Hotel Pyongyang

... and published "on the order of the National Directorate of Tourism in DPRK". It contained a relatively handy map of downtown Pyongyang, and listed with accompanying pictures and short descriptions a lot of things to see in the country. Some of them, ...

... Gugje" hotel or "Yanggakdo International" hotel, the place where we would stay every night while in Pyongyang. Of course, the section of the island where the hotel and its premises are is off limit to locals. Not counting those who work there, of ...

... , a granite obelisk 170 m tall, with a ruby torch on top, may well be the tallest accessible structure in Pyongyang. Because the Ryugyong hotel is off-bounds to visitors. Foreigners in particular. The tower is located on the other side of the Daedong ...

... afternoon. Whoever has seen pictures or footage from mass rallies, military parades or other political gatherings in Pyongyang, they would immediately recognise the place. This immense, paved clearing was the spot where immaculately choreographed masses ...

... , probably a combination of all three. Arrival at the hotel was surreal, Yanggakdo Hotel is a luxury hotel on an island in one of the rivers of Pyongyang. Knowing what we know about the situation in the country this hotel is a big contradiction to how ...

... Street, at the foot of both the Mansudae and the Statue. On our way there we again witnessed from the bus unhurried scenes of downtown Pyongyang, which were to me personally some of the best things to see at all. At one spot we saw a few guys in shorts ...

... all photos of this monument look more or less the same. After a duck meat bbq we visited the US Spy Ship Pueblo, the Pyongyang metro system, the Party Monument, the stamp shop, had a beer at the Koryo Hotel and finally we visited the birthplace of Kim ...

... back to China, and we continued our tour. With an unexpected next stop. „Next we shall visit a department store in Pyongyang,“ Mrs Lee announced. It got everyone’s attention. I guess we were all expecting another museum or something, and ...

... ones, was a bit out of town. Like ten or twelve kilometres or so. There’s this hill at the outskirts of Pyongyang, rather pompously called Mount Taesong, whose summit reaches up to enviable 225 meters above the mean sea level. And on that hill ...

... on the platform, too. There were three westerners who didn’t belong to our group and who were, apparently, leaving Pyongyang independently. Which would lead to a conclusion that they had moved about the country independently, as well. Had they? I ...

Our first real day in Pyongyang we had to get up early because there was a lot on the program. We started with the Grand People's Study House. This is a huge library of sorts where anyone can come to study. It was apparently build in an amazingly short ...