Okryu Bridge stretching across the
Taedong River with Rungra Island just behind. Also visible in the distance is
Pyongyang TV Tower.
Looking north-east to
Tongdaewon-dong with the shadow of
Juche Tower below. Also visible top-left is
Rungrado 1st of May Stadium on Rungra Island.
It was a great vantage point to see the country's fondness for pastel-hued buildings.
East Pyongyang with a government building adorned with portraits of the two Eternal leaders directly below.
It was quite eerie to see how empty the city looked with almost no one in the park below and the almost car free streets.
We then descended back down to the tower to admire the exterior. Like the
Arch of Triumph, the tower was built in 1992 to commemorate the 70th birthday of
Kim Il-sung and is comprised of ~25,500 bricks, one for each day of his life.
In front of the tower is a
30-metre high statue consisting of three figures each holding a tool; a hammer (the worker); a sickle (the peasant); and a writing brush (the "working intellectual").
Looking across to the many new city skyscrapers. You can certainly understand where the nickname '
Pyonghattan' comes from!
After another short bus ride we arrived at the
Monument to Party Founding for another dose of grandiosity and socialism with its large hammer, sickle and calligraphy brush.
Zoe and Mr. Ju with the towering
Ryugyong Hotel in the distance.
Ms. Chang translating the text on the surrounding lower belt: "
Long live the leader and organizer of the victories of the people of Korea, the Worker's Party of Korea!".
Built in 1995, the monument reaches to
a height of 50 meters to signify the 50th anniversary of the party.
On the inside of the belt were bronze reliefs showing the history of the party.
After travelling across the city we arrived at the very grand
Mangyongdae Children's Palace on Kwangbok (Liberation) Street.
Opened in 1989, it is the largest of the 'palaces' in North Korea dedicated to after-school activities for chosen students.
Smiling portraits of the two late Kims again.
The Palace is run by the
Young Pioneer Corps for children under 15.
"
Children are the king of the country". Young pioneer members are the most gifted children in the country and are sent in order to develop their talents through extra-curricular activities and to showcase their capabilities as evidence of the superiority of the North Korean system.
And the very vibrant interior! The Palace was
recently refurbished on the orders of
Kim Jong-un.
The sprawling palace is divided up into different rooms specializing in the particular talents. We were then taken into each room to watch the children practice their expertise.
Girls performing ballet.
Complete with uncomfortably forced smiles.
Students playing the 12 stringed
gayageum.
It was quite mesmerising and slightly unnerving to watch them play so beautifully and perfectly, especially at such a young age.
Next was the calligraphy class.
Korean calligraphy is also known as Seoye.
The carefully laid out calligraphy brushes.
Writing in Hangul, the native Korean alphabet.
We then moved on to the Computer lab.
With the PC's running Microsoft Windows XP Professional.
A teacher overseeing Physics class.
Models of ICBM's on the shelf.
The model rockets made complete sense once I realised they were learning about ballistics!
In the gymnasium where the boys and girls were playing volleyball...
...and basketball.
Young gymnasts poised at the bar.
And practising their dance routine.
A map of the Korean Peninsula with a model of Intercontinental Ballistic missle as we finish our tour to the very interesting
Mangyongdae Children's Palace. It was also definitely one of the more surreal experiences of the trip!
We then headed to a local restaurant for a quick dinner before getting ready for our second dose of the Mass Games!
