Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea)
Continued from http://www.australianfrequentflyer....nd-trip-photos/hkg-bkk-cmb-sin-hkg-42055.html
So I stopped at DDG on my mega itinerary above. I thought that my trip to the DPRK probably warranted a seperate post as I did not want to make it as frivolous as the previous thread. Also, I never made it to close to FNJ, so my itinerary is technically not very correct - kinda regret that now as would be awesome to do a TR on Air Koryo FNJ to SHE/PEK.
I do apologise for the less than perfect pictures and video cam images. I blame it on i) my bad photography skills (SWMBO constantly reminds me of it), ii) lack of adequate time to frame shots properly (many shots were on moving transport and / or sneaky-sneaky) and iii) my failure to read and digest the following material
Prelude
The current consensus at least amongst the people I have spoken to (non authorities) suggests that the DPRK will be opening up like China over the next five years following the change in leadership. Obviously, remains pure specualation but it was interesting to note that even the restrictions on movement on our hotel grounds were apparently more relaxed than before.
Our hotel was situated on an island in the middle of the Taedong River. We were told that previously, hotel guests were not allowed outside the main lobby of the hotel unsupervised, whereas, now, the restriction was relaxed to the entire island (i.e. just do not leave the island unsupervised). Note that this anecdote was relayed by our Chinese tour guide (as opposed to the DPRK ones) but I have not managed to verify it.
On the ethics of visiting the DPRK, I may address this in a different post at the end but I respect the differing schools of thought out there.
Finally, just a note on the North Korean tour group. I joined a Chinese tour that departed from Dandong though requested for an English speaking Korean guide. Now, one may or may not have had an experience with travelling with "Chinese" tour groups (I inadvertently booked myself onto one on a tour from NYC to D.C. last year - experience was not the best due to what we in the West may term "backward" behaviour). In this instance however, I was pleasantly surprised at my whole tour experience and thought that the dynamics of this tour group were very good (and far exceed my expectations). On hindsight, I realised that our mainland Chinese travelling companions on this tour was different from the stereotype - simply because they were of a different demographic - more sophisticated and intellectually curious than the stereotype. Very interesting bunch of people to hang out with for four days!
Our group consisted of around 30 travellers (~75% local Chinese and ~25% foreigners) and local and foreigner all got along relatively well (at least we the younger crowd were hanging out together ).
_
Continued from http://www.australianfrequentflyer....nd-trip-photos/hkg-bkk-cmb-sin-hkg-42055.html
So I stopped at DDG on my mega itinerary above. I thought that my trip to the DPRK probably warranted a seperate post as I did not want to make it as frivolous as the previous thread. Also, I never made it to close to FNJ, so my itinerary is technically not very correct - kinda regret that now as would be awesome to do a TR on Air Koryo FNJ to SHE/PEK.
I do apologise for the less than perfect pictures and video cam images. I blame it on i) my bad photography skills (SWMBO constantly reminds me of it), ii) lack of adequate time to frame shots properly (many shots were on moving transport and / or sneaky-sneaky) and iii) my failure to read and digest the following material
Prelude
The current consensus at least amongst the people I have spoken to (non authorities) suggests that the DPRK will be opening up like China over the next five years following the change in leadership. Obviously, remains pure specualation but it was interesting to note that even the restrictions on movement on our hotel grounds were apparently more relaxed than before.
Our hotel was situated on an island in the middle of the Taedong River. We were told that previously, hotel guests were not allowed outside the main lobby of the hotel unsupervised, whereas, now, the restriction was relaxed to the entire island (i.e. just do not leave the island unsupervised). Note that this anecdote was relayed by our Chinese tour guide (as opposed to the DPRK ones) but I have not managed to verify it.
On the ethics of visiting the DPRK, I may address this in a different post at the end but I respect the differing schools of thought out there.
Finally, just a note on the North Korean tour group. I joined a Chinese tour that departed from Dandong though requested for an English speaking Korean guide. Now, one may or may not have had an experience with travelling with "Chinese" tour groups (I inadvertently booked myself onto one on a tour from NYC to D.C. last year - experience was not the best due to what we in the West may term "backward" behaviour). In this instance however, I was pleasantly surprised at my whole tour experience and thought that the dynamics of this tour group were very good (and far exceed my expectations). On hindsight, I realised that our mainland Chinese travelling companions on this tour was different from the stereotype - simply because they were of a different demographic - more sophisticated and intellectually curious than the stereotype. Very interesting bunch of people to hang out with for four days!
Our group consisted of around 30 travellers (~75% local Chinese and ~25% foreigners) and local and foreigner all got along relatively well (at least we the younger crowd were hanging out together ).
_
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Reboarded our bus and waited somemore. But no movement and no airconditioning! Well, at least not as bad as being stuck on a tarmac I suppose as we could get out of the bus for some fresh air - downside was that there was nobody serving you another glass of that pre-departure drink in J. 
Tourist commented that it reminded him of his childhood when he went into communist Europe - border crossings were a hit and miss affair with frequent delays and nobody ever knowing the reason why! 
