Originally Posted by
sajgidda
I'm always envious/respectful of people who've been to North Korea, it's certainly exotic to me more so for the guarded nature of the country as opposed to real world difficulties getting in. I'd love to know more about what you saw, were allowed to see and the people you interacted with. I've wanted to go for a while and even thought about hopping over on my most recent trip to China but decided against it... I'm of Indian descent but born in the UK and have plenty of Middle Eastern stamps in my passport so US Immigration already gives me a horrid time
I'm fascinated by the isolationist nature of the country, I'd love to be there and experience what it's like to live in this cocoon along with the cult of personality about 'Our dear leader'
I know somebody who went and said the Russian plane they flew in was ramshackle at best and he had certain items confiscated like electronics and pictures. Some were returned upon leaving but the pictures were deleted if they were not agreeable, this however was many years ago
Getting around the stamp thing is easy. If you pick up your visa in Beijing it comes on a separate sheet of paper (i.e., not a sticker in your passport), and then they stamp your entry on that sheet of paper. Then they take the sheet of paper away when you exit, leaving no evidence of your having been there.
(If you get your visa in advance, like I did at the embassy in London, they will put a sticker visa in your passport--if they maintain diplomatic relations with your country.)
Stuff I saw seems to be almost exactly the same everyone else sees, unless you go on a specialized private tour (and even then some things appear to be "mandatory"). The biggest barrier to speaking with the locals is that they don't speak English. For the most part it's difficult to get physically near any locals, but it does happen.
There was a certain thrill in seeing things that we weren't supposed to see, like some of the particularly vicious propaganda on the "hidden" fifth floor of our hotel in Pyongyang.
Ohh, and the plane--seemed like a perfectly modern jet. Possibly it wasn't one of the old Tupolovs. In any case, my flight was one of three leaving each within a half an hour of each other. Every flight was full of North Koreans, nearly all in a suit and tie, with just a handful of tourists here and there.
Cell phones and passports are still held for safekeeping upon arrival and not returned until departure, and a customs official still looks through your pictures and makes you delete objectionable ones--but this is incredibly easy to get around nowadays since they allow laptops to come into the country.
Something else I found interesting--they have a mobile phone network in the country now. Our guides had mobiles and I saw quite a few people in Pyongyang with them as well. My understanding is that you need a special license for a phone, and I'd doubt they can dial internationally.
Any more questions, please feel free to ask as this is one trip I really enjoy talking about.