Korea’s former capital Kaesong was the next major destination on my itinerary, but before reaching the DPRK’s last city with lots of historical buildings surviving the Korean War we had a busy yet unspectacular day; most of the locations visited during that time I will talk about in the other locations article at the end of the series. (I already mentioned the lamb BBQ in the *Food For Tourists* entry the other day.) Since there is no direct highway between Nampo and Kaesong we had to go back to Pyongyang via the Youth Hero Motorway and then take the Reunification Highway (a.k.a. Pyongyang-Kaesong Motorway) south, making a stop at the “tea shop” mentioned in the Vice documentary. Just in case you saw it – the (unspectacular) building is a very basic highway rest, not a tea shop. And the “tea shop girl” has company now as there were two sales stands outside of the building both times we stopped there, although I can’t say for sure if Pun-Yun-Chi a.k.a. the original “tea shop girl” (pitied by countless Youtube comments) is still working there; heck the place was so unspectacular I didn’t even take photos or a video… And unlike claimed in the generally quite outdated documentary they are not waiting for six or ten months for customers! Even during both of our short stops (about 15 minutes each on May 2nd and May 3rd) we saw other tourist groups and local cars stopping there. Sure, only a fraction of customers a highway rest in North America or Europe has – but nothing like the out of thin air assumption made by Shane Smith, who IMHO tended to interpret everything he saw and experienced in the most negative way anyway. While it’s always a bad thing to jump to conclusions based on observations (especially when travelling alone and wondering why you are always alone…), it gets a bitter taste when it’s done to sell a product; in this case his documentary. I feel sorry that he and his cameraman had a bad time, but I think it was at least partly their own fault. Anyway.
Although built ten years earlier than the road to Nampo, the Reunification Highway is in much better condition, probably due its strategic importance, which was made clear by several military checkpoints (none of which we were allowed to take photos of) and countless tank traps – huge concrete blocks at the side of the road, some disguised as monuments, that can collapse onto the motorway in case of a foreign invasion. (I’m sure most of the bridges were rigged, too.)
By the time we arrived in Kaesong it was almost dark. What really struck me was the fact that the city didn’t have many lights. Maybe one in five apartments were lit, the rest was dark. The only construction lit up like a Christmas tree – the statue of Kim Il-sung on top of Mount Janam… (Interestingly enough some buildings had what looked like solar panels on their balconies. Not many, but still… Who would have thought that?)
The statue actually was our first destination the next morning after a night at the Minsok Hotel, but to the disappointment of all foreign visitors (…) it was closed since some people were cleaning the square in front of it – so we had a look at the city from a nearby viewing point; beautiful! When we came back to the statue we still weren’t allowed to see it, so to everybody’s surprise we were asked to board the bus to head out to the Koryo Museum since it was still too early to hit our time slot at the DMZ. And so that’s what we did…
(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*…)
What a phenomenal trip and interesting blog
Thanks a lot – please tell a friend! 🙂
It’s odd but I get the general impression, from your posts and pix, that the DPRK has been in some sort of long “awaiting” period – cleaning up, getting organized, making things look nice (all things being relative) and having some solid infrastructure in place like the numerous “schools”/facilities for a time when economic and social prosperity finally arrive. Whether this will only happen with a change of political direction that leadership may make or come from a grass roots movement from the population itself will be interesting to watch. Like your comment about the journalist, isolation breeds distrust and a warped view of reality- the people of the DPRK seem to be slowly waking out of that state, reconnecting with that very basic need for human contact with those who have a different range of experience. Let’s hope it rubs off…. Kudos once again for offering another side to this ongoing story.
I think overall the DPRK is doing a lot better in general than 5 years ago or 10 years ago. Like I mentioned in another comment recently – one of the things the State is trying to get rid of is people watching South Korean drama shows; 10 years ago that wasn’t a problem, because hardly anybody in NK owned devices to play those shows. Things are gradually changing and sooner or later people will want more change – and if it’s just because they see those gigantic SUVs driving on the streets and wonder why their own ride is an ox. Things will change – and let’s hope it will be as smooth as the German reunification. (Which it most likely won’t be – and smooth in that context is quite an understatement in the first place…)
So true that television has been the agent of change for so many – whether good or bad. If more people (on the outside) thought positively about what could be rather than fostering images of “evil empires” it wouldn’t hurt either…
I totally agree, but the media need a bogeyman, the military even more so; especially the American one. For them there is no benefit in reporting what has improved in North Korea. Quite the opposite. If the US military really leaves Iraq, Afghanistan and wherever they are in that area the DPRK might be in deep trouble, because the States would be paying tons of money for bored soldiers eager to do something…
So true – they could start by having them clean up the mess that is America : like the programs instituted during the depression… Many hands make light work and would go a long way on rebuilding/restoring so many areas hit by natural and man-made disasters, let alone the devastation caused by economic ravages, ie. Flint, Michigan. Many of us know the solutions- less are willing to listen.
Regarding the States I am more and more lost for words, to be honest with you. Parts of the country act like a really weird dramedy TV show. Luckily I have some good American friends here in Japan or otherwise I would think half of them have gone crazy…
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times….
Whoa, totally awesome pics. Love how NK looks so ironically peaceful despite its rundown state. If it’s safe (though it sure isn’t), maybe you could urbex and sneak around in NK, the places that the guides don’t want to bring us to have a lot more stories to tell than the usual attractions! 😉 Keep it up!
Sneaking around in North Korea might not be the best of ideas, but other than that it actally is a safe and peaceful country. I went there during the spring crisis and to be honest: I was more worried about the Japanese and the Americans losing their cool than worried about the Koreans. People were like “Aren’t you worried that you will be abducted and used as a human shield?”. I wasn’t. If anything, I was worried the Americans would bomb the country to pieces. Something that is still on the table…
Another great post, and what I think you have really done a great job with is giving us a ‘real view’ of the DPRK. You have not gone into this country with a pre-determined agenda and point-of-view and then spent your time twisting what you saw to fit your biases…instead, you went as an explorer and adventurer to see and experience the culture the best you could. Great job and great post.
Thanks a lot, much appreciated!
Wow, you’re in North Korea! I’ve not read your other posts yet from there, will get to that shortly.
I read a great book about NK a little while ago, “Nothing To Envy” by Barbara Demick. The first few pages show a satellite picture of the region, at night, with all the cities lit up. Except for NH, which looks like a black hole on the image, with no light at all emerging from it, because of their notorious power shortages. It’s really quite striking.
I know that photo – and guess what, after living in Kansai for 7 years I really appreciated the sparse use of light. I feel bad for the economy and the people in the DPRK that they don’t have enough energy, but the light overkill in Japan (and most industrialized countries) is ridiculous. When I was at the top of Yanggakdo Island taking night shots of the illuminated Pyongyang I was able to see stars in the sky, whole constellations actually. Those are practically impossible to see from where I live now… 😦
I totally agree! What a waste of energy.
I didn’t see any stars either while I was living in London 😦
I’ve been reading your posts for a while now, and I am finding it interesting that your photographs are almost completely devoid of people, even the ones that look like they should have people. I am loving the posts, by the way. I have not been to North Korea, and your blog is quite an eye-opener
I think I have an explanation for the lack of people on my photos. Usually this blog is all about abandoned places, especially in Japan, so I am just not used to taking photos of people – in addition to that I don’t like to be photographed myself, so I usually try to take photos without people. Sometimes I wait for people to leave the frame and for the highway photo I waited for a car to pass. Maybe I should have taken more photos with people on, but since I don’t feel comfortable being on them myself I guess I extended that feeling to others.
I am very happy though that I am able to show you a different side of North Korea! I don’t have an agenda, so it’s really how I experienced the country… (And I apologize for the lack of historical facts in most articles, but I thought you can read up that stuff on Wikipedia and specialized history blogs.)