I always had an odd desire to visit North Korea, or the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. I like going to odd places, which is why I have visited abandoned missile silos, backpacked/hitchhiked around South America with no solid plan, and various other locations. Something about North Korea drew me to it—one of the most politically isolated countries in the world. It was hard to get in, and the sour relationship with the USA didn’t help.

While I was traveling the East Coast, I met up with my uncle. He was telling me about how he went to East Berlin when the wall was still up. He was telling me how wildly different it was, and how much it changed after the wall came down. I was resolved to go there, and I wished to visit North Korea before it changed, for the better or for the worse. It could retract into its isolation or open up like China did, and I wanted to see it before anything changed.

It turns out, it’s not actually that difficult to get into North Korea. You just need to go with a tour company. I did some research and settled on Young Pioneer Tours. We had exchanged some emails, but it was still odd to pay ahead of time without having actual proof that it wasn’t a scam.

Hesitantly, I paid the ~$1000 for the 6-day tour, and it seemed to be okay. I got a Chinese Visa (you can only fly into Pyongyang from Beijing, so I had to go there first), and I booked a flight.

The time finally arrived, and in the fall of 2015, I got on a plane and flew to Beijing.

Everyone always says that the air quality in Beijing is polluted and smoggy, but I thought it was great. There were blue skies, and the air crisp, considering the size of the city. I then found out that China National Day was within the next few days, and the government had shut down all the factories in and around the city for the past few weeks so the air would be clear for the parade. I didn’t see the parade because it took place while I was in North Korea.

I had a couple days in Beijing before going to North Korea, so I checked out the city.

During the day, I met up with the leader of our tour group along with the other travelers. It was a relief to see the people and be assured that I didn’t waste my money on a scam. The following morning, we were to meet up at the airport and fly to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea!

Since it was a national holiday, there was a lot of street food.

I tried some things, but there was one thing (someone told me it was probably stinky tofu) that was just unbearable. I couldn’t even breathe through my nose when I walked by.

Some dinner which seemed to be the staple in the grocery stores. It really seemed like everyone was eating these, and the hostel had a large hot-water machine specifically for ramen cups.

I then went to sleep and got up early enough to get to the airport.

One effect of international sanctions is the inability to purchase more modern airplanes. As such, we flew on an old Soviet plane from the late 50s. I was just glad the wing didn’t fall off while we were flying.

We arrived in North Korea, and our bags all had to get checked to ensure we weren’t smuggling any propaganda into the country. I had some German novels with me, and I had to wait a while until they got someone who could understand it and clear my books. It wasn’t much of a problem, though, and we were soon leaving the airport on a bus for our tour group.

After driving through the city we got to the Yanggakdo International Hotel (above), which has a rotating restaurant at the top. Situated on an island in the river that snaked through the city, it provided a convenient way of ensuring that we didn’t wander off on our own. We were never allowed to just walk around the city. We were always shepherded around with tour guides and a couple guys in suits that always followed us. They were friendly enough, but the message was clear: don’t wander around.

As we approached the hotel, our guide was very adamant about not defacing or stealing anything. It was repeated many times, so we were all very sure where the line was, and we were not to go over it.

After getting settled, it was already approaching evening. A few of us in the group went up top to the restaurant for a beer.

We sat at one of the many empty tables—there were no guests. We were told by a waitress that we had to move, though, because that seat was reserved. Okay, whatever. We moved to another table. Yet a few hours later, there was still nobody else in the restaurant.

The hotel was pretty well equipped. It not only had rooms and a rotating restaurant, but the ground level had a restaurant and bar. Going into the basement revealed a gift shop, small grocery store, a swimming pool, bowling alley, another bar, and a karaoke bar.

The following day, the tour really started.

One highlight was a museum dedicated to how the Korean Army beat the Americans in the war.

The USS Pueblo, the only US Navy boat captured by another nation according to them. Some Wikipedia sleuthing reveals there have been others, but this is the only one that is still currently still on the commissioned roster that is being held captive.

Later we went to a big supermarket. We had to exchange our foreign currency for the North Korean won. Instead of giving small change, they would round down to the next denomination, and then they would just give you a couple sticks of gum to make up the difference…

When the kids finished playing, we westerners all clapped, but none of the other locals did. It was pretty funny. I guess they either just don’t clap after public shows like that, or they were too busy watching us watching the kids.

We then went to a school and saw a performance by some students who were quite good in my opinion.

Some other tourists rushed the stage before the girls were even done bowing to get photos with them, which seemed pretty rude.

We then went into a classroom and talked with some of the students. Their English was very good, and it was obvious that they had been learning for quite some time. We did some Q&As with each other. They would ask where one of the travelers were from, and they would answer with some fun fact. “Where are you from?” “Australia.” “Cool! Do you guys have kangaroos there?” “Yep!” Then the next person. “Where are you from?” “Germany.” “Cool!” and so on. They didn’t ask me, but they did ask where one of the other Americans was from. He hesitated. “The United States.” The kids gasped in unison and a low “ohh…” escaped their lips. The entire room went frigid. I was standing next to a couple Australians, and one of them turned to me and told me that I could be Australian with them if I wanted to in case they asked me. It was a funny, if surreal encounter.

Time to get a drink! We were to go to a local beer and get some beers. But first, we had to get through the city. It was about 5 pm, and our tour bus was chugging along through Pyongyang. Our guide (which btw was a Korean who had never left the country) turned around and apologized for it taking so long. He explained that it was rush hour and it might take a while to get through traffic. The thing is, there aren’t that many automobiles in Pyongyang, at least compared to their wide streets and the amount of people. I looked past our bus and saw a whopping 2 or 3 cars in front of us at the red light. I honestly had to restrain my laughter. We were through the intersection and on our merry way after only one light change. This guy has obviously never been to Denver or San Diego.

We got to the local bar. Our guide explained that all the workers in the area liked to come here for a beer after work. There were no locals there. Again, it was only us in the bar.

That being said, the beer was pretty good and reminded me of Blue Moon.

The temple of the Sun. No pictures are allowed inside as it is sacred. We got to see the embalmed remains of Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-Il. I was told that Chinese tourists usually weren’t allowed to visit this place because they couldn’t behave well enough :/

We took the subways a few stations through the city. Every station was elaborately decorated.

The Arc of Triumph in North Korea (against the Japanese occupation). They made sure to brag how it was about 10 meters higher than the Arc de Triomphe in Paris.

We then drove for a while to the southern border. We passed many checkpoints along the way, but we were forbidden to take any pictures.

Their interstate, which didn’t have much traffic. It’s also not well maintained and a bit bumpy. One of the people on our bus got motion sickness.

And then we got the the northern side of the DMZ.

There weren’t many people on the other side, but we saw a couple USA Army soldiers doing a round. Interesting to be on the other side than the one my Army was on.

The entire area around the DMZ is riddled with pillars that can be toppled to impede tanks. The only road, which is recessed into the ground, is lined with giant concrete cylinders tied to blocks. If needed, they can detonate all the pillars and knock down the cylinders to make tank travel nigh impossible.

Afterward, we went to a local restaurant (and this time we actually did see other patrons) and had dog soup. Yes, dog soup.

To be more correct, it was actually puppy soup since the meat tends to be more tender. It wasn’t bad and kind of reminded me of pulled pork. Since then, I have actually gone vegetarian.

The typical Korean beer, which was alright. I still have an unopened bottle at my place, but it’s almost 3 years old at this point….

We then saw a big military parade, but I seem to somehow have missed taking any photos of it… Oops…

Later we went to a hotel with a bar in it, and they had an absolutely delicious dark beer.

They also had Soju, which is like a Korean Sake I guess. This was the last night of our tour, and I had a bit too much to drink that night.

After drinking there for a bit, we went back to our normal hotel. Lots of beers were had, and we did a lot of karaoke. I even went swimming for a bit because I felt like it.

We needed to wake up early in order to get to the airport on time, but a few of us stayed up quite late drinking. I stumbled into my room at who-knows-what-hour and woke up the next morning to my alarm. My stuff was not packed, and I started in a mad dash to get everything in order. The problem was, I had forgotten my backpack in the karaoke bar the previous night (remember all that beer and soju?). The bar was closed, and I was frantically talking to the receptionist, trying to locate it. Just a few minutes before we had to leave, someone finally found my backpack and delivered it to me. I dashed upstairs and quite literally shoved everything into my backpack without any organization.

I rushed back downstairs and just barely managed to catch up with the rest of the group as they were boarding the bus. I don’t even want to imagine how things would have turned out had I missed that bus and subsequent flight.

In any case, we got on the bus, and since we were leaving so early, the hotel kitchen wasn’t open, so we couldn’t get any breakfast. Instead, our guides provided us with some sandwiches… I appreciate the effort, but I think they may have been the nastiest sandwiches I have ever eaten haha.

I am pretty sure it was ketchup and butter between slices of white bread, and it was one of the most …peculiar combinations I have ever tasted. I would be glad if I never taste that again. I was hungover and hungry, though, so I did force it all down.

At the airport, I was nervous. We were told that they would check our cameras and make us delete any photos they didn’t want being shown outside. How strict were they? Would they delete everything? No. They didn’t even check. We walked right through security, got on the rickety plane, and flew back to Beijing.

Now I could see, smell, and breathe the smog. The holiday was over and now the factories were back in action, spewing their economy-driving fumes into the air.

I had another day or two, so this time I started out with a visit to Tiananmen Square. The security was intense, and you couldn’t enter without your bags being checked.

Beware of people who want to “practice their English with you over a beer.” It’s a scam, and even though I was aware of the scam, I still managed to fall for it. They’re good. Or I’m stupid. Whatever.

They take you to a bar that they are actually affiliated with, order some tea and beers, and everything is ridiculously overpriced. They wanted me to pay almost $50 for my one beer and portion of my tea, and I just laughed at them. Still, they guilted me into paying something like 15 or 20 bucks. Don’t fall for what I did!

With a beer in my belly and much less money, I continued checking out the Forbidden City, which is huge!

But, time was up, and it was time to fly back to Germany and get back to work.

I don’t usually get too many souvenirs when I travel, but I just couldn’t help myself while I was there.

This is only some of the books, coins, and pins that I got while I was there. The poster is upside-down, but it says something along the lines of “The Korean might will crush the American will.”

North Korea was really an interesting experience. So politically isolated, so behind on technology. By buying a tour and buying stuff in the country, I was supplying money to the regime, which I did feel bad about. But… well… I guess I have no valid excuse. I did it, but it’s not something I do on a regular basis.

A lot of what we saw was a façade, and we knew it. They only show you what they want you to see, and you are not free to walk around and get to see the “true side” of Pyongyang. The guides sometimes had to skirt around some more sensitive questions we asked, and a couple times flat out stated that they couldn’t answer a question. We were not allowed to ask about their prison camps, but we all knew they existed.

Speaking of the camps, it was only a few months after we went that Otto Warmbier was apprehended by the North Korean authorities for allegedly stealing a propaganda poster from the hotel. He was imprisoned for about a year and a half before being returned to the United States with extreme brain damage. He died shortly thereafter.

The tour company I went with now no longer accepts American visitors traveling with an American passport, and the United States has since banned American citizens from traveling to North Korea.

Peace talks between North and South Korea have been going well recently, so we’ll see how things develop in the future. For now, it was a great experience, but I wouldn’t go back and support the regime anymore, especially since what happened to Otto. Maybe one day the country will open up and I can return and travel freely like current East Berlin. Who knows what the future holds.