Korean Job Discussion Forums

[whatever]

What were your impressions? Is it worth the trouble...?

Not that it's especially expensive, just wondering if you thought it was eye-opening or just pissed you off.

[garykasparov]

Is that to North Korea? Go at your own risk.

[viipuri]

Just returned from it on Seolnal (Thursday). Overall the trip s well worth it - it was a shocking eye-opener to a place so vastly different from the South.

There are plenty of restrictions however: No cameras that have a huge zoom, no taking pictures of 'modern' buildings in the city, no photos of regular North Koreans or soldiers, no going off anywhere, no photos from inside the bus. Breaking this these rules means your camera is kept for the guides and you are forced to pay a $100 fine: this happened to one guy on my tour, and they went nuts at him! He'd gotten some modern buildings in the background to a photo, I think. They also check all cameras at the end of the trip before you return to the South, going through each camera's memory.

Each bus has two guides to watch over everyone (one at front, one at back, up in the top seat). The day is very long, starting early early in the morning. Immigration and crossing the DMZ (extremely narrow here- I was surprised) is very quick, as is the procedure on the North side.

The first thing you'll notice is just how barren it is - there are almost no trees anywhere (think the landscape in M*A*S*H). You go to Pakyoen Waterfall - it's frozen right now. There were no vehicles on the roads except for our buses - none!! In Gaeseong, people walk everywhere (only a few bikes...), and the place is sadly run down but kept rather neat and tidy nonetheless. You get the opportunity to buy stuff of course, and the provided lunch was actually really yummy. Make sure to take smaller denominations - $1, $5, $10 and $20 in US cash only...not even Euros are needed for Gaeseong. They will tell you that you can buy stamps, books etc in the North and take them back to the South BUT those two things (and animal products) are the only things which CANNOT be taken back to Seoul...so buy other stuff like knick-knacks, booze (only 1-2 bottles per person), tea, muchrooms, ginsaeng, cigarettes (one carton per person), etc...

Be careful when you take a photo of Kim Il Sung - you must take his whole statue in the pic, not just a part of it!! We also went to a small traditional house/school place (like the traditional buildings in SK), and to the bridge round the corner (overrated...). We went to an outdoor traditional building museum as well (again, just like any old small palace in SK).

We don't get to see juicy stuff except from the bus - make sure you wave at everyone. There were plenty of communist slogans and propaganda about, very interesting, but it all left me depressed by the end of the day. The actual stuff they take you to see isn't that interesting, so make sure that you observe the people and guides as much as possible. I talked with several guides the entire day (I speak Korean, but another friend tried with some success and pictures in English all the same...) to get the most out of the trip. Getting at least to talk to the guides one-to-one was what made the experience well worth it.

[howie2424]

I'm curious, do they stamp your passport on that trip?

[davai!]

[IncognitoHFX]

[IconsFanatic]

I heard the NK authorities used to staple a paper visa into your passport, and would remove it upon departure, supposedly leaving no evidence of having visited. But, back before you could cross the DMZ and when travel to NK was not encouraged, apparently South Korea border dudes looked for staple holes in passport pages - a clear give-away!

[ajgeddes]

[Typhoon]

Going on these trips to North Korea supports Kim Jong Il and his regime. It doesn't help the people of North Korea. It only prolongs their suffering. I wish that people would stop going there.

[IncognitoHFX]

[viipuri]