Panorama of Pyongyang, Sept 2012
I made this!
*unlurks*
Hello again fellow b3tards. Because I don't want to be a boring old fart, I decided to go to North Korea for my annual holidays this year.
Have a looksee at this panorama wot I took at Kim Il-Sung square. The dots on the ground show people where to stand / march at big events. This is where you'll have seen those massive parades of mock nuclear weapons and soldiers and other military stuff like that.
The tower in the middle is the Juche Tower
You can also see the Yanggakdo International Hotel on the far right.
I clicked 'I made this' because I made the photo, not because I built Pyongyang with my own hands. That would be silly.
edit: although I wouldn't be surprised if we'd been told that Kim Il-Sung had personally consulted on the building of the city on no less than 800 occasions and ensured that everything was finished a year early.
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admiral crunch holds the newsreader's nose squarely, Thu 27 Sep 2012, 17:16,
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I've been intrigued by holidays in NK.
Explore used to offer a package tour: maybe still do.
What's it like? If I ever have any money ever again, and can justify the journey to myself, it'd be on the list of places I'd like to see...
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Enzyme is powered by sunlight, Thu 27 Sep 2012, 17:22,
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I fucking love you, Kim Jong-un
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admiral crunch holds the newsreader's nose squarely, Thu 27 Sep 2012, 17:54,
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What's it like, you ask?
I really don't know how to answer that. It's completely mucking fental. And absolutely brilliant, all at the same time.
Lots of fucked-upness there. I highly recommend the wikitravel page.
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admiral crunch holds the newsreader's nose squarely, Thu 27 Sep 2012, 17:41,
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How were you treated there?
Like a western devil or a man from outer space?
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Draconacticus Reject shampoo. Demand real poo!, Thu 27 Sep 2012, 17:43,
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ha
The guides were completely lovely.
The local people ranged from a bit wary to really friendly (when we got a chance to speak to them, like on the metro or at the funfair).
Actually, the only people who weren't nice were the Russians who live in Pyongyang. They were all a bit horrid (and smelled of Pound Shop Aftershave)
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admiral crunch holds the newsreader's nose squarely, Thu 27 Sep 2012, 17:47,
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Cool :)
Would love to see it one day.
Must be pretty surreal.
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Draconacticus Reject shampoo. Demand real poo!, Thu 27 Sep 2012, 18:01,
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Surreal is definitely the word
Lots of facades - it was hard to know what was real and what might have been staged for us tourists.
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admiral crunch holds the newsreader's nose squarely, Thu 27 Sep 2012, 18:07,
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That's interesting
How did you manage to get in to the country? Did you have someone keeping you on a leash all the time and not letting you talk to normal people?
(, Thu 27 Sep 2012, 17:26, Reply)
Quite easy
You need to be in a tour group (although there are individuals who go, but that costs a ton).
You also need to not be a journalist. If they find out you are one, they deny your visa application.
I went with Young Pioneer Tours, whom I shall plug on this page because they're excellent.
Your tour company usually sends one person with your group. You then get 2 local guides, and we also had a man "from the government tourism bureau" who was there to "check that everything was OK".
He appeared to be more interested in booze, fags, and playing pool though.
I miss him.
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admiral crunch holds the newsreader's nose squarely, Thu 27 Sep 2012, 17:45,
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Amazing image.
I have been interested in visiting for a while now too. Did you see this article today?
www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-19741830
(, Thu 27 Sep 2012, 17:30, Reply)
I was just about to post that, very deceptive but i think everybody really knew what was going on.
That's the end of Koryo Tours taking people to NK though.
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Dawn Of The Bread $$$$ E-THUG 4 LIFE - THAT'S HOW I SCROLL $$$$, Thu 27 Sep 2012, 17:32,
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Yeah
They might get in a bit of trouble for that.
Tour companies like Koryo need good behaviour so that visitors get a good experience. They may suddenly find that the visa process for their visitors is made that much more difficult - and that they end up being assigned the less experienced local guides who are really restrict your photo taking, all that sort of thing.
My tour company had spent a long time getting good relationships with the country, which is how we managed to see a whole ton of stuff and had tour guides who were really reasonable with us.
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admiral crunch holds the newsreader's nose squarely, Thu 27 Sep 2012, 17:53,
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Wow!
No, I hadn't seen that article. Our guides definitely ensured we got nowhere near that building.
This is the closest we got to it.
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admiral crunch holds the newsreader's nose squarely, Thu 27 Sep 2012, 17:38,
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In North Korea
Wally is short with dark hair.
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admiral crunch holds the newsreader's nose squarely, Fri 28 Sep 2012, 6:18,
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What are all the people doing
on that beige tower by the crane?
Escape, mass suicide, flash mob....
(, Fri 28 Sep 2012, 14:23, Reply)
Here you go
I put it in Microsoft's Deep Zoom thingy: zoom.it/X5Kj
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DisgruntledGoat, Sat 29 Sep 2012, 15:28,
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Bless your cotton socks, internet stranger
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admiral crunch holds the newsreader's nose squarely, Mon 1 Oct 2012, 15:24,
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