First Americans tour to North Korea 2005 - Arirang Mass Games
Jun 24, 2015, 8:45 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: anywhere and everywhere
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Posts: 5,525
First Americans tour to North Korea 2005 - Arirang Mass Games
A reader of my blog posted out that I'd never posted this, and realized this trip happened way before I had a blog. I was sitting at home one night back in 2005, after I'd already decided I wanted to visit every country, and had decided that North Korea was going to be by far the most difficult because they simply didn't allow American Tourists. Period.
I was reading CNN online that evening, and there was an interview with a British guy in Beijing who said he'd received permission to do the first ever tour of Americans to Pyongyang. Thinking it was a joke, I emailed him. Yes, it was for real, and they were leaving from Beijing. This didn't seem real. At this point, I didn't see any other way I'd ever get to North Korea, because for all we knew they'd shut the door again after this one trip.
That hasn't really happened, however, but it still makes a great story to be part of the first group to go there in decades. I understand a scattered individual here and there had been allowed in prior, but never a group. North Korea would be my 34th country visited (seems so long ago) and it's funny that even way back then I was worried about how I'd check off the "difficult countries."
Tickets purchased, and literally 48 hours later we were off to North Korea. I'll do my best to clear the cobwebs off my dusty memory, and tell as much of the story as I remember 10 years later. I have tons of pictures, however, and about 130 of them are worth posting I think. For that reason, I'll split this into six parts:
I. Washington DC to Beijing on Continental Airlines, 1 night in Beijing
II. Beijing to Pyongyang on Air Koryo, arrival in Pyongyang
III. Arirang Mass Games
IV. Trip to DMZ and Kaesong, return to Pyongyang
V. War Museum, Movie Studio, Pyongyang Metro, USS Pueblo, Childrens' Palace
VI. Evening in Pyongyang, and Pyongyang to DC
Even though a trip to North Korea isn't quite so unusual anymore, I hope you'll enjoy!
If you'd like to check out my other trip reports first:
I. London to Iran and Afghanistan in a mix of C, F, and LCCs
II. Above the Arctic Circle with UA/CO/LH and SK in whY, C, and F
III. Around the World in 40 Days for 40 Years
IV. 8 Places People Who Are Right in the Head Do Not Spend New Years
V. 12 Countries, 10 Airlines, 4 Islands, 27,080 miles, 11 Days
VI. 6 Countries in 6 Days - Caribbean Island Hopping and first AA Experience
VII. Guyana, Suriname, and French Guyana with an unexpected sidetrip to Caracas!
VIII. To Haïti - for vacation and a milage run!
IX. Around Senegal and West Africa
X. 4th Annual New Years in Dangerous Places - Libya Edition
XI. Kosovo and FYR Macedonia - Milage Run in United Business + TK/LH
XII. Washington to Peru and Machu Picchu on COPA and TACA
XIII. To Johannesburg...for 36 hours!
XIV. Here a Stan, there a Stan, everwhere a Stan Stan....
XV. Air Burkina, Air Cote d'Ivoire and 7 countries in West Africa
XVI. Turkey for Thanksgiving....with a side of Tajikistan, Serbia, Montenegro, and Moscow
XVII. Into the Heart of Darkness... Congo, Angola, Gabon, OH MY!
XVIII. HI! Four Islands, Lots of Planes, Beaches, and Convertibles
XIX. Plenty of Salt, Not Enough Oxygen...a Trip to Boliva, Colombia, and Ecuador
XX. Learning to Relax - Long Weekend in St Christopher and Nevis
XXI. You're spending New Years WHERE? IRAQ? (2009-2010)
XXII. Pineapples, croissants, and neon OH MY! A trip to Hawaii, Paris, Andorra, and Vegas
XXIII. South Pacific, Israel, Lebanon - 6 weeks - 71,500 miles - 24 countries
XXIV. Sundae bloody Sundaes...a 2014 United Year in Review
XXV. Lakes, Lemurs, and Lithuania: Horton Hears a Houthi!
So here we go...sit back, grab a margarita, and enjoy!
I was reading CNN online that evening, and there was an interview with a British guy in Beijing who said he'd received permission to do the first ever tour of Americans to Pyongyang. Thinking it was a joke, I emailed him. Yes, it was for real, and they were leaving from Beijing. This didn't seem real. At this point, I didn't see any other way I'd ever get to North Korea, because for all we knew they'd shut the door again after this one trip.
That hasn't really happened, however, but it still makes a great story to be part of the first group to go there in decades. I understand a scattered individual here and there had been allowed in prior, but never a group. North Korea would be my 34th country visited (seems so long ago) and it's funny that even way back then I was worried about how I'd check off the "difficult countries."
Tickets purchased, and literally 48 hours later we were off to North Korea. I'll do my best to clear the cobwebs off my dusty memory, and tell as much of the story as I remember 10 years later. I have tons of pictures, however, and about 130 of them are worth posting I think. For that reason, I'll split this into six parts:
I. Washington DC to Beijing on Continental Airlines, 1 night in Beijing
II. Beijing to Pyongyang on Air Koryo, arrival in Pyongyang
III. Arirang Mass Games
IV. Trip to DMZ and Kaesong, return to Pyongyang
V. War Museum, Movie Studio, Pyongyang Metro, USS Pueblo, Childrens' Palace
VI. Evening in Pyongyang, and Pyongyang to DC
Even though a trip to North Korea isn't quite so unusual anymore, I hope you'll enjoy!
If you'd like to check out my other trip reports first:
I. London to Iran and Afghanistan in a mix of C, F, and LCCs
II. Above the Arctic Circle with UA/CO/LH and SK in whY, C, and F
III. Around the World in 40 Days for 40 Years
IV. 8 Places People Who Are Right in the Head Do Not Spend New Years
V. 12 Countries, 10 Airlines, 4 Islands, 27,080 miles, 11 Days
VI. 6 Countries in 6 Days - Caribbean Island Hopping and first AA Experience
VII. Guyana, Suriname, and French Guyana with an unexpected sidetrip to Caracas!
VIII. To Haïti - for vacation and a milage run!
IX. Around Senegal and West Africa
X. 4th Annual New Years in Dangerous Places - Libya Edition
XI. Kosovo and FYR Macedonia - Milage Run in United Business + TK/LH
XII. Washington to Peru and Machu Picchu on COPA and TACA
XIII. To Johannesburg...for 36 hours!
XIV. Here a Stan, there a Stan, everwhere a Stan Stan....
XV. Air Burkina, Air Cote d'Ivoire and 7 countries in West Africa
XVI. Turkey for Thanksgiving....with a side of Tajikistan, Serbia, Montenegro, and Moscow
XVII. Into the Heart of Darkness... Congo, Angola, Gabon, OH MY!
XVIII. HI! Four Islands, Lots of Planes, Beaches, and Convertibles
XIX. Plenty of Salt, Not Enough Oxygen...a Trip to Boliva, Colombia, and Ecuador
XX. Learning to Relax - Long Weekend in St Christopher and Nevis
XXI. You're spending New Years WHERE? IRAQ? (2009-2010)
XXII. Pineapples, croissants, and neon OH MY! A trip to Hawaii, Paris, Andorra, and Vegas
XXIII. South Pacific, Israel, Lebanon - 6 weeks - 71,500 miles - 24 countries
XXIV. Sundae bloody Sundaes...a 2014 United Year in Review
XXV. Lakes, Lemurs, and Lithuania: Horton Hears a Houthi!
So here we go...sit back, grab a margarita, and enjoy!
Last edited by ironmanjt; Jul 12, 2015 at 1:48 pm
Jun 25, 2015, 6:06 am
#2
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Left
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Posts: 7,285
I will check it out. I will be curious to see whether even back then, they had the propaganda tourism machine in fine working order or whether you might have possibly obtained some information and photos that they did not want anyone to see.
Jun 25, 2015, 2:45 pm
#3
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2003
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I. .Washington DC to Beijing on Continental Airlines, 1 night in Beijing
As I mentioned in my previous post, booking two days before the trip I didn't have a lot of choice on getting to Beijing. I was finding economy fares that were super high, and looked like a middle seat was the best we would do, or we could do business for about twice the price. It remains the single most expensive round-trip ticket I've ever purchased for personal use, but like I said I felt like this might be a once in a lifetime opportunity. Plus, being in North Korea for less than 72 hours I wanted to be as rested as possible to try and maximize the experience.
Unfortunately, I don't really remember the details on the flight in great detail, but thanks to my notes I can at least reproduce some of it. Plus, this will be a bit of nostalgia for the good old days before Jeff's cost-cutting.
Continental Airlines flight 1104
Washington, DC, National (DCA) to Newark, New Jersey (EWR)
Depart ??:??, Arrive ??:?? Flight Time: Approximately 1 hour
Boeing 737-500,.Registration: ???, Manufactured ????, Seat 2F
Unfortunately, don't remember much about this flight. It was a morning flight, so can pretty much guarantee I enjoyed a diet coke and not much else. I remember when Continental used to run 737s from DCA to EWR...and they were always packed. What happened?!
Enjoyed the Presidents Club in Newark, and soon it was time to board our flight to Beijing. I remember at the time thinking Continental BusinessFirst was a really big deal, and remember it being something like a six or seven course experience. Those days, well, they're long gone!
Continental Airlines flight 89
Newark, New Jersey (EWR) to Beijing, China (PEK)
Depart ??:??, Arrive ??:?? Flight Time: ??
Boeing 777-200,.Registration: ???, Manufactured ????, Seat 10A
I remember this flight being about 80% full in business, but the back mini cabin (I think there used to be five rows in the front cabin, and rows 8-10 were in a separate mini cabin) was less than half full. We had plenty of room to stretch out in our old-school barcaloungers.
For some reason, I didn't take a pic of the soup, appetizer, salad, or any of the starters, but these were the days service in BusinessFirst was better than anything Jeff gives us in "First" on United these days.
Apparently, I had some chicken and veg for a main, and this reminds me how Continental used to plate the veg and starch from the trolly. Potatoes? Rice? They had multiple options, and you can fully customize the meal. Not sure what's in the small bowl at the top, but I remember the Château le Gordon being much better than recent vintage Château le Jeff!
Good to know I didn't miss the ice cream sundae, though I'm not too sure why there's Kahlua in the pic since I can't remember ever going through a Kahlua phase. I'm glad to see four cherries though, I'd be disappointed if there weren't multiples!
Then I slept. I remember it being a pretty good amount, probably 4-6 hours. Cabin shot here with me enjoying the view out the window. You can see just how empty the back two rows of business were:
Landed, immigration was a piece of cake, and even getting a taxi to our hotel, the Grand Hyatt Beijing, was a piece of cake. We checked in mid-afternoon, and decided to use the little time we had to do a bit of exploring since we hadn't been to Beijing before and would only have one evening before the flight to North Korea.
Looking jetlagged in front of the Forbidden Palace:
Changing of the guard ceremony:
Forbidden Palace all lit up at dusk:
For dinner, we walked to the Quanjude duck restaurant. Don't know how we found it, but they had a counter that indicated they'd served more than 15 million ducks since they opened:
Our duck, being hygienically carved up table-side...it was absolutely delicious with all the sides, and the waiter showed us how to plate it up and eat it all together.
Promptly crashed for at least eight hours, and was up way too early. Found Starbucks (do you doubt my abilities to find them, even back them?) and wandered the city just a little longer. Found a countdown to the Beijing Olympics, which were still three years away at that point:
The Grand Hyatt:
Then, it was time to taxi to the airport and meet up with our group from Koryo Tours for the flight to Pyongyang!
Unfortunately, I don't really remember the details on the flight in great detail, but thanks to my notes I can at least reproduce some of it. Plus, this will be a bit of nostalgia for the good old days before Jeff's cost-cutting.
Continental Airlines flight 1104
Washington, DC, National (DCA) to Newark, New Jersey (EWR)
Depart ??:??, Arrive ??:?? Flight Time: Approximately 1 hour
Boeing 737-500,.Registration: ???, Manufactured ????, Seat 2F
Unfortunately, don't remember much about this flight. It was a morning flight, so can pretty much guarantee I enjoyed a diet coke and not much else. I remember when Continental used to run 737s from DCA to EWR...and they were always packed. What happened?!
Enjoyed the Presidents Club in Newark, and soon it was time to board our flight to Beijing. I remember at the time thinking Continental BusinessFirst was a really big deal, and remember it being something like a six or seven course experience. Those days, well, they're long gone!
Continental Airlines flight 89
Newark, New Jersey (EWR) to Beijing, China (PEK)
Depart ??:??, Arrive ??:?? Flight Time: ??
Boeing 777-200,.Registration: ???, Manufactured ????, Seat 10A
I remember this flight being about 80% full in business, but the back mini cabin (I think there used to be five rows in the front cabin, and rows 8-10 were in a separate mini cabin) was less than half full. We had plenty of room to stretch out in our old-school barcaloungers.
For some reason, I didn't take a pic of the soup, appetizer, salad, or any of the starters, but these were the days service in BusinessFirst was better than anything Jeff gives us in "First" on United these days.
Apparently, I had some chicken and veg for a main, and this reminds me how Continental used to plate the veg and starch from the trolly. Potatoes? Rice? They had multiple options, and you can fully customize the meal. Not sure what's in the small bowl at the top, but I remember the Château le Gordon being much better than recent vintage Château le Jeff!
Good to know I didn't miss the ice cream sundae, though I'm not too sure why there's Kahlua in the pic since I can't remember ever going through a Kahlua phase. I'm glad to see four cherries though, I'd be disappointed if there weren't multiples!
Then I slept. I remember it being a pretty good amount, probably 4-6 hours. Cabin shot here with me enjoying the view out the window. You can see just how empty the back two rows of business were:
Landed, immigration was a piece of cake, and even getting a taxi to our hotel, the Grand Hyatt Beijing, was a piece of cake. We checked in mid-afternoon, and decided to use the little time we had to do a bit of exploring since we hadn't been to Beijing before and would only have one evening before the flight to North Korea.
Looking jetlagged in front of the Forbidden Palace:
Changing of the guard ceremony:
Forbidden Palace all lit up at dusk:
For dinner, we walked to the Quanjude duck restaurant. Don't know how we found it, but they had a counter that indicated they'd served more than 15 million ducks since they opened:
Our duck, being hygienically carved up table-side...it was absolutely delicious with all the sides, and the waiter showed us how to plate it up and eat it all together.
Promptly crashed for at least eight hours, and was up way too early. Found Starbucks (do you doubt my abilities to find them, even back them?) and wandered the city just a little longer. Found a countdown to the Beijing Olympics, which were still three years away at that point:
The Grand Hyatt:
Then, it was time to taxi to the airport and meet up with our group from Koryo Tours for the flight to Pyongyang!
Jun 25, 2015, 6:14 pm
#4
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: TPA
Programs: DL Diamond, HH Diamond, IHG Plat, Marriott Gold
Posts: 1,256
Looking forward to the rest. Wish I had splurged a little and gotten some good duck last time I was in PEK.
Looking forward to the NK portion though, always been somewhere that's fascinated me to travel to.
Looking forward to the NK portion though, always been somewhere that's fascinated me to travel to.
Jun 27, 2015, 1:26 am
#6
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: Dubai
Posts: 3,301
Wow, very cool! Great to see you were visiting the less visited/crazy places back when you started all the epic travel 10 years ago too
.
The Arirang Mass games must have been an amazing experience and an an interesting insight into the surreal and 'unique' culture of NK. Very fortunate and lucky to see them too now that they have stopped doing them(?).
.The Arirang Mass games must have been an amazing experience and an an interesting insight into the surreal and 'unique' culture of NK. Very fortunate and lucky to see them too now that they have stopped doing them(?).
Jun 27, 2015, 8:30 pm
#8
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: Austin, TX -- AA Life Platinum; QF Life Silver; UA Silver
Posts: 5,462
I had no luck trying to see the Mass Games.. was scheduled to go in 2006, was cancelled due to flooding. Then went in 2007 but they cancelled the games (flooding again) the night before we arrived in Pyongyang.
Jul 4, 2015, 10:14 pm
#12
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2003
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Posts: 5,525
II. Beijing to Pyongyang on Air Koryo, arrival in Pyongyang
After walking around the city for a bit, caught an early morning cab to Beijing airport, where the monitors advertised it was true. Our 11:30 flight really existed, and it seemed we were really going to North Korea!
Found our group from Koryo Tours clustered around the Air Koryo check-in area, and did quick introductions all around. There were about 25-30 of us, all Americans, since this was a first-time 72 hour tour just for Americans. Check it was reasonably quick, boarding passes in hand, and we set off to explore duty free. But first, we stopped at left luggage to drop off a backpack containing our laptops and cell phones. We were told these wouldn't be allowed in North Korea, and that we would have to check them at the Pyongyang Airport upon arrival. Rather than subject them to inevitable scrutiny during our visit by North Korean security services, we decided to just check the at Beijing Airport for a few days.
We'd been told it was customary to buy gifts for our tour guides to stay on their good side, and we were told the best gifts to buy were cigarettes, ladies moisturizer, and hand cream. Picked up one of each, included the first and only time I've ever bought a carton of cigarettes, and duty free gave us one of those "you may be a winner" scratch off tickets...and figures just when I don't need to win anything I do...a Ferrari suitcase, lol.
Cheap plastic, probably worth five dollars, but there was absolutely no way they were going to let me leave without taking it. So, instead, I.decided to just haul it with, filled with my duty free stash. A.few days later, it would be abandoned in the Pyongyang hotel room.
Got to the gate, where for some reason it had the wrong time for the flight. Note the 07:50 departure time, but the clock reading 11:28. It wasn't delayed, it was just...a time warp...like everything in North Korea would soon be:
After a short bus ride, there she was, the aircraft that would take us to North Korea. I was a little shy about taking pictures, but there was no need. Nobody seemed to care:
Boarded through stairs, and the adventure was set to begin!
Air Koryo flight 222
Beijing, China (PEK) to Pyongyang, Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea (FNJ)
Depart 11:30, Arrive 14:00, Flight Time 90 minutes
Ilyushin IL-62M, Registration P-881, Manufactured 1986, Seat 19B
One of the many flight attendants, checking boarding passes and directing people to their seats. One strange part was the 4-5 bulkheads in the plane, dividing it into many identical mini-cabins:
Waiting to find my seat with fellow American tourists...and photobombed by a very stunned looking flight attendant. Yes, I had 19B. Until this year was probably the last time I'd sat in a middle seat for nearly 10 years:
Not sure what's in all those containers, but a rather huge galley area. Clearly reducing weight was no priority when building this plane:
You sit here:
Getting suspicious looks for taking so many pics during boarding:
In-flight, a pic of the main cabin from the washrooms in the back:
Here comes lunch! Despite being only about 75 minutes in the air, a full lunch was served:
Quite huge and impressive portions of foodstuffs of dubious origins. The pain was a sweet and sour chicken with pineapple in it, which was pretty good. I don't remember if the drink was white wine or sparkling wine, but either way quite impressive how much they served. I didn't want to risk serious intestinal distress in North Korea, so just nibbled at the cake and wine:
All in all the flight was pretty uneventful, and the Ilyushin-62M was a fascinating experience. Pretty sure I'd been on one previously with Aeroflot in the late 1980s, but don't have any records from that trip to prove it. The service by Air Koryo was polite and efficient, and considering they were dealing with Americans for probably the first time ever they were all still quite refined and not at all nervous looking.
Immigration was a pretty quick affair, and no passport stamps were offered. Our visa was several sheets of paper with everyones' pictures and passport details on them, and it was pretty much one large group visa. Several people tried to get passport stamps, but there was no way to do it.
After arrival, milling around outside the airport waiting for our bus...and I still have the Ferrari bag:
Poster outside the airport advertising the Arirang Mass Games, the event we had all been invited to witness:
On the way to the hotel in our tour bus, we met our guides Mr Lee and Miss Yang. There was another "guide" who constantly sat in the back of the bus and never spoke to us, and we were told he didn't speak English. He was, however, quite fond of getting upset and yelling at us frantically in Korean whenever he caught people taking pictures of things we weren't permitted to photograph. Lee seemed to be quite a nice guy, and was fond of cracking really poor jokes, often related to building nuclear bombs and "America going to go BOOM hah hah" whenever anyone asked him a vaguely military-related question.
First stop on the way to the hotel was the Arch of Triumph, built to honour the Korean resistance to Japanese occupation from 1925-1945. One thing that was hammered into us over and over is no matter how much the North Koreans distrust America (and are going to invade and conquer it) they distrust and dislike Japan a hundred times more. The Arch looks suspiciously like the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, and is much larger...supposedly the biggest arch in the world:
Finally, we headed to our hotel, the Koryo Hotel. We had been told to expect the Yanggakdo Hotel, because it's located on an island and at night they can close the bridge off to prevent you from getting off the island. However, we ended up at the Koryo Hotel instead. Rumour was because the rooms were better...connected...and was better able to monitor suspicious foreign guests. From the outside, it was a rather impressive structure:
We were given a bit of time to freshen up, before being taken out to dinner. It was described as hotpot, and we were given a plate of raw meet, noodles, and vegetables to cook in the hotpot. This came with several large bottles of North Korea beer, which was actually mildly decent. Never once did I get anything resembling food poisoning on this trip, so the hygiene standards must have been reasonably good:
After dinner, we were herded back into the bus, jetlagged all to hell since we'd just flown into Beijing the night before, and hurried off to the Arirang Mass Games. We were explained that for tourists there were three types of seats. Standard seats, which if I remember right were like 70 or 80 Euro, better seats right next to the field which were like 250 Euro, and VIP seats which were like 500. Since our guide couldn't explain what make the VIP seats better, we all went with standard seats. If 500 would have gotten me a photo-op with Kim Jong Il I would have paid it in a heartbeat, but alas. Then, it was time for the main event!
Found our group from Koryo Tours clustered around the Air Koryo check-in area, and did quick introductions all around. There were about 25-30 of us, all Americans, since this was a first-time 72 hour tour just for Americans. Check it was reasonably quick, boarding passes in hand, and we set off to explore duty free. But first, we stopped at left luggage to drop off a backpack containing our laptops and cell phones. We were told these wouldn't be allowed in North Korea, and that we would have to check them at the Pyongyang Airport upon arrival. Rather than subject them to inevitable scrutiny during our visit by North Korean security services, we decided to just check the at Beijing Airport for a few days.
We'd been told it was customary to buy gifts for our tour guides to stay on their good side, and we were told the best gifts to buy were cigarettes, ladies moisturizer, and hand cream. Picked up one of each, included the first and only time I've ever bought a carton of cigarettes, and duty free gave us one of those "you may be a winner" scratch off tickets...and figures just when I don't need to win anything I do...a Ferrari suitcase, lol.
Cheap plastic, probably worth five dollars, but there was absolutely no way they were going to let me leave without taking it. So, instead, I.decided to just haul it with, filled with my duty free stash. A.few days later, it would be abandoned in the Pyongyang hotel room.
Got to the gate, where for some reason it had the wrong time for the flight. Note the 07:50 departure time, but the clock reading 11:28. It wasn't delayed, it was just...a time warp...like everything in North Korea would soon be:
After a short bus ride, there she was, the aircraft that would take us to North Korea. I was a little shy about taking pictures, but there was no need. Nobody seemed to care:
Boarded through stairs, and the adventure was set to begin!
Air Koryo flight 222
Beijing, China (PEK) to Pyongyang, Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea (FNJ)
Depart 11:30, Arrive 14:00, Flight Time 90 minutes
Ilyushin IL-62M, Registration P-881, Manufactured 1986, Seat 19B
One of the many flight attendants, checking boarding passes and directing people to their seats. One strange part was the 4-5 bulkheads in the plane, dividing it into many identical mini-cabins:
Waiting to find my seat with fellow American tourists...and photobombed by a very stunned looking flight attendant. Yes, I had 19B. Until this year was probably the last time I'd sat in a middle seat for nearly 10 years:
Not sure what's in all those containers, but a rather huge galley area. Clearly reducing weight was no priority when building this plane:
You sit here:
Getting suspicious looks for taking so many pics during boarding:
In-flight, a pic of the main cabin from the washrooms in the back:
Here comes lunch! Despite being only about 75 minutes in the air, a full lunch was served:
Quite huge and impressive portions of foodstuffs of dubious origins. The pain was a sweet and sour chicken with pineapple in it, which was pretty good. I don't remember if the drink was white wine or sparkling wine, but either way quite impressive how much they served. I didn't want to risk serious intestinal distress in North Korea, so just nibbled at the cake and wine:
All in all the flight was pretty uneventful, and the Ilyushin-62M was a fascinating experience. Pretty sure I'd been on one previously with Aeroflot in the late 1980s, but don't have any records from that trip to prove it. The service by Air Koryo was polite and efficient, and considering they were dealing with Americans for probably the first time ever they were all still quite refined and not at all nervous looking.
Immigration was a pretty quick affair, and no passport stamps were offered. Our visa was several sheets of paper with everyones' pictures and passport details on them, and it was pretty much one large group visa. Several people tried to get passport stamps, but there was no way to do it.
After arrival, milling around outside the airport waiting for our bus...and I still have the Ferrari bag:
Poster outside the airport advertising the Arirang Mass Games, the event we had all been invited to witness:
On the way to the hotel in our tour bus, we met our guides Mr Lee and Miss Yang. There was another "guide" who constantly sat in the back of the bus and never spoke to us, and we were told he didn't speak English. He was, however, quite fond of getting upset and yelling at us frantically in Korean whenever he caught people taking pictures of things we weren't permitted to photograph. Lee seemed to be quite a nice guy, and was fond of cracking really poor jokes, often related to building nuclear bombs and "America going to go BOOM hah hah" whenever anyone asked him a vaguely military-related question.
First stop on the way to the hotel was the Arch of Triumph, built to honour the Korean resistance to Japanese occupation from 1925-1945. One thing that was hammered into us over and over is no matter how much the North Koreans distrust America (and are going to invade and conquer it) they distrust and dislike Japan a hundred times more. The Arch looks suspiciously like the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, and is much larger...supposedly the biggest arch in the world:
Finally, we headed to our hotel, the Koryo Hotel. We had been told to expect the Yanggakdo Hotel, because it's located on an island and at night they can close the bridge off to prevent you from getting off the island. However, we ended up at the Koryo Hotel instead. Rumour was because the rooms were better...connected...and was better able to monitor suspicious foreign guests. From the outside, it was a rather impressive structure:
We were given a bit of time to freshen up, before being taken out to dinner. It was described as hotpot, and we were given a plate of raw meet, noodles, and vegetables to cook in the hotpot. This came with several large bottles of North Korea beer, which was actually mildly decent. Never once did I get anything resembling food poisoning on this trip, so the hygiene standards must have been reasonably good:
After dinner, we were herded back into the bus, jetlagged all to hell since we'd just flown into Beijing the night before, and hurried off to the Arirang Mass Games. We were explained that for tourists there were three types of seats. Standard seats, which if I remember right were like 70 or 80 Euro, better seats right next to the field which were like 250 Euro, and VIP seats which were like 500. Since our guide couldn't explain what make the VIP seats better, we all went with standard seats. If 500 would have gotten me a photo-op with Kim Jong Il I would have paid it in a heartbeat, but alas. Then, it was time for the main event!
Last edited by ironmanjt; Jul 4, 2015 at 10:23 pm
