Thursday, July 20, 2006

North Korea!!

Much to our shock, we saw an advertisement for a South Korean tour company doing regular hiking trips into the Geumgung (Diamond) Mountains of North Korea. Up until this point, I hadn't realized that the country was open to any tourism, but actually they have seen more than 3,000,000 visitors since opening the border in the east province to hiking!! Anyways, I was very excited to sign up for this trip- to see a country that few people will ever get to enter.




Anyways, North Korea itself is extremely close to Seoul. The DMZ is approximately 80 km from the city itself, and several tunnels have been found under the DMZ that reduce this distance even further. The area open to tourism, however, is right on the east coast of the country, and although it was only 150km away, the drive there took all night! how I miss the prairies!!!

After passing through the many layers of barbed wire fencing and the hundreds of soldiers stationed on either side of the border, we got off the bus- not quite as rested as we had hoped- at the immigration building. After an hour or so of getting all the necessary paperwork done, we boaded a new, "North Korean friendly" bus, and headed into the little tourist town they have build for this commercial endeavour.

The area was seriously incredibly beautiful- some of the most spectacular scenery I have seen. Unfortunately, it was pretty foggy the whole time we were there, so the views were a little limited, but whenever the winds blew the clouds away, it was breathtaking! The guides told us that the area sees only about 10 clear days a year!! Insane!! But since Kim Jung Il controls the weather, we know who to blame for that one!!! Another quest for Team America??? Could be, could be...


So, the majority of the weekend was spent hiking with a guide infront of us and behind us, and tons of North Korean soldiers in the bush ready to attack!! No joke. It was pretty creepy.


In the evening, we stayed at a really nice hotel, with an enormous painting of Kim Jung Il and Kim Il Sung in front of it (see below). Photos taken of the two men- staues, paintings, etc, muct be taken in a specific way, so there are people there who take the photos for you to make sure that you get their entire bodies in the photos. Very weird. Like the rest of the country.


Unfortunately, we didn't get to see any North Korean villages, or talk to any North Koreans. Generally, there are South Koreans working in the tourist area, who pretty much serve all of the needs of the tourists. We did speak to a couple of North Koreans who were our guides for the hike, but it was really limited. I was surprised ot find out that they do learn English at school- seems like it would have very limited use in a country that forbids the travel of its citizens, and severely limits tourism. But what do I know.

Anyways, the weekend was fantastic- great hiking and great people! And we can rest easy knowing that we have done our part to fund Kim Jung Il's crazy plans for world takeover. Hahaha.

But no, in all seriousness it is such an insane regime up there, and being here,it has been sad to see what occurs to a country divided- Korea is the only divided country at the moment, and it's so sad how drastically different the lives are of the people in the South compared with the people in the North. I read a book a little while ago called "The Aquariums of PyongYang", which is an autobiography about a young boy's experience living in a North Korean gulag for 10 years, and his subsequent escape from the country. A heartbreaking, but eye-opening read. Anyways, I'd definitely recommend it.