Rides on the Pyongyang Metro usually were one of the prime examples for how everything on a tour to North Korea is staged – now it is a prime example for how the country opens up to its visitors.
It was the second visit to the DPRK for Jeff, one of the great people of my tour group. Back in 2007 he visited the country for the first time and of course back then a ride on the subway was part of the itinerary, too. For Jeff an underwhelming experience as back then the group was told which train and which wagon to enter – basically an (almost?) empty wagon. Most people describe their experience like that actually. No stops, no freedom, no contact with locals. Again, my experience was quite different.
Since Puhung Station was right across the street from the *Mansudae Art Studio* we accessed the deepest subway system in the world right from there – locals entering and leaving the station via one of the three escalators. (Although the middle one wasn’t running – it wasn’t necessary since the station wasn’t that busy on a Monday afternoon.) In (ex-)communist countries subway stations were / are showpieces – *I’ve been to several stations in Kiev*, so I knew what to expect and Pyongyang didn’t disappoint. While the entrance kind of looked like a bomb shelter (which it will be used for if North Korea ever gets attacked) the platform of the station was absolutely gorgeous. Slightly dim, but lit by beautiful chandeliers. At this point our group got quite excited, with people running back and forth to take photos – and I have to admit our guides looked a bit more nervous. Some people might claim they were worried about… us making contact with people, us taking photos we might not should take, us doing whatever. In my opinion they were actually worried that one of us could get lost, because the metro was quite busy. Not “Tokyo rush hour” busy, but “a good chance to get lost (on purpose / accidentally)” busy. When Mr. Yu tried to get us on a train he was widely ignored as most people were still taking photos – so the train left, and the next one, too; both times accompanied by a wave of locals flushing the station. We finally got close enough together to call us a group again when the next train arrived – and people just headed in, splitting over two wagons. Most likely not according to Mr. Yu’s plans, but rolling with the punches was going both ways… The first ride was a short one as we left the train at the next stop, Yonggwang. Judging by the look on his face Mr. Yu was glad that everybody listened to the plan and actually got off. On past rides Yonggwang Station was the end of the tour on the Pyongyang Metro – which lead to claims that there were no more than two stations and / or all the other ones were secret. While it is rather likely that there are indeed some secret stations for the military (which isn’t uncommon in other countries, too…) there are definitely 17 stations on two lines (locals can change at Jonu / Jonsung, it’s a walk of about 300 meters). So we got off at Yonggwang, took some photos and entered a rather crowded train to ride four more stops to Kaeson – the station right next to the *Arch of Triumph* and the Kaeson Fun Fair; one photo in the arch set actually shows the subway entrance, so I’ll include it here again. Since we skipped a couple of trains before, we were a little bit behind schedule – some quick photos at Kaeson Station and off we went to our bus as countless kids at the *Mangyongdae Children’s Palace* were already waiting for us to show their talents…
(Please *click here to get to Abandoned Kansai’s North Korea Special* and *here for a map about the tour at GoogleMaps*. If you don’t want to miss the latest article you can *follow Abandoned Kansai on Twitter* and *like this blog on Facebook* – and of course there is the *video channel on Youtube*…)
It really does look beautiful!
It definitely beats the subway in Osaka! 😦
Very interesting, some resemblance with Moscow.
Amazing subway station which is quite a contrast with the train in it!
Yeah, those are old trains imported from Berlin at the time of the German Democratic Republic – about 50 years old by now. According to reports some of them still have German graffiti on them.