DPRK

Pyongyang

The beaming face of Kim Il Sung welcomes disembarking passengers to Pyongyang airport grateful that the Air Koryo aircraft has arrived safely. The departure lounge has a homely feel with the armchairs.

Foreigners are escorted by guides and at each designated place of interest you are met by a local guide. Visitors must ask permission to take photographs and are not allowed to be unaccompanied outside hotels (and you are being watched in case you try). The fact that many of the local guides are attractive females makes it a bearable hardship even if they do wear a 'Miss Saigon' outfit or nice polyester maternity dresses (for example of national costume see below).
Image of North Korea.

Pyongyang was regarded as something of a showcase city in the old socialist bloc and to be fair its rapid rebuilding from rubble after 1953 (at which stage only one building was left standing) was an impressive achievement. It is easy to forget that until thirty years ago North Korea had a higher GDP per head than South Korea. However from a drive around the city it doesn't take much to realise that a lot of money will be needed to renovate and modernise the tower blocks and buildings. It might be easier to demolish them and start again. The urban structures that don't appear tired are the political monuments and government buildings.

The pyramid shaped building was originally going to be a 105 storey hotel. Construction had been prompted twenty years ago by the news that a South Korean company had just completed what was then the highest hotel in the world in Singapore. Having run out of money the construction site has long been abandoned.

The tall tower beyond the bridge in the photograph was my hotel. This was situated on an island and residents were not allowed to leave the island unaccompanied. Welcome to the Hotel California!

The striking thing about Pyongyang at night is the lack of traffic noise or light. In fact the silence is almost eerie. There are no street lights, most flats are illuminated only by low wattage bulbs and the city is in almost complete darkness after 11pm. Residential areas of Pyongyang are understood to suffer intermittent power cuts.

A shop window in downtown Pyongyang. Residents were bemused to see a party of westerners take (an escorted) stroll in their city. It was difficult to know who was in the goldfish bowl and it was a surreal experience for North Koreans and westerners alike. North Koreans are told that foreigners are potential spies (and much worse) so there was a natural suspicion towards us. Barriers could be broken with a smile, handshake or even giving chocolate or cigarettes but many remained uncomfortable at the experience of meeting a westerner (often for the first time). Nonetheless the people were extremely courteous.

In the absence of commercial advertising political posters are aplenty on the streets of Pyongyang, all of them painted by hand.