North Korea (DPRK) 2013

Furono

I've lived in Japan for over 9 years and went to North Korea for the first time in April 2013. Having been all over Asia, North Korea was one of the last countries I haven't visited yet. Having known how the Americans, Japanese, and South Koreans felt about North Korea I wanted to put a human face on the people there and get to know them.

My trip in April was by far the most amazing experience I ever had on so many levels.

I was able to freely take photos and video contrary to what people think. The only rules being no military and ask people first. Of course we had guides with us at all times but I was able to play billiards with locals and interact with North Koreans in many cities.

My experiences from that trip and talks before that have landed me a job as a Tour Leader in North Korea. I'll be leading my first tours in July.

1. Views from the Yanggakdo Hotel first day sun setting.






2. View from hotel in the morning


3. It was Kim Il sung's 101 Birthday so it was a national holiday. We visited various sites.

The people all come out on this day to pay respects including us tourists.


Various singers and entertainment at one spot. The AP was filming right next to me for the news that day.


Very curious children started to swarm us...


Everyone wears the traditional dress for this day


More incoming...

Furono

North Korea (DPRK) 2013 Part 2
Many chances to dance - in the park where many people were having BBQ, drinking and dancing.


Or at the Mass Dances.


Everywhere kids swarmed us, very curious



This square in Wonsan was empty before we got off the bus. After 5 minutes we had a huge crowd around. More so than any other city. Wonsan was just opened to tourists in 2010 and only has a couple of groups a year visit. They probably have never seen a foreigner before.



More kids walking by stopped in Pyongyang to smile at us


More photos incoming...

Travel

Thanks for posting.

Werewolf

Just curious.

Did you get out into the country side or were you restricted to the city?

coldclimb

Very interesting. It has been my experience that the perspectives of people a world away who have never visited a place are nearly always completely different from how the place actually is. Thanks for sharing!

Travel

Did you have power 24 hours a day?

Tommyboy

I'm fascinated by North Korea—thanks for these. I was curious about whether your camera was every confiscated or inspected. Interesting that you had such free reign.

I look forward to more photos. . . .

Furono

Werewolf wrote: »

Just curious.

Did you get out into the country side or were you restricted to the city?

I was in the country side in small towns from our bus ride to the south and east. We were let outside many times. I have video and photos from roadside stops.

Furono

Travel wrote: »

Did you have power 24 hours a day?

the only time the power went out was in Pyongyang last day. We were at the famous Pizza Restaurant and the power went out for about 10 minutes,

Furono

Tommyboy wrote: »

I'm fascinated by North Korea—thanks for these. I was curious about whether your camera was every confiscated or inspected. Interesting that you had such free reign.

I look forward to more photos. . . .

Nobody had any camera inspected on my tour. When I was at the DMZ , a German guy on another tour took a photo of a military guy and the general noticed, made him delete it. The NK guides were very nice and didn't care what we photographed or video. The rules were no military and ask people first - that's it! I figured SmugMug photographers would love that.

Furono

Werewolf wrote: »

Just curious.

Did you get out into the country side or were you restricted to the city?

Also, I was able to many times to interact with locals. I played pool, danced, and ate local food at a BBQ outside the big cities.

Furono

Part of the tour involves various industries that they are proud of and want to show off.

This is the Embroidery Institute in Pyongyang. It's right next to the Ryuyong Hotel which is famous for never being finished and it's unusual shape.

This was being created for the 101st birthday of Kim Il-sung.







Mansudae Art Studio - Pyongyang
Famous artists who tour the world doing exhibitions work here. People here also work on the propaganda murals, statues, and posters you can see all around North Korea. On this day we only met the painters. They were all very proud and loved talking about what they do.

This lady explained that she would get photos of special places and then look at them on her computer laptop to paint from.








to be continued...

Furono

While I was there it was at the height of the tensions being played out on the news. When we arrived in Pyongyang it was just business as usual, calm, and friendly people. I felt really sad for all the people who cancelled their tours. They were all being told not to go, that it was dangerous, the people are dangerous, etc.

AP news story while we were there. Some of us got interviewed.
"As Tensions Grow, Life Carries on in Pyongyang"
http://on.aol.com/video/as-tensions-grow--life-carries-on-in-pyongyang-517738236



That's me dancing on the this very "tense" day with really nice people.



to be continued....

jhefti

Many thanks for posting this very interesting set of photos, and your thoughts on your experiences. I really enjoyed them. Like many in the west, DPRK is just a black box to me, though I've spent time in South Korea and really like the people.

I have a friend who's been traveling to Cuba for decades now. (He has a German passport via his mother.) He loves the country and the people, and gives a very different view of Cuba than we get in the newspapers here.

ian408

Thanks for posting!

Furono

Everybody asks about the food in North Korea. I heard the food there is much more spicy than what we had because tourists wouldn't like it. I did notice that the kimchi was more spicy than what I'm used to.

Famous Pyongyang Cold Noodle



Dog Soup - Certain places will prepare it a day in advance.



Kimchi with every meal









The out door BBQ in the parks were my favorite meals. At this park we joined in dancing with a huge group of locals.



This was from my stay at the 5 star Hyangsan Hotel north of Pyongyang in the Mountains. The fish was excellent.



Last but not least Pizza! From one of the 2 pizza places in Pyongyang. Surprisingly good!





More to come...

captnemo

Mmmm that last set made me hungry

DesertDuke

This does fascinate me. I saw a documentary once about a very controlled visit to N Korea. The photographer got prone on the ground in front of the "Fearless Leader" statue to change the perspective of the photo and it got his wranglers all worked up that he would lie prone in front of the national statue. I think I would worry about accidentally offending more than specific, published rules. Publish rules are easy to follow.

Great pics of a very interesting topic. Thank you.