Karaoke in North Korea

I just had the coolest vacation of my life.

I have visited 30 countries and seen lots of amazing things but I can honestly say North Korea is the most unique and surreal place I have ever visited.

I knew this trip would be amazing from the second I stepped on the plane, which is an old Soviet Jet from the 60's that was blasting some old-school DPRK music. When we landed in Pyongyang, the "ridiculous factor" was reset when we stepped off the plane and someone goes "Isn't that Jimmy Carter's plane?" Sure enough, there was a white, unmarked jet on the tarmac. President Carter was in DPRK to pick up an American prisoner who trespassed into the country earlier this year.

That brings me to my first point and something I'm sure a few of you are thinking...no, it's not illegal for me to visit North Korea. The U.S. State Department doesn't block Americans from visiting, it just strongly discourages citizens and tells us if we do visit, we need to contact the Swedish Embassy for assistance. The only blacklisted country for us is Cuba, which tons of people visit every year through Central America/Canada. About 2,000 Western tourists visit DPRK every year, so it's more exclusive than Bhutan (5,000 visitors when I visited back in 2005) You know you’re not visiting a conventional place such as England the minute you clear immigrations…before customs you have to give up your mobile phone and it's returned to you when you leave.

So why North Korea?

I've wanted to visit DPRK since 2008 when I read something about the Arirang Mass Games. The Mass Games originated in Eastern Europe as a propaganda tool, the North Koreans are the only ones who still actively hold a show. Basically, the Arirang Mass Games has 100,000 people performing highly synchronized gymnastics, dance and card flipping to show the strength of the country and to tell the history. I'm probably not selling this the best way so let me just share two clips on YouTube...in case you miss the brief explanation in one of the videos, that massive 'screen' you see in the background is actually 20,000 kids with placecards...yeah, it's intense.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GwKWttrEaSM

and

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHM5qTpKQUo&feature=related

Simply put, the Mass Games are the most amazing thing you'll ever see in your life. It makes Circus De Soleil look like an amateur hack job you can put on in your backyard. The show, which is only performed for 10 weeks/year, has only been open to foreigners for the past few years. It is not always held every year...in 2008, I didn't have time to go and in 2009, I wanted to see it since I lived close by (India) but Sachin's wedding was a bigger priority. I've been obsessively following DPRK politics all throughout 2010 to see whether a trip to DPRK would be possible or not this year. I finally bit the bullet and booked my trip just about a month ago when I figured the situation in the country wouldn't change too much while I was there. Of course, it's not like the Koreans give any advance indication before they do something.

I really have no idea where to begin when it comes to writing about this trip. I've never been more excited to visit a place than I have with the DPRK. Since my trip was last minute, I didn't go with anyone but that was not a problem for 2 reasons...first, I was only gone for a few days and second, I was on a group trip and figured people who are willing to go to DPRK are experienced travelers that are fun. Sure enough, I met some really cool people in my group including a person from Singapore that has been to 87 countries and a Brit who is backpacking for 9 months and hung out in Uzbekistan for a while.

You can't travel independently in DPRK, you have guides that are with you for every minute of the trip...from the second you clear customs to the minute you get on the plane, they're with you. In our group of 20 people, we had 3 guides that hung out with us. One guy didn't talk at all and just made sure we didn't get into trouble but the other two were super friendly and actually fun to talk to. The other male guide was in the army for nearly 2 decades before he became a guide while our female guide is relatively new to the job. People have already asked me if the guides try to brainwash you....far from it...they just explain world events as they're thought in school. They're not trying to convert people, just explaining how they're taught things. One of the guides said it best "We are one people, we have one thought and one mind" I can go on and on about how Koreans are raised but I'll leave it at this...there is no open dissent within the country and people really do hold Kim Il-Sung (refereed to as "Great Leader") and Kim Jong-II (aka "Dear Leader" / "Our Father") as Gods. Every Korean wears a pin over their heart of Kim II-Sung...I'm told people don't forget not to wear it, just doesn't happen and almost unfathomable to even think someone would forget. When you have no access to the outside world and the only news you hear is from the government, how can you not believe what you're told? People don't have the opportunity to even think there is another side to the story.

There is a lot of propaganda....you pretty much can't hear America, Japan or South Korea in the news/books/magazines without the prerequisite 'imperialist aggressors', 'dog', 'traitor', 'war-monger' or 'puppet' stated immediately before or after the country. I have a copy of the Pyongyang Times and it's amusing to read the paper. Sure there is a ton of propaganda and I should, as an American, feel upset at some of the imagery but at the end of the day, you have to realize there is a difference between the government and people you interact with. There are anti-America posters but did the guides act like they hated us? Not at all. In fact they were extremely friendly and curious to get our views and loved asking questions...both guides kept on asking me about India and why I studied politics, etc. I believe the average North Korean thinks what they're taught is the absolute truth while our guides are at least aware that we, in the West, have different versions of the same world events.

So enough of that...what did I see in Pyongyang? Uh, what did we not see? We had a ridiculously action packed trip and I think we pretty much saw everything that we're allowed to see in the capital. The Koreans are known for their statues...in fact, African leaders now commission a DPRK company to build statues. We visited a beautiful statue of Kim II-Sung...the quality of work is stunning and the statues on the sides are pretty detailed...puts the stuff in Tienanmen Square to shame. It was interesting to see the local citizens put flowers at the base of the statue and bow. We went to several other sites including the metro...in typical Communist fashion, it's really deep underground (doubles as a bomb bunker…our guides reminded us that the Americans dropped 428,000 bombs during the War, which is more than 1 bomb per person) The subway is gorgeous because it has nice mural paintings and chandeliers...it's the exact opposite of the NYC Subway and probably rivaled Moscow for best metro. Foreigners are only allowed on two stops so our ride was fairly short but it was nice to be so close the locals...they never really talked to any of us and tried their best to keep their distance. I don't think it's in their best interest to stick out and draw attention to themselves. In fact, the only time we got any good interaction was when we waved and said hello to little kids.

As you drive around Pyongyang, you can't help but think this is the epitome of egalitarianism. Sure there are the government officials blazing off in their Mercedes but for the most part, every person looks equal. They all wear roughly the same clothes, patiently wait in line at the bus stop (imagine that in China!) and go home to the same type of apartment. It's incredibly hard to describe and can really only be appreciated if you visit but it's so surreal to see a true socialist city. Granted I haven't been to Caracas or Havana but I've been told they don't even come close to comparing to Pyongyang when it comes to egalitarianism.

I'm jumping around because my mind is going a mile a minute as I remember everything about my trip. At nighttime, we were all herded back to the hotel and partied. As I mentioned before, you're not allowed to go anywhere or take pictures without your guides so they're look visibly relieved to get you back to the hotel since you can't really get into trouble. Our hotel is on island so we can't wander away and we can take all the pictures we want without getting into trouble. So what did we do at the "Alcatraz of Fun"? Well, we had a bar that had pints of beer for a dollar (which was considerably more expensive than the beer at dinner which was 3 dollars for 22 beers or 13 cents), a karaoke bar, a dance club, pool, bowling and a sauna. So basically, a bunch of boozed up tourists running around a hotel. I personally belted out my rendition of Danger Zone and did a group edition of Hey Jude, not once but twice over the course of 2 nights. Is this really the best use of time in North Korea? Hey, what else do you do when you're stuck on a hotel island? Plus, not like there is much a foreigner can do in Pyongyang.

I can go on and on about this trip...there is a lot more to say but I promised I'd stop writing after the first one hour. If you have questions, shoot me a message and I'll answer. I was a bit cautious on what I wrote as well because while nothing can happen to me since I'm out of the DPRK but doesn't mean my tour guides are in the clear...I would never want to do anything that can jeopardize my tour guides since they did an outstanding job and did their best to show us a good time.

To wrap it up...my 2 days in Pyongyang were eye-opening, exhilarating and more than I could ever hope for. I know I'll see a lot of amazing things in my life but I can't imagine anything topping the uniqueness of North Korea.