Conspicuous consumption in one of the world's poorest nations
I spent about 1800 British pounds for a visa and tour package to visit North Korea.

I live in the South so it's not that far. Most of the cost was presumably visa-related rather than actual travel expenses, ie money that goes directly into the government's pocket. This weighed at my conscious for a bit, but the trip was just too great for me to worry about.

I'd been told to expect an old Soviet-era propeller plane to fly us in to Pyongyang. Instead, it was the fastest jet I've ever been on.

Our first night there, we went to the Arirang Festival. Basically, they take the world's largest stadium, then they get tens of thousands of North Korean schoolchildren to hold up individual pixels, which they change by flipping them over. Add to that enough dancers to make the Chinese Olympic opening ceremonies look like a squaredance. You can see a bit of it here:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRnuIC9wleA
See the bleachers on the other side, with the colourful banner with all the Korean writing? Each pixel of that is a human being. They spend the better part of a year practicing to do this:
www.flickr.com/photos/racetraitor/5936283196/in/set-72157627191118862
...in front of a couple hundred visitors.

Anyway, we stayed on an island in the river where we could be isolated from the general population.

After a few days, we went out to the mountains, where we visited a palace known as the International Friendship Exhibition. That's where there's a huge palace built for the Great Leader, where he kept all the gifts he got from visiting dignitaries. A second, smaller building was built for the Dear Leader. It's estimated there are between 60 000 and 220 000 gifts kept there. They range from entire trains to a basketball signed by Michael Jordan. It's intended to show how the Kims are respected all around the world.

Well, those were the three biggest examples of conspicuous consumption while I was there. Fortunately, beer was cheap. Anyone familiar with Ushers of Trowridge? North Korea bought their brewery, shipped it to Pyongyang, and now make some of the best beer you can get in either Korea.

If you want to see a few more of my pictures, you can find them on Flickr.
www.flickr.com/photos/racetraitor/sets/72157627191118862/
(racetraitor has an alibi for, Thu 28 Jul 2011, 16:31, 3 replies)

were you ever allowed off the leash per se
or was it pretty structured with escorts etc? did you meet any locals?


very cool btw
( zulu eh?, Fri 29 Jul 2011, 20:56, closed)

Not really willing to say
I was unwilling to get too far away from my guides myself, since the consequences would make it harder to cut corners later. Despite any attempts at censoring what we saw, I was able to glean a few unapproved observations from the people around me.
(racetraitor has an alibi for, Wed 3 Aug 2011, 16:28, closed)

Oh wow
Great photos
(whiskas loved by 8 out of 10 cats, Sat 30 Jul 2011, 12:26, closed)