the details of my mobile phone; I was allowed to bring it in.

We then met our guides who took us to a newish Toyota minibus and then drove to Pyongyang and our hotel.

Pyongyang is a city of around 3 million, we were told. It is neat, tidy and modern. I was struck by the number of new buildings there; most seem to live in apartment blocks, many of which appeared new. I was also struck by the number of vehicles on the road. These included both Chinese and Western models although I suspect all were imported from China.

Our hotel was situated on an island in the middle of the city. Around forty storeys high, it offered panoramic views over the city. There were few guests there, although it was popular for day meetings and conferences. The car park displayed a large number of Audi, BMW and Range Rovers. I wasn’t expecting to see many of them.

The hotel itself looked as if it had been built in the 1970s and hadn’t been touched since. Nonetheless, it was comfortable. Everything worked, including the satellite TV which showed both BBC and CNN. We were told by the hotel that access to those channels is restricted to foreigners only.

That evening we were taken to a local restaurant for dinner. I have to confess that North Korean food was not to my taste; I am not a fan of Chinese and it’s pretty similar. We were then taken to a bar which, in common with most of the rest to which we went, had its own microbrewery. The beer was excellent.. On our return to the hotel there was a noticeable contrast between how well it was lit and the rest of the city, which wasn’t.

The following day were were taken around Pyongyang. The Kim dynasty, which has led the DPRK since its creation is ever present. Nearly all North Koreans we saw wear a lapel badge with a picture of the Great Leader and/or his son, the Dear Leader. We were taken to a number of monuments dedicated to them and what was said to be their struggle to achieve a united Korea. At the main statue site we were asked only to take photos of the entire bodies of the two Kims, as taking only (say) a head is considered disrespectful. We were also asked to bow in unison in front of them. We were offered the opportunity to purchase flowers to lay at the feet of the statues although this was not complusory. The guides told us to ensure that we did not screw up any picture of the Kims whilst we were there; as one might do when disposing of a newspaper.

We were not allowed to go anywhere on our own outside the hotel. It would have been difficult to do so in any event, since the hotel was fairly isolated and by definition there is no “tourist strip” in Pynonyang. It follows that we were escorted everywhere although it is fair to say that we travelled down many different roads and streets in the capital and saw little difference between them; one did not get the impression that we were being led down a limited number of routes. That evening we were taken to an acrobatic show in a theatre apparently built for that purpose; the show was spectacular and the audience, split more or less equally between schoolchildren and members of the military, captivated. As with everything else in DPRK it was cheap- around 5 Euros.

Indeed, Euros were the default tourist currency. Coins were accepted happily- just about the only country int the world I have been to where foreign currency other than notes were. It isn’t a place to pick up souvenirs of course, although I did spend 10 Euro on a hand painted revolutionary poster.

On our final day we were driven down a near empty motorway to the border with South Korea. Having visited the border from the other side, the contrast was marked. Astonishingly, there was far more freedom to photograph in the north rather than the south. We were guided by a non -English speaking North Korean major, who conveyed the North Korean view of the world very firmly. And then it was back to the capital for a final dinner at an excellent barbecue restaurant.

We left early the following morning; again, our departure was uneventful with no issues on things like photographs or IT kit.

Would I recommend it? Undoubtedly, if you accept the fact your tourist money is paid to the DPRK government. Would I go again? Well probably not, but I thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

[MartynSinclair]

Thank you travelworld2. very interesting/informative.

I know you said you were not allowed out of the hotel solo – but were the guides accommodating if you wanted to see anything off track or was it very strictly managed in terms of where you went?

[travelworld2]

Martyn Sinclair- it was pretty strictly managed to be honest. I don’t think anyone actually asked to go off itinerary. Our timings were pretty tight and so there wasn’t any real opportunity to do so.

[Tramor01]

All of you who have said they would like to visit Vietnam my recommendation would be to go sooner rather than later!

I have been visiting the country (Hanoi and the north mainly) at leat 3-4 times a year for the last 8 years, and over the last 12-24 months in particular the country has changed dramatically – some of it very good, some of it not so good as it looses some of it’s charm.
I remember during the first few years of visiting I saw few private cars on the road – now you’re being run over by all the Porche’s Bentley’s and other European prestige marques on the streets of Hanoi 🙂

[Author]

Posts