Long Train Runnin'
Engineer
Fair warning its an insanely long report, so I'd recommend having a little bit of time to get through it. It's just one part of what is becoming an even longer report about my trip to Asia. I hope you enjoy it.
I will write more about my journey getting to North Korea, but I want to put some of this to paper while my memory is still fresh. In short I flew Qatar Airways from JFK to Doha. I met up with my father in Doha who was coming from the West Coast. We then flew together to Saigon. After a quick overnight in Saigon we took Cathay Pacific to Hong Kong where we connected to Shanghai. We had about 5 hours in Shanghai before our Air Koryo flight into the wonders of the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea. During our layover we snuck in a quick trip aboard the maglev.
We are slated to be on the 1-day express tour of Pyongyang meaning we would arrive in Pyongyang around 3AM and depart the same day around 10PM the same day. Sure a little insane, but we were looking at this trip as sort of dipping our toes into the water. We weren’t fully sure what to expect, so we figured we could go in and get a taste. If the horror stories were true we would only have to last a day, and we’d be out in no time. On the other hand, if we enjoyed it we already had rough plans on a future tour we’d like to go on.
There were a couple bumps in the road with the details leading up to the trip including our flight home being oversold. I couldn’t believe that for a couple days I was actually bumped off an Air Koryo flight who knew they were so popular. Anyway the final details weren’t revealed until we were already in route. It became official that we were going to be able to be accommodated on the flights. We scored an upgrade to business class on the way in. I’m sure that my American Airlines Executive Platinum Status helped me out there
. The return was where things got even more interesting there was only 1 seat left on the plane, which obviously would go to my dad. I however was assigned a jump seat. I was a little surprised, but hey I’ve learned that you just have to go with the flow. I was actually kind of excited by the thought of flying in a jump seat since to me it just adds more to the story.
I will write more about all of this later, but for now lets set the scene it’s 10:15PM in Shanghai we left for the airport 2 time zones ago at 4AM. Sleep was certainly in short supply, and who knows where my body clock thought it was since it had only been about 60 hours since I left New York. However, my father and I were running purely on enthusiasm. We have discussed traveling to North Korea on and off for years now, and here we were walking through Terminal 1 of Shanghai Pudong Airport on our way to meet the tour company representative to get our visas and boarding passes for the two-hour flight into Pyongyang. I don’t have to tell you how many different views and opinions are published about Americans traveling in North Korea, and all of the restrictions that are imposed.
All of these things are swirling around in my head as I felt that the stars were finally all aligning to give me my opportunity to visit the DPRK. The 12,138 miles I had flown over the last two days every small detail having fallen into place we had made it to the meeting point. We were handed our tourist visas for the DPRK, and two boarding passes. Seat 1A and 1B were secured nothing like premium cabin travel on the worlds only 1-star airline. I was excited to see the direct head to head comparison, since we just taken two flights aboard Cathy Pacific in business class, which some could argue is among the worlds best.
We spent some time chatting with the tour company representative. It turned out she owned the company, and she spoke a little bit more about what we might do while we were there, and some general tips. She also must have thanked me about 10 times for being some flexible about my seating assignment. We then headed through the immigration formalities and security. I was able to take advantage of China’s transit without visa program, which I have to say was a pretty smooth process. Being in business class didn’t appear to actually grant you lounge access, which wasn’t a complete surprise considering the airlines reputation. Not to worry Priority Pass once again came through and we made our way to what was simply called First Class Lounge (No. 37). It certainly wasn’t The Pier first class lounge experience we had in Hong Kong a few hours earlier. It was okay though there was a small selection of food and some booze options. The wifi required a local number to text an access code, so it was pretty much worthless for us. Anyway it did the job of providing a place to sit for about an hour.
We then headed down to our bus gate to board the Air Koryo flight. They used the furthest gate possible down a rather odd hallway. Boarding began on time and as expected there was no priority boarding. The one security guard certainly did a double take when we saw us walk toward the bus. Scanning the crowd on the bus we felt pretty safe in assuming we were the only Americans onboard. Once we got to the remote stand we lingered toward the back we figured boarding toward the end would be easier.
The plane we eventually boarded was Tupolev TU-204. It would mark my first flight aboard a Russian built aircraft. There was plenty of overhead space left toward the end of boarding. We stowed our bags and made ourselves comfortable. The bulkhead had a cut out that gave us pretty much unlimited legroom. There was no PBD served so it felt just like the start of trip up front on American Airlines . The safety video was only in Korean. We taxied out to the runway and were soon powering up for our take off roll. As we began to climb we both acknowledged this was the point of no return this trip was either going to go really well or really bad.
The inflight service began shortly after we reached our cruising altitude. It was actually quite a lot of food. It was all served at room temperate. There was sesame fish, a small salad, rice and some sweet potato thing, and of course the world famous Air Koryo “burger”. I think it’s the signature trademark on a flight aboard the world’s finest 1 star airline. I know most people don’t actually eat it, but I didn’t want to short change myself. It was very unique, and a true mystery meat. Neither my father nor I could determine what exactly we had just sampled. After our culinary adventure was completed I turned my attention to the in flight entertainment system. It was a series of cute cartoon animals that began facing all kinds of challenges and some horrifying tragedies. It was really a little confusing, but the main theme always seemed to be that teamwork allowed them to solve the issues. There were no headphones provided or even a place to plug in headphones into the seats so the audio was played at a very low volume through the PA system. It certainly wasn’t loud enough to be problem in fact I could barely hear it. After watching a little more of the rather puzzling cartoon I dozed off. Sleep would remain in short supply for the next 24 hours, so had to make it count. I dozed off for pretty much the rest of the flight. One thing I noticed as we were on our final was how dark everything was. Sure it was around 2AM, but the only light I could see out of my window was the glow of a couple campfires. I also saw the light from someone in the distance welding. The final oddity of our flight was the cabin lights weren’t dimmed for landing or taxi. We hit the tarmac with full cabin lighting and began taxing past what looked more like an aviation museum then an apron. Some of the planes clearly hadn’t moved in awhile.
As we came to rest at the gate with a beautiful all glass jet way waiting to attach to our plane it all began to feel surreal. This was it, this is Pyongyang there was no turning back it was time to face the music. The door was opened rather quickly, and we were the first to deplane. First impressions were very positive as the new terminal there really was done well. We walked down a lovely stone hallway to an escalator that took you down to immigration. We split up here and took two separate lanes. My father was through in about 30 seconds I on the other hand required a second officer to come over and look at my visa before declaring, “No Problem.” My heart rate was sky high as all this was going on with my mind racing in 1000 directions. Finally I heard the comforting sound of a stamp being applied, and my documents were returned. I took a deep breath to collect myself as we then headed for the second exciting portion of entering the DPRK.
The customs inspection was actually exactly like going through an airport security checkpoint. Bags were X-rayed your pockets had to be emptied on to a table next to a metal detector. They then checked you again with a metal detection wand. Another officer wrote down some information in a book about our cell phones. Our bags were then opened and perused by another officer. He had us remove our cameras and sent us over to another area where they made some notes about our cameras. Then we were finally allowed to enter North Korea. Overall it was through but not over the top. Since we were among the first through the whole process was less then 10 minutes. Other then the tense minute or so when the two agents were looking over my documents it was a pretty simple process.
Our guides were waiting for us in the arrivals hall. They didn’t bother to hold up a sign, and instead simply approached us knowing that we had to be the two Americans they were waiting for. Introductions were made and we were whisked through the parking lot to our waiting van. The temperate was around 45 degrees, which was quite a difference from the near 90 we felt behind in Vietnam. They told us the ride to the hotel would be about a half hour. The ride in was spent making small talk with the guides they were amazed that we had traveled this far for just a one-day tour. They obviously got our visa applications as well as they asked about us living on different sides of the country and our jobs. At this point my father and I both played it rather close to the vest it was 3AM driving down an empty road in a country we had just arrived in. We can talk details in the morning thank you. Outside the van there seemed to be almost a continuous stream of people riding bicycles loaded with various goods. The guides said they were farmers bringing in their goods to sell in the markets. About 15 minutes in we came to a checkpoint the guide got out and showed some kind of paperwork, and we allowed to pass through. We then finally saw other vehicles on the road six large dump trucks rolled passed us heading out of the city. We then finally reached the outskirts of the city and the guide began pointing out some of the sites. We passed the famous bronze statues of the two leaders. Wow! I knew they were big but seeing them in person they are absolutely enormous. When we arrived at the hotel there was a single light on in the lobby. Less then a minute after we walked through the doors all kinds of lights were turned on, and the escalators started running. No need for such formalities as far as I was concerned. A couple minutes later our guide returned with our room keys. We said that we would prefer to share a room since it was only going to be a 4-hour stay. She then returned with a different room key, which would turn out to be a suite. I couldn’t help but smile this was the second upgrade of the day we scored on Air Koryo, and here at the Koryo hotel we were upgraded once again.
Our room was on the 11th floor and it certainly wouldn’t win any awards, but it was good enough. We were told to meet in the lobby at 8AM for breakfast, and to be ready to check out before breakfast. I was surprised that to this point the guide hadn’t laid out any rules. We both knew it was against the rules for us to leave the hotel, but I was just surprised she didn’t say it. We noticed the room only had one bed, but didn’t feel like it was worth moving. It was already almost 4AM no need to keep everyone awake longer. One thing I was looking forward to was watching some North Korean television. We fired up the flat screen TV and were somewhat surprised/disappointed to find a selection of about a dozen Western English news channels and nothing else. So much for getting sample of the local culture! We watched a little big of the BBC before agreeing to try and get some sleep. I did my best to get comfortable on the couch which was both far to short for my 6 foot 2 inch frame, and what felt like a thin layer of foam stapled onto some plywood. I managed to sleep till about 7:00.
We freshened up and got ready for our big day out on the town. This is where one of the more bizarre moments of the trip took place. We both were aware that there was only 1 toothbrush in the room and no soaps or shampoos. Around 7:20 we decided to take the elevator up to the higher floors to get a better view of the city. We returned to the room at around 7:40, and in the bathroom there were now 2 toothbrushes and tubes of shampoo and conditioner. Clearly someone had been in our room while we were walking around. It was certainly odd as there were no housekeeping carts in hall or any sign that there was staff anywhere around, but there were the toiletries. I guess to really dig into every small detail the room didn’t have a do not disturb sign or a door chain. They obviously had full access to your room at anytime. That doesn’t particularly bother me, but I know some people here take hotel room security very seriously. Personally I’ve stayed in a hotel room with a broken door that didn’t lock and slept quite well. We were both a little surprised by the sudden appearance of the toiletries, but we laughed it off as he headed down to the lobby to meet for breakfast.
Breakfast was a pretty limited spread of basic items. They had someone making fried eggs, some breads, yoghurt, and some nuts. The one thing we had learned in our research was that coffee is incredibly expensive here and that held true at the buffet. Everything was included however a cup of coffee would set you back 1 Euro or 10 RMB. We both gave the coffee a shot and it was actually a pretty decent cup. Seeing them charge for the coffee we were glad that we had followed the advice given to us by the tour company to bring our guides and driver instant coffee as a small gift. After our quick breakfast we headed down to the lobby to meet up with our guides and begin our day of sight seeing in Pyongyang.
Our first stop was to the giant bronze statues better known as the Mansudae Grand Monument. They asked us to buy flowers to leave at the monument. The flowers will set you back 5 Euros or 50RMB. There were hundreds of people around the statues clearly getting ready to rehearse for the upcoming national day on October 10th, but the area around the statues was completely devoid of anyone. We seriously had the monument to ourselves, which was quite an interesting feeling. I walked up and laid the flowers at the base of statue with the rest. Now some people might find this next part somewhat objectionable, but they do ask that you pay your respects and bow in front of the statues of Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il. I guess that’s something you should consider if you want to visit. I certainly wasn’t thrilled about it, but I chalked it up to being a respectful visitor in a foreign country respecting their local customs. We were lingering around taking a few more pictures when a gentleman approached us and said we had to leave right now. They rushed us off the square in a rather big hurry. There was a crane rolling up toward the monuments, so I guess they were going to do something they’d rather not have us see.
From there we back in the van and on our way to the Victorious Fatherland Liberation War Museum and the USS Pueblo. They have just recently opened this museum it is the third version of this museum. At the museum there was a quick metal detector wanding, and we met our museum guide. She was a solider in the Army, and would be leading us through the museum. They started by taking us onboard the USS Pueblo the ship they captured in 1968. They had us watch a twenty-minute video presentation on the events surrounding the ships capture. The ship was built in 1938 and it was clear that they were spending quite a bit of money on maintaining the ship. There was no peeling paint or any signs of disrepair it looked like we had stepped back in time. After our time on the ship we were lead past dozens of captured artillery pieces, tanks, and aircraft. Again it was all very well taken care of and their Sherman tank looked to be in better shape then examples I’ve seen in the US. Again we were the only tourist in sight it gave the feeling that we did in fact have entire place to ourselves.
We then entered the museum itself where we told that photography wouldn’t be allowed. It was a real shame that we couldn’t take any photos. The museum was one of the most well done I have seen anywhere. Every small detail was thought out and items and information were presented in a variety of interesting ways. Including some rooms of the museums recreating the damaged streets of the city complete with a cardboard replica of a tank so life like I was absolutely stunned when I realized it wasn’t made of metal. There were also recreations of the tunnels that the soldiers lived in along parts of the front lines. Everything from the displays to the lighting was done perfectly. Our guide was very knowledgeable and engaging I expected it to be slightly awkward to have a North Korean Solider stand there and talk about US defeat. However it was clear that we were having this conversation person to person, and while she used terms like evil American Imperialist it never felt directed at us. She also was more then happy to answer some more personal questions about her life and being in the military. She said it would take us four days to see each and every exhibit room in the museum. Our tour was only two hours so we were whisked through a very select set of rooms. It was a very interesting tour and I just couldn’t get passed how much money must have been spent to create a museum like this.
I really wish they would have allowed us to take pictures because words can’t do justice to just how much detail was put into the museum. The museum spanned three floors and was easily several hundred thousand square feet. They of course took us to the US atrocities portion of the museum, which was actually as tasteful as something like that can be. It was really only one corner in a much larger exhibit. Much more toned down then the same exhibit in the War Remnants Museum in Ho Chi Min City, or the Lao National History Museum in Vientiane. I have been to both of those museums over the past year, and I expected this one to be the most graphic about it, but I found it to be well done and not over the top.
After a walk down their Hall of Heroes we were taken up in an elevator to the absolute highlight of the museum. It was simply called the panorama it was 360 degree painting that was over 30 feet tall. I can’t remember the exact diameter of the painting but it took years to complete. We sat down in the middle, and the guide started the revolving seating gallery. There were additional details on the ground leading up to the painting including more life size model tanks and trees. That at some points made it hard to tell where the props ended and the panting began. It was really something else. As we rotated around our guide pointed out the important moments of the war that the panting depicted. I was stunned with this final review of the war, and just the entire museum as a whole. It was something I wasn’t necessarily looking forward to visiting during the day, but it certainly was the most impressive.
After the museum we were slated to return to the Koryo hotel for lunch in a revolving restaurant. We had also asked in the morning if it would be possible to stop in the main rail station since it was only a couple of blocks from the hotel. Americans are not allowed to ride the overnight train between Pyongyang and Beijing, but almost everyone else is allowed to if they are so inclined. I figured since we wouldn’t be allowed to ride the train it would be cool to at least pop into the train station for a moment. They weren’t able to accommodate this request, so on the way to lunch they compromised, and the driver parked in front of the station for a moment so we could photograph the outside. I guess I’ll never know first hand what goes on there. It was better then nothing since I knew that it was a long shot that we would be able to get in. Before we got to lunch they also stopped at the stamp shop where we had the chance to purchase postcards that we could mail from the DPRK back home. I didn’t mail anything but I did buy a couple of postcards depicting some pretty graphic anti-American sentiment. As we were leaving the stamp shop I got a taste of just how short our leash really was. I had been carrying an empty water bottle, and saw a trash can about 20 feet from the exit of the shop. I began walking towards it, which was of course the opposite direction of the Koryo Hotel. The guide became very concerned about where I thought I was going, but when she saw I was going to throw away the bottle she kind let it go.
We finally made our way up the 45th floor of the hotel and into one of the two revolving restaurants. When we were seated we were the only two people in the entire place. Shortly after we sat down the restaurant actually began to revolve. The views of the city were excellent from this vantage point. However, we were told that we were not allowed to take any pictures while we were here. It was pretty disappointing as we during our circuit around we had almost unobstructed views of the city that would have made for some excellent pictures. The meal itself was totally over the top. There was no menu provided and course after course just keep being bought in. About halfway through the meal another group of two was seated several tables away, so I felt a little better that all of this wasn’t being done simply for our benefit. I believe that the final tally was nine dishes each, and our table was completely covered in all types of food. Considering all the reports of famine existing throughout the country we both felt quite guilty that we ended up leaving so much food uneaten there was simply just too much.
After we finished lunch we still had about twenty-minutes until we were supposed to meet up with our guides. There is conveniently a “department store” attached to the hotel. This was certainly one of the more obvious moments where things were staged simply for our benefit. There was some fresh food and some very elaborate birthday cakes for sale, but everything else looked like it had been there for a long time. Clearly this was set up more as demonstration of what they wanted you to imagine a typical store looked like in Pyongyang. I was able to snap a couple of pictures before on of the staff members told me that there was no photography allowed. After our brief stroll through the department store we went back to the lobby where we reunited with our guides.
This is where our tour became much more interesting. Our guides asked us to see our itinerary to see what we were supposed to accomplish during the afternoon. We of course didn’t actually have a printed itinerary the only thing left that we had been expressly promised was a ride aboard the Pyongyang Metro. Now to be completely honest with you the ride on the Metro was in fact the most important thing I wanted to see and experience in Pyongyang. After I said as much the guides spoke to each other for a moment, and we were put into the van.
They decided to take us to Kim Il-sung’s childhood home. I had read about this site online, so I knew what to expect. On the ride out there we passed a couple of pretty interesting amusement parks. There were a couple roller coasters that looked like they would be quite fun to ride. We also passed through the sports village where there were separate buildings dedicated to a wide variety of sports. The site of his home has turned into a rather large park, and we had a nice walk through it. I don’t think they were expecting us as they were unable to locate an English-speaking guide to show us the property. The more senior of our guides who hadn’t really spoken much stepped up, and gave us a very through and detailed description of not only each room of the house, but every object inside. I’m not sure what more an additional guide could have added honestly. We then had the opportunity to drink from the well that Kim Il-sung grew up using.
After a refreshing cool drink from a well that, “has never run dry” we got back into the van, and were told we would be visiting an art gallery. They took us through some different neighborhoods then we had seen previously. Some of them were certainly not as polished as the larger high-rise communities in the center of town. When we finally arrived at the art gallery there was all sorts of work being done on the surrounding buildings. Even the entrance to the art gallery was being refurbished so we had to walk under a crane and some scaffolding. Again I don’t think they were expecting us here. The doors were locked, and after knocking a women appeared who let us in. There were no lights on in the place when we first walked in; just two women watching television.
The lights were turned on and it revealed a room filled with some incredible tapestries and paintings. I had assumed we were going to some kind of art exhibit that would probably just be a series of portraits of the leadership. Instead it was three-floor gallery of work from North Korean artists. Everything was for sale, and anything here could be shipped via DHL to anywhere in the world. They only allowed us to take photos on the first floor, which was a shame because there was an absolutely amazing sculpture that was so life like I thought it had to be a wax figure. There were really some really great paintings as well, but we weren’t really in the market for any art. The lights were all turned off again before we even made it out the door.
Back in the van the guide said it was time to ride the metro. One of the reasons I worked with Uri Tours on this trip was they seemed to be the only tour operator who could guarantee you would ride more then the traditional one stop aboard the metro. In the conversations leading up to departure I was told that we could expect to ride three stops. The guide then broke the rather exciting news that we would be allowed to ride five stops this afternoon. I have read everything I could find online about the Pyongyang Metro, and have heard some rather far out theories about it. I however haven’t found a report of anyone going more than two stops. Yes it’s just a subway, but take another look at my username. I really enjoy traveling by rail, and have gone way out of my way multiple times to pick up segments on railroads around the world. I figured that riding the Pyongyang Metro has to be some of the most difficult railroad for American rail enthusiasts to find themselves on. You could say that this was a major bucket list item for me, so finding out we would be traveling through some stations that I haven’t seen photographed on the internet I was almost speechless.
The station that we arrived at was quite large above ground. As we walked to the fare gates I was hoping that I could purchase a token or fare card to take home, but I was told we didn’t need to pay a fare. The fare barriers didn’t actually have a mechanism that opened when you paid your fare. There was simply a person standing there the locals dropped a coin into a slot and were allowed through. When we approached the gate the attendant simply put her hand over the coin slot and waved us through. The station was very nice for a subway, and we soon began the almost comically long escalator ride down to the platform. The Pyongyang Metro claims to be the worlds deepest subway, and riding down the escalator I found it hard to argue that point. The guide also said that 675,000 people ride the metro everyday. That figure seemed way off considering that’s the same number of people that the Long Island Railroad moves during a typical weekday. I personally didn’t think that with the infrastructure and the loads I saw that they would be moving quite that many people, but obviously I have no way to really argue the point one way or the other.
As we got toward the end of the escalator the junior guide asked me some questions about American subway systems. She was aware of the subway system in New York City, but not some of the other transit agencies I mentioned. We then reached the final set of steps that lead down to the platform level. I quickly understood why this was the station that they took all the visitors it was simply stunning. It had incredibly high ceilings with large chandlers and murals covering the walls. There were two trains sitting in the station when we arrived. I figured that this was also all part of a well-orchestrated visit much like some of the other places we had seen today. However, the guide said that we had plenty of time, and we could miss this train and spend more time on the platform. The trains both soon left and we were pretty much alone on the platform.
Everything I had read was swirling around inside my head, and I was looking at every detail to try and decided for myself about what was written was fact or fiction. One of the things I read was the ladies that stand on the platform and signal that boarding is complete and release the train from the station lived inside the stations. I was always a little skeptical of this, and I asked the guide about it. She told me that it was defiantly untrue. One myth down dozens left to sort through. I had also read that the whole system isn’t real and there were only the two stops that they took the tourists I can also debunk that since we were traveling five stops. Another train entered the station, and again we were told that we had plenty of time, and didn’t need to get on this one. I asked if we took this one if we could get off at the next station and have a look.
That request was granted and we got onboard. Wow, this was it I was actually in North Korea, and now I was taking a seat on the metro. This was something I had wanted to accomplish for over five years, and this was it all of the planning and thousands of miles of flying bought me to my first ride aboard the metro. We lurched forward, and I can now say I’ve ridden the Pyongyang Metro. I took a couple of photos, and asked my dad to take a picture of me onboard. This was the second major life travel goal I accomplished in the past few months. A couple of months ago I travelled to Easter Island a place I had wanted to visit since I first learned about it in the second grade. I had that same feeling of accomplishment right now as I did when I stood in front of my first Moai. I was simply filled with pure joy that I had actually done it. In that moment it was all stripped away I wasn’t thinking about the “dangers” of being in North Korea, or all of the political nonsense between our two countries. All of the grief I took from my friends and coworkers about why I would want to come here. It all melted away and I was left basking in the sense of accomplishment I had set a goal to one day ride this subway system and here I was.
Sorry, back on topic the ride itself was comfortable the cars were not air conditioned, and the windows were open. Our car was pretty much empty there were maybe 15 other people on board with us. There were of course the portraits of the leaders hanging at the end of the car. There was also a man that the guide referred to as the announcer reading the news playing in the background. She translated some of it for me, and then we arrived at the next station. We disembarked to see the second station, which was just as impressive as the first. There were more murals covering the walls, and light fixtures that were meant to represent fireworks. This was a station celebrating the great victory, so the firework lights were all part of that stations theme.
We had about five minutes to mill around the platform where the guide showed us the newspapers that are displayed in the middle of the platform on stands so you could read the news while you waited for the train. Naturally it was very clean and there wasn’t a sign of any vandalism. There also was no advertising, which while not surprising considering where we were I was hard pressed to think of another subway station I’d visited where there were no ads. A large group of soldiers joined us on the platform to wait for the next train. For most tours this is the proverbial end of the line, but we would be fortunate to keep going. The next train arrived and was certainly a little more crowded then the first one we road. One interesting note is the doors do not open automatically when the train arrives in the station you or another passenger simply pulls them apart. They do however close on their own, which was actually quite scary. They closed with no warning what so ever and slammed shut very quickly. If you put your arm out to try and hold the doors I think you’d have a broken arm.
We didn’t take any seats for this trip instead electing to stand toward the back of car, and just kind of observe. As we arrived at the next station it became clear why they normally only take you one stop. The station while nice wasn’t as elaborate as the other two. There was a statue at the one end of the platform, but the murals covering the walls were missing. More people joined us in the car, and it became rather busy. For the most part on the entire trip we had been more or less ignored by the local people. Nobody had given us a second glance or showed any kind of interest in us being there. That changed as we pulled out of this subway stop a women standing a few feet from me did a triple take upon seeing us. Then gave us a long look up and down. I smiled at her and she quickly turned her head and picked a nice spot on the floor to stare at. It was the closest we came to actually interacting with anyone on the streets. All to soon it was over we arrived at the 5th station, and our guides told us this was where we would be getting off.
Riding up the escalator I couldn’t help but feel a sense of pride that I had scratched another thing off the obscure travel goals list I have. My dad told me jokingly I better slow down on accomplishing these goals. We talked about our observations, and I felt confident in debunking the myth that is purported all over the internet that the subway isn’t just a gimmick they take tourists to see, but it did in fact seem to be viable method of public transportation for the people of Pyongyang. There is simply no way what we experienced could have been some elaborate set up as some claim their ride was. We didn’t have to board a certain train there were hundreds of people we saw on other trains and in stations, and at least one person was surprised to see us. The guide showed us their light up map that I have seen in so many YouTube videos, and I was glad we didn’t get short changed on that experience. We covered 5 of the 15 total stops in the system. Although to my disappointment we stopped one station short of the transfer point between the two lines. I haven’t found any reports detailing how that transfer actually works, and would loved to have seen it for myself. Oh well, at least we got to ride five stops no need to be greedy we already got to see way more then I had ever hoped to see.
Conveniently once we reached ground level the station was located directly across the street from the Arch de Triumph. It was without question much larger then the one in Paris. As we walked over to the arch our guide asked us about religion in America, and how our political system worked. Seemed like a dicey subject to be discussing in North Korea, but we both did our best to sketch her a broad picture of how our federal government worked. She was a little tripped up when I tried to explain how our law making process works she had assumed President Obama simply called the shots. I did my best to explain the systems of checks and balances, and how congress works. It felt a little odd to be discussing all of this with her, but I figured since she asked it was okay to answer.
They summoned a local guide to give us the details of the arch, but there wasn’t one available who spoke English. They simply translated what the one guide was saying about the arch. We had another uniquely Pyongyang moment here as the tour was conducted mostly standing in the middle of the four-lane road where there were no cars. We just stood in the middle of the street as the details of the arch were explained to us.
After our time at the arch the trip really became quite interesting. The guides explained that since we didn’t actually have an itinerary and we had three hours until dinner they weren’t sure where to take us, and gave us a couple of choices. Having read so much about what tourists can do here in Pyongyang I knew there were a couple of other things open to tourists that she didn’t mention. I figured I had nothing to loose by asking if we could visit the shooting range. I had read one first hand account of someone visiting, and know that a couple future tours would also be visiting in the future. She seemed a little surprised that I knew about it, but quickly agreed that we could go. She said that we could also take a walk through the park, and see more of a local’s hangout. All of the reading and advice that these tours are structured and planned down to every last detail and changes to itineraries can’t be made, and here we were calling the shots on how we’d like to spend the afternoon. The other options were visiting the workers party monument, the microbrewery, or the bowling alley. I have read that the bowling alley is a nightlife hotspot for the who’s who of Pyongyang, so I figured it wouldn’t be as interesting to visit in the middle of the day. Plus there are lots of reports of people visiting there I don’t think nearly as many people visit the shooting range.
The park was right next to the soccer stadium, which a week later would host a World Cup qualifier between North Korea and Yemen. The park was more like a series of stairs and pathways that were taking us up a large hill. It was quite a climb to the top. During the walk our guides spent some more time asking us questions about America and some pop culture questions. We finally reached the top of the hill, and there was one more set of rather uneven steps up to a pagoda/viewing platform. The guides both wearing high heels said that they would wait for us while we climbed up. When we reached the top where we were rewarded with some nice views. I also joked with my dad that we had finally shaken our guides and this was our big chance to make a break for it and stay forever. Naturally we elected not to run and probably spend some serious time in prison. After we took a couple more pictures we climbed back down and met up with our guides.
They lead us down a different way then we came, and we got to see people enjoying the afternoon. There was a large group of people dancing and we stopped for a couple of minutes to watch them. It felt very similar to some of the parks I have visited in China. We then met back up with our driver to head back out to the sports village.
Once we arrived they gave us the option of shooting indoors or outdoors. We elected to use the indoor range. Neither one of us is big on shooting, so we figured we’d embarrass ourselves either way. At least when you shoot inside there are less variables to worry about. The last time I went shooting was actually in Vietnam on one of the tours I took they had a small range with AK-47s, and that was an opportunity I didn’t want to pass up. They first took us into the range so we could inspect the weapons. We both just shrugged and said they would be more than adequate. Then back to the entrance to buy some ammunition we both bought 10 rounds at a dollar a piece. The range was really quite state of the art it recorded each booth from multiple angles and had digital scoring. I shot better than I expected although I certainly wasn’t impressing the range attendant. When I saw the targets were 50 meters away I didn’t expect to even to find the target, but I managed to put a few rounds into the black. After we went through those rounds they pulled out a different rifle with a scope, and I bought five more rounds to run through that gun. I did much better with the scope, which was cool since it was my first time using one. Apparently, I scored high enough to win a prize. For my efforts I was rewarded with a pack of North Korean smokes. I tried to politely decline, but they insisted I take them.
Satisfied with our time shooting we asked if we could tour the rest of the building. Off of the lobby was a very strange room, which was the only room in the entire building they didn’t let us take pictures in. It was filled with slot machines and some other games of chance. There was also a small booth where you could trade in your winnings for various prizes. I guess it wasn’t exactly gambling, but I was still surprised to see it. It also was weird that they put it next to a shooting range. I really wish I had a picture of the place to show you it honestly felt kind of surreal.
Upstairs we found a pretty elaborate archery range that even had a crossbow. My shooting is ugly, and my skills with a bow are even worse. We declined to shoot here to avoid complete embarrassment. There was a family there watching their son shoot. The father spoke absolutely flawless English with no accent, and we had a very brief chat with him. We wondered who he was since clearly he had received extensive lessons in English. We then headed down the hall to the pistol range. We also declined to shoot there. We did however watch a young women give it a go. We walked around a little more and saw the electronic shooting range that was basically a very large version of the deer hunter arcade game. Having satisfied our curiosity at the shooting range we headed back to the van for the drive to dinner.
The restaurant was a couple blocks from the Koryo Hotel where our passports were still being stored. We first stopped at the hotel, and were reunited with our passports, which was a nice feeling. They then said if we wanted we could walk from the hotel to the restaurant. Obviously, we elected to take a walk through the city. Pretty much everywhere downtown there are no crosswalks on the surface streets there are stairs that lead down to tunnels where you can cross. We again were pretty much totally ignored by everyone we walked past. I felt a little uneasy in the tunnels as in other parts of the world they would be a perfect set up to get mugged, but I reminded myself where I was. We took a couple turns and came back up to street level diagonal to where we had entered. Again we found not a shred of advertising or graffiti just plain tiled walls.
When we arrived at the restaurant the guides surprised us by saying they would be joining us for dinner as well. It was a Korean Barbeque restaurant where they provided some raw meat for us to cook over the coals in the center of the table. The mystery meat was identified as duck. Our guides had also on a couple occasions mentioned the traditional cold noodle dish, which apparently you only eat for very special occasions like your wedding. It was on todays’ menu and along with a dumpling soup. Our guides and driver all went with the cold noodle dish, and I figured that if it was really that special I should take the chance to try it. My dad went with the dumplings. The food was all very good, and I found the cold noodles to be unique. However, the food was really secondary to the excellent and frank conversation we had with our guides about our perceived differences, and why so few Americans visit the DPRK. Our guides really opened up and spoke about their lives in detail, and gave us some insights into what life is really like there. The one guide admitted that she was quite nervous about our tour, as we were in fact the first Americans she had ever met. The conversation stretched well beyond the time it took for us to actually eat, and suddenly it was time to head back to the airport.
Unfortunately, the sun had already set so we would be heading back to the airport in the dark again. Unlike the ride in where I was nervous, and kept my guard up and wasn’t thrilled with talking too much about myself with the guides we continued our excellent conversation all the way to the airport. As we instructed by the tour agency we also gave out the tips and gift of instant coffee we had bought along while we were on the way to the airport. They certainly sounded excited when they figured out it was instant coffee, which is what the tour company recommended we bring.
We arrived at the airport about two hours before the flight was scheduled to take off. They hadn’t even opened check in yet when we arrived, so our guides sat with us at the terminal until then. The new airport terminal is still sparkling clean. It was very nice, and had range of shopping and dining options both landside and airside. Check in is sort of unique since its not only where you would drop your checked bags, but you also go through customs right there at the counter. We turned in our customs forms as they handed us our boarding passes. We used the dedicated business class check in counter since my dad was in business. I expected that my jump seat status on the flight would be an issue at check in, but it wasn’t even mentioned. I was handed a boarding pass that was totally normal except under seat assignment it simply said jump seat. We said our good-byes to our guides, and as we walked to immigration we realized that we would have no way to ever communicate with them again.
Immigration was pretty simple. Although I heard my dad have a good laugh with his agent about only staying a day. I instead found myself face to face again with the same agent who admitted me into the country some 19 hours ago. Ugh, 10 lines open and I ended up with him again. This time there was no heart quacking pause, or questions. He stamped me out of North Korea without any fan fare. We headed into the terminal, and walk through the entire place in about ten minutes. We purchased a couple small souvenirs, and then found the business class lounge. It was closed of course, but impressive that they had one. We then accepted our fate and found some seats near the gate.
We began to talk about the trip and the afternoon, as this was really our first chance to speak to each other one on one since lunch. We both agreed that there is way to much misinformation about traveling here online, and that we felt completely safe the entire time. That our fears that they would treat us poorly since they have an unfavorable view of America all of it was simply untrue. We both agreed that we should have picked a longer tour, and that this is an experience worth repeating on a longer trip. I think that a lot of it had to do with it being a private tour with just the two of us that gave us what felt like tremendous flexibility. Boarding was announced a couple of minutes late, and there was no priority boarding for business class passengers.
My dad got comfortable up in seat 1A, while I was lead by a flight attendant to the rear galley, and shown my accommodations for the trip. At this point I was so exhausted I knew that regardless of where I was sitting on the plane I would be sleeping. I was hoping that maybe there would be one no show or something, but I guess you don’t just miss a flight on Air Koryo. As we began our taxi a flight attendant came back to the galley, and said that this seat wouldn’t do. He then walked me the length of the plane to the jump seat next to door 1L. It felt so strange to walk around the plane during taxi as that’s such a major no no almost anywhere else. I then settled down in my new seat up front. I can’t say much about this flight as the lack of sleep caught up to me before the gear was even up. I remember being awake for the take off roll, and as we were climbing a flight attendant gave me a copy of the Pyongyang Times. The next thing I can remember I woke up, and realized that my bag was in the overhead at the way back of the plane. I walked down the aisle to go retrieve it, and noticed all the flight attendants were all strapped in. No one actually stopped me, but apparently we are on our final descent, and here I was bumbling down the aisle with my bag. I stowed it in the bin above row 1 and took my seat. Then the flight attendant from the other side of the galley told me I shouldn’t have gotten up. Well you could have stopped me before I walked out… Anyway I pretty much broke every rule in the book on that flight.
I wasn’t offered a drink or a meal during the flight, which was fine by me. I asked my dad if they had a cabin service, but he said he had no idea. Like me he ended up sleeping the entire flight. I suppose as interesting as it sounds to say I flew in a jump seat on Air Koryo out of North Korea my mental state of total exhaustion made it quite forgettable. We arrived at the same hard stand out on the apron we had left twenty-two hours ago, and were bussed back to the terminal. As the only two passengers that weren’t Chinese nationals we had no wait at all at the foreign passport desk, and I was admitted into China with a 72-hour transit visa.
Well as we sit here at almost 9400 words I will try and wrap this up. Overall it was an amazingly positive experience. I tried to include as many details as I could to try and fully illustrate my time in North Korea. I found it to be a very positive experience, and I think that there are way to many misconceptions about what its actually like to travel there. The only regret I have was buying into the fears and booking such a short trip because we wanted to test the waters, and weren’t totally sure about what we could expect there.
This trip inside North Korea was part of a much longer 17-day visit to Asia where I primarily stayed in Vietnam. I also flew home aboard Japan Airlines in First Class. Making it a round the world trip for me. I fully intend to write more about what I did on that trip if you guys can stand more of my writing.
Thank you for reading I hope you enjoyed it and apologize for any grammatical errors I went through it a couple of times, but with something this long I’m sure I missed a couple mistakes.
Edited to add the link to the photos.
https://goo.gl/photos/ajXFedtD2nXmsZDr7
I will write more about my journey getting to North Korea, but I want to put some of this to paper while my memory is still fresh. In short I flew Qatar Airways from JFK to Doha. I met up with my father in Doha who was coming from the West Coast. We then flew together to Saigon. After a quick overnight in Saigon we took Cathay Pacific to Hong Kong where we connected to Shanghai. We had about 5 hours in Shanghai before our Air Koryo flight into the wonders of the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea. During our layover we snuck in a quick trip aboard the maglev.
We are slated to be on the 1-day express tour of Pyongyang meaning we would arrive in Pyongyang around 3AM and depart the same day around 10PM the same day. Sure a little insane, but we were looking at this trip as sort of dipping our toes into the water. We weren’t fully sure what to expect, so we figured we could go in and get a taste. If the horror stories were true we would only have to last a day, and we’d be out in no time. On the other hand, if we enjoyed it we already had rough plans on a future tour we’d like to go on.
There were a couple bumps in the road with the details leading up to the trip including our flight home being oversold. I couldn’t believe that for a couple days I was actually bumped off an Air Koryo flight who knew they were so popular. Anyway the final details weren’t revealed until we were already in route. It became official that we were going to be able to be accommodated on the flights. We scored an upgrade to business class on the way in. I’m sure that my American Airlines Executive Platinum Status helped me out there
. The return was where things got even more interesting there was only 1 seat left on the plane, which obviously would go to my dad. I however was assigned a jump seat. I was a little surprised, but hey I’ve learned that you just have to go with the flow. I was actually kind of excited by the thought of flying in a jump seat since to me it just adds more to the story.I will write more about all of this later, but for now lets set the scene it’s 10:15PM in Shanghai we left for the airport 2 time zones ago at 4AM. Sleep was certainly in short supply, and who knows where my body clock thought it was since it had only been about 60 hours since I left New York. However, my father and I were running purely on enthusiasm. We have discussed traveling to North Korea on and off for years now, and here we were walking through Terminal 1 of Shanghai Pudong Airport on our way to meet the tour company representative to get our visas and boarding passes for the two-hour flight into Pyongyang. I don’t have to tell you how many different views and opinions are published about Americans traveling in North Korea, and all of the restrictions that are imposed.
All of these things are swirling around in my head as I felt that the stars were finally all aligning to give me my opportunity to visit the DPRK. The 12,138 miles I had flown over the last two days every small detail having fallen into place we had made it to the meeting point. We were handed our tourist visas for the DPRK, and two boarding passes. Seat 1A and 1B were secured nothing like premium cabin travel on the worlds only 1-star airline. I was excited to see the direct head to head comparison, since we just taken two flights aboard Cathy Pacific in business class, which some could argue is among the worlds best.
We spent some time chatting with the tour company representative. It turned out she owned the company, and she spoke a little bit more about what we might do while we were there, and some general tips. She also must have thanked me about 10 times for being some flexible about my seating assignment. We then headed through the immigration formalities and security. I was able to take advantage of China’s transit without visa program, which I have to say was a pretty smooth process. Being in business class didn’t appear to actually grant you lounge access, which wasn’t a complete surprise considering the airlines reputation. Not to worry Priority Pass once again came through and we made our way to what was simply called First Class Lounge (No. 37). It certainly wasn’t The Pier first class lounge experience we had in Hong Kong a few hours earlier. It was okay though there was a small selection of food and some booze options. The wifi required a local number to text an access code, so it was pretty much worthless for us. Anyway it did the job of providing a place to sit for about an hour.
We then headed down to our bus gate to board the Air Koryo flight. They used the furthest gate possible down a rather odd hallway. Boarding began on time and as expected there was no priority boarding. The one security guard certainly did a double take when we saw us walk toward the bus. Scanning the crowd on the bus we felt pretty safe in assuming we were the only Americans onboard. Once we got to the remote stand we lingered toward the back we figured boarding toward the end would be easier.
The plane we eventually boarded was Tupolev TU-204. It would mark my first flight aboard a Russian built aircraft. There was plenty of overhead space left toward the end of boarding. We stowed our bags and made ourselves comfortable. The bulkhead had a cut out that gave us pretty much unlimited legroom. There was no PBD served so it felt just like the start of trip up front on American Airlines
. The safety video was only in Korean. We taxied out to the runway and were soon powering up for our take off roll. As we began to climb we both acknowledged this was the point of no return this trip was either going to go really well or really bad.The inflight service began shortly after we reached our cruising altitude. It was actually quite a lot of food. It was all served at room temperate. There was sesame fish, a small salad, rice and some sweet potato thing, and of course the world famous Air Koryo “burger”. I think it’s the signature trademark on a flight aboard the world’s finest 1 star airline. I know most people don’t actually eat it, but I didn’t want to short change myself. It was very unique, and a true mystery meat. Neither my father nor I could determine what exactly we had just sampled. After our culinary adventure was completed I turned my attention to the in flight entertainment system. It was a series of cute cartoon animals that began facing all kinds of challenges and some horrifying tragedies. It was really a little confusing, but the main theme always seemed to be that teamwork allowed them to solve the issues. There were no headphones provided or even a place to plug in headphones into the seats so the audio was played at a very low volume through the PA system. It certainly wasn’t loud enough to be problem in fact I could barely hear it. After watching a little more of the rather puzzling cartoon I dozed off. Sleep would remain in short supply for the next 24 hours, so had to make it count. I dozed off for pretty much the rest of the flight. One thing I noticed as we were on our final was how dark everything was. Sure it was around 2AM, but the only light I could see out of my window was the glow of a couple campfires. I also saw the light from someone in the distance welding. The final oddity of our flight was the cabin lights weren’t dimmed for landing or taxi. We hit the tarmac with full cabin lighting and began taxing past what looked more like an aviation museum then an apron. Some of the planes clearly hadn’t moved in awhile.
As we came to rest at the gate with a beautiful all glass jet way waiting to attach to our plane it all began to feel surreal. This was it, this is Pyongyang there was no turning back it was time to face the music. The door was opened rather quickly, and we were the first to deplane. First impressions were very positive as the new terminal there really was done well. We walked down a lovely stone hallway to an escalator that took you down to immigration. We split up here and took two separate lanes. My father was through in about 30 seconds I on the other hand required a second officer to come over and look at my visa before declaring, “No Problem.” My heart rate was sky high as all this was going on with my mind racing in 1000 directions. Finally I heard the comforting sound of a stamp being applied, and my documents were returned. I took a deep breath to collect myself as we then headed for the second exciting portion of entering the DPRK.
The customs inspection was actually exactly like going through an airport security checkpoint. Bags were X-rayed your pockets had to be emptied on to a table next to a metal detector. They then checked you again with a metal detection wand. Another officer wrote down some information in a book about our cell phones. Our bags were then opened and perused by another officer. He had us remove our cameras and sent us over to another area where they made some notes about our cameras. Then we were finally allowed to enter North Korea. Overall it was through but not over the top. Since we were among the first through the whole process was less then 10 minutes. Other then the tense minute or so when the two agents were looking over my documents it was a pretty simple process.
Our guides were waiting for us in the arrivals hall. They didn’t bother to hold up a sign, and instead simply approached us knowing that we had to be the two Americans they were waiting for. Introductions were made and we were whisked through the parking lot to our waiting van. The temperate was around 45 degrees, which was quite a difference from the near 90 we felt behind in Vietnam. They told us the ride to the hotel would be about a half hour. The ride in was spent making small talk with the guides they were amazed that we had traveled this far for just a one-day tour. They obviously got our visa applications as well as they asked about us living on different sides of the country and our jobs. At this point my father and I both played it rather close to the vest it was 3AM driving down an empty road in a country we had just arrived in. We can talk details in the morning thank you. Outside the van there seemed to be almost a continuous stream of people riding bicycles loaded with various goods. The guides said they were farmers bringing in their goods to sell in the markets. About 15 minutes in we came to a checkpoint the guide got out and showed some kind of paperwork, and we allowed to pass through. We then finally saw other vehicles on the road six large dump trucks rolled passed us heading out of the city. We then finally reached the outskirts of the city and the guide began pointing out some of the sites. We passed the famous bronze statues of the two leaders. Wow! I knew they were big but seeing them in person they are absolutely enormous. When we arrived at the hotel there was a single light on in the lobby. Less then a minute after we walked through the doors all kinds of lights were turned on, and the escalators started running. No need for such formalities as far as I was concerned. A couple minutes later our guide returned with our room keys. We said that we would prefer to share a room since it was only going to be a 4-hour stay. She then returned with a different room key, which would turn out to be a suite. I couldn’t help but smile this was the second upgrade of the day we scored on Air Koryo, and here at the Koryo hotel we were upgraded once again.
Our room was on the 11th floor and it certainly wouldn’t win any awards, but it was good enough. We were told to meet in the lobby at 8AM for breakfast, and to be ready to check out before breakfast. I was surprised that to this point the guide hadn’t laid out any rules. We both knew it was against the rules for us to leave the hotel, but I was just surprised she didn’t say it. We noticed the room only had one bed, but didn’t feel like it was worth moving. It was already almost 4AM no need to keep everyone awake longer. One thing I was looking forward to was watching some North Korean television. We fired up the flat screen TV and were somewhat surprised/disappointed to find a selection of about a dozen Western English news channels and nothing else. So much for getting sample of the local culture! We watched a little big of the BBC before agreeing to try and get some sleep. I did my best to get comfortable on the couch which was both far to short for my 6 foot 2 inch frame, and what felt like a thin layer of foam stapled onto some plywood. I managed to sleep till about 7:00.
We freshened up and got ready for our big day out on the town. This is where one of the more bizarre moments of the trip took place. We both were aware that there was only 1 toothbrush in the room and no soaps or shampoos. Around 7:20 we decided to take the elevator up to the higher floors to get a better view of the city. We returned to the room at around 7:40, and in the bathroom there were now 2 toothbrushes and tubes of shampoo and conditioner. Clearly someone had been in our room while we were walking around. It was certainly odd as there were no housekeeping carts in hall or any sign that there was staff anywhere around, but there were the toiletries. I guess to really dig into every small detail the room didn’t have a do not disturb sign or a door chain. They obviously had full access to your room at anytime. That doesn’t particularly bother me, but I know some people here take hotel room security very seriously. Personally I’ve stayed in a hotel room with a broken door that didn’t lock and slept quite well. We were both a little surprised by the sudden appearance of the toiletries, but we laughed it off as he headed down to the lobby to meet for breakfast.
Breakfast was a pretty limited spread of basic items. They had someone making fried eggs, some breads, yoghurt, and some nuts. The one thing we had learned in our research was that coffee is incredibly expensive here and that held true at the buffet. Everything was included however a cup of coffee would set you back 1 Euro or 10 RMB. We both gave the coffee a shot and it was actually a pretty decent cup. Seeing them charge for the coffee we were glad that we had followed the advice given to us by the tour company to bring our guides and driver instant coffee as a small gift. After our quick breakfast we headed down to the lobby to meet up with our guides and begin our day of sight seeing in Pyongyang.
Our first stop was to the giant bronze statues better known as the Mansudae Grand Monument. They asked us to buy flowers to leave at the monument. The flowers will set you back 5 Euros or 50RMB. There were hundreds of people around the statues clearly getting ready to rehearse for the upcoming national day on October 10th, but the area around the statues was completely devoid of anyone. We seriously had the monument to ourselves, which was quite an interesting feeling. I walked up and laid the flowers at the base of statue with the rest. Now some people might find this next part somewhat objectionable, but they do ask that you pay your respects and bow in front of the statues of Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il. I guess that’s something you should consider if you want to visit. I certainly wasn’t thrilled about it, but I chalked it up to being a respectful visitor in a foreign country respecting their local customs. We were lingering around taking a few more pictures when a gentleman approached us and said we had to leave right now. They rushed us off the square in a rather big hurry. There was a crane rolling up toward the monuments, so I guess they were going to do something they’d rather not have us see.
From there we back in the van and on our way to the Victorious Fatherland Liberation War Museum and the USS Pueblo. They have just recently opened this museum it is the third version of this museum. At the museum there was a quick metal detector wanding, and we met our museum guide. She was a solider in the Army, and would be leading us through the museum. They started by taking us onboard the USS Pueblo the ship they captured in 1968. They had us watch a twenty-minute video presentation on the events surrounding the ships capture. The ship was built in 1938 and it was clear that they were spending quite a bit of money on maintaining the ship. There was no peeling paint or any signs of disrepair it looked like we had stepped back in time. After our time on the ship we were lead past dozens of captured artillery pieces, tanks, and aircraft. Again it was all very well taken care of and their Sherman tank looked to be in better shape then examples I’ve seen in the US. Again we were the only tourist in sight it gave the feeling that we did in fact have entire place to ourselves.
We then entered the museum itself where we told that photography wouldn’t be allowed. It was a real shame that we couldn’t take any photos. The museum was one of the most well done I have seen anywhere. Every small detail was thought out and items and information were presented in a variety of interesting ways. Including some rooms of the museums recreating the damaged streets of the city complete with a cardboard replica of a tank so life like I was absolutely stunned when I realized it wasn’t made of metal. There were also recreations of the tunnels that the soldiers lived in along parts of the front lines. Everything from the displays to the lighting was done perfectly. Our guide was very knowledgeable and engaging I expected it to be slightly awkward to have a North Korean Solider stand there and talk about US defeat. However it was clear that we were having this conversation person to person, and while she used terms like evil American Imperialist it never felt directed at us. She also was more then happy to answer some more personal questions about her life and being in the military. She said it would take us four days to see each and every exhibit room in the museum. Our tour was only two hours so we were whisked through a very select set of rooms. It was a very interesting tour and I just couldn’t get passed how much money must have been spent to create a museum like this.
I really wish they would have allowed us to take pictures because words can’t do justice to just how much detail was put into the museum. The museum spanned three floors and was easily several hundred thousand square feet. They of course took us to the US atrocities portion of the museum, which was actually as tasteful as something like that can be. It was really only one corner in a much larger exhibit. Much more toned down then the same exhibit in the War Remnants Museum in Ho Chi Min City, or the Lao National History Museum in Vientiane. I have been to both of those museums over the past year, and I expected this one to be the most graphic about it, but I found it to be well done and not over the top.
After a walk down their Hall of Heroes we were taken up in an elevator to the absolute highlight of the museum. It was simply called the panorama it was 360 degree painting that was over 30 feet tall. I can’t remember the exact diameter of the painting but it took years to complete. We sat down in the middle, and the guide started the revolving seating gallery. There were additional details on the ground leading up to the painting including more life size model tanks and trees. That at some points made it hard to tell where the props ended and the panting began. It was really something else. As we rotated around our guide pointed out the important moments of the war that the panting depicted. I was stunned with this final review of the war, and just the entire museum as a whole. It was something I wasn’t necessarily looking forward to visiting during the day, but it certainly was the most impressive.
After the museum we were slated to return to the Koryo hotel for lunch in a revolving restaurant. We had also asked in the morning if it would be possible to stop in the main rail station since it was only a couple of blocks from the hotel. Americans are not allowed to ride the overnight train between Pyongyang and Beijing, but almost everyone else is allowed to if they are so inclined. I figured since we wouldn’t be allowed to ride the train it would be cool to at least pop into the train station for a moment. They weren’t able to accommodate this request, so on the way to lunch they compromised, and the driver parked in front of the station for a moment so we could photograph the outside. I guess I’ll never know first hand what goes on there. It was better then nothing since I knew that it was a long shot that we would be able to get in. Before we got to lunch they also stopped at the stamp shop where we had the chance to purchase postcards that we could mail from the DPRK back home. I didn’t mail anything but I did buy a couple of postcards depicting some pretty graphic anti-American sentiment. As we were leaving the stamp shop I got a taste of just how short our leash really was. I had been carrying an empty water bottle, and saw a trash can about 20 feet from the exit of the shop. I began walking towards it, which was of course the opposite direction of the Koryo Hotel. The guide became very concerned about where I thought I was going, but when she saw I was going to throw away the bottle she kind let it go.
We finally made our way up the 45th floor of the hotel and into one of the two revolving restaurants. When we were seated we were the only two people in the entire place. Shortly after we sat down the restaurant actually began to revolve. The views of the city were excellent from this vantage point. However, we were told that we were not allowed to take any pictures while we were here. It was pretty disappointing as we during our circuit around we had almost unobstructed views of the city that would have made for some excellent pictures. The meal itself was totally over the top. There was no menu provided and course after course just keep being bought in. About halfway through the meal another group of two was seated several tables away, so I felt a little better that all of this wasn’t being done simply for our benefit. I believe that the final tally was nine dishes each, and our table was completely covered in all types of food. Considering all the reports of famine existing throughout the country we both felt quite guilty that we ended up leaving so much food uneaten there was simply just too much.
After we finished lunch we still had about twenty-minutes until we were supposed to meet up with our guides. There is conveniently a “department store” attached to the hotel. This was certainly one of the more obvious moments where things were staged simply for our benefit. There was some fresh food and some very elaborate birthday cakes for sale, but everything else looked like it had been there for a long time. Clearly this was set up more as demonstration of what they wanted you to imagine a typical store looked like in Pyongyang. I was able to snap a couple of pictures before on of the staff members told me that there was no photography allowed. After our brief stroll through the department store we went back to the lobby where we reunited with our guides.
This is where our tour became much more interesting. Our guides asked us to see our itinerary to see what we were supposed to accomplish during the afternoon. We of course didn’t actually have a printed itinerary the only thing left that we had been expressly promised was a ride aboard the Pyongyang Metro. Now to be completely honest with you the ride on the Metro was in fact the most important thing I wanted to see and experience in Pyongyang. After I said as much the guides spoke to each other for a moment, and we were put into the van.
They decided to take us to Kim Il-sung’s childhood home. I had read about this site online, so I knew what to expect. On the ride out there we passed a couple of pretty interesting amusement parks. There were a couple roller coasters that looked like they would be quite fun to ride. We also passed through the sports village where there were separate buildings dedicated to a wide variety of sports. The site of his home has turned into a rather large park, and we had a nice walk through it. I don’t think they were expecting us as they were unable to locate an English-speaking guide to show us the property. The more senior of our guides who hadn’t really spoken much stepped up, and gave us a very through and detailed description of not only each room of the house, but every object inside. I’m not sure what more an additional guide could have added honestly. We then had the opportunity to drink from the well that Kim Il-sung grew up using.
After a refreshing cool drink from a well that, “has never run dry” we got back into the van, and were told we would be visiting an art gallery. They took us through some different neighborhoods then we had seen previously. Some of them were certainly not as polished as the larger high-rise communities in the center of town. When we finally arrived at the art gallery there was all sorts of work being done on the surrounding buildings. Even the entrance to the art gallery was being refurbished so we had to walk under a crane and some scaffolding. Again I don’t think they were expecting us here. The doors were locked, and after knocking a women appeared who let us in. There were no lights on in the place when we first walked in; just two women watching television.
The lights were turned on and it revealed a room filled with some incredible tapestries and paintings. I had assumed we were going to some kind of art exhibit that would probably just be a series of portraits of the leadership. Instead it was three-floor gallery of work from North Korean artists. Everything was for sale, and anything here could be shipped via DHL to anywhere in the world. They only allowed us to take photos on the first floor, which was a shame because there was an absolutely amazing sculpture that was so life like I thought it had to be a wax figure. There were really some really great paintings as well, but we weren’t really in the market for any art. The lights were all turned off again before we even made it out the door.
Back in the van the guide said it was time to ride the metro. One of the reasons I worked with Uri Tours on this trip was they seemed to be the only tour operator who could guarantee you would ride more then the traditional one stop aboard the metro. In the conversations leading up to departure I was told that we could expect to ride three stops. The guide then broke the rather exciting news that we would be allowed to ride five stops this afternoon. I have read everything I could find online about the Pyongyang Metro, and have heard some rather far out theories about it. I however haven’t found a report of anyone going more than two stops. Yes it’s just a subway, but take another look at my username. I really enjoy traveling by rail, and have gone way out of my way multiple times to pick up segments on railroads around the world. I figured that riding the Pyongyang Metro has to be some of the most difficult railroad for American rail enthusiasts to find themselves on. You could say that this was a major bucket list item for me, so finding out we would be traveling through some stations that I haven’t seen photographed on the internet I was almost speechless.
The station that we arrived at was quite large above ground. As we walked to the fare gates I was hoping that I could purchase a token or fare card to take home, but I was told we didn’t need to pay a fare. The fare barriers didn’t actually have a mechanism that opened when you paid your fare. There was simply a person standing there the locals dropped a coin into a slot and were allowed through. When we approached the gate the attendant simply put her hand over the coin slot and waved us through. The station was very nice for a subway, and we soon began the almost comically long escalator ride down to the platform. The Pyongyang Metro claims to be the worlds deepest subway, and riding down the escalator I found it hard to argue that point. The guide also said that 675,000 people ride the metro everyday. That figure seemed way off considering that’s the same number of people that the Long Island Railroad moves during a typical weekday. I personally didn’t think that with the infrastructure and the loads I saw that they would be moving quite that many people, but obviously I have no way to really argue the point one way or the other.
As we got toward the end of the escalator the junior guide asked me some questions about American subway systems. She was aware of the subway system in New York City, but not some of the other transit agencies I mentioned. We then reached the final set of steps that lead down to the platform level. I quickly understood why this was the station that they took all the visitors it was simply stunning. It had incredibly high ceilings with large chandlers and murals covering the walls. There were two trains sitting in the station when we arrived. I figured that this was also all part of a well-orchestrated visit much like some of the other places we had seen today. However, the guide said that we had plenty of time, and we could miss this train and spend more time on the platform. The trains both soon left and we were pretty much alone on the platform.
Everything I had read was swirling around inside my head, and I was looking at every detail to try and decided for myself about what was written was fact or fiction. One of the things I read was the ladies that stand on the platform and signal that boarding is complete and release the train from the station lived inside the stations. I was always a little skeptical of this, and I asked the guide about it. She told me that it was defiantly untrue. One myth down dozens left to sort through. I had also read that the whole system isn’t real and there were only the two stops that they took the tourists I can also debunk that since we were traveling five stops. Another train entered the station, and again we were told that we had plenty of time, and didn’t need to get on this one. I asked if we took this one if we could get off at the next station and have a look.
That request was granted and we got onboard. Wow, this was it I was actually in North Korea, and now I was taking a seat on the metro. This was something I had wanted to accomplish for over five years, and this was it all of the planning and thousands of miles of flying bought me to my first ride aboard the metro. We lurched forward, and I can now say I’ve ridden the Pyongyang Metro. I took a couple of photos, and asked my dad to take a picture of me onboard. This was the second major life travel goal I accomplished in the past few months. A couple of months ago I travelled to Easter Island a place I had wanted to visit since I first learned about it in the second grade. I had that same feeling of accomplishment right now as I did when I stood in front of my first Moai. I was simply filled with pure joy that I had actually done it. In that moment it was all stripped away I wasn’t thinking about the “dangers” of being in North Korea, or all of the political nonsense between our two countries. All of the grief I took from my friends and coworkers about why I would want to come here. It all melted away and I was left basking in the sense of accomplishment I had set a goal to one day ride this subway system and here I was.
Sorry, back on topic the ride itself was comfortable the cars were not air conditioned, and the windows were open. Our car was pretty much empty there were maybe 15 other people on board with us. There were of course the portraits of the leaders hanging at the end of the car. There was also a man that the guide referred to as the announcer reading the news playing in the background. She translated some of it for me, and then we arrived at the next station. We disembarked to see the second station, which was just as impressive as the first. There were more murals covering the walls, and light fixtures that were meant to represent fireworks. This was a station celebrating the great victory, so the firework lights were all part of that stations theme.
We had about five minutes to mill around the platform where the guide showed us the newspapers that are displayed in the middle of the platform on stands so you could read the news while you waited for the train. Naturally it was very clean and there wasn’t a sign of any vandalism. There also was no advertising, which while not surprising considering where we were I was hard pressed to think of another subway station I’d visited where there were no ads. A large group of soldiers joined us on the platform to wait for the next train. For most tours this is the proverbial end of the line, but we would be fortunate to keep going. The next train arrived and was certainly a little more crowded then the first one we road. One interesting note is the doors do not open automatically when the train arrives in the station you or another passenger simply pulls them apart. They do however close on their own, which was actually quite scary. They closed with no warning what so ever and slammed shut very quickly. If you put your arm out to try and hold the doors I think you’d have a broken arm.
We didn’t take any seats for this trip instead electing to stand toward the back of car, and just kind of observe. As we arrived at the next station it became clear why they normally only take you one stop. The station while nice wasn’t as elaborate as the other two. There was a statue at the one end of the platform, but the murals covering the walls were missing. More people joined us in the car, and it became rather busy. For the most part on the entire trip we had been more or less ignored by the local people. Nobody had given us a second glance or showed any kind of interest in us being there. That changed as we pulled out of this subway stop a women standing a few feet from me did a triple take upon seeing us. Then gave us a long look up and down. I smiled at her and she quickly turned her head and picked a nice spot on the floor to stare at. It was the closest we came to actually interacting with anyone on the streets. All to soon it was over we arrived at the 5th station, and our guides told us this was where we would be getting off.
Riding up the escalator I couldn’t help but feel a sense of pride that I had scratched another thing off the obscure travel goals list I have. My dad told me jokingly I better slow down on accomplishing these goals. We talked about our observations, and I felt confident in debunking the myth that is purported all over the internet that the subway isn’t just a gimmick they take tourists to see, but it did in fact seem to be viable method of public transportation for the people of Pyongyang. There is simply no way what we experienced could have been some elaborate set up as some claim their ride was. We didn’t have to board a certain train there were hundreds of people we saw on other trains and in stations, and at least one person was surprised to see us. The guide showed us their light up map that I have seen in so many YouTube videos, and I was glad we didn’t get short changed on that experience. We covered 5 of the 15 total stops in the system. Although to my disappointment we stopped one station short of the transfer point between the two lines. I haven’t found any reports detailing how that transfer actually works, and would loved to have seen it for myself. Oh well, at least we got to ride five stops no need to be greedy we already got to see way more then I had ever hoped to see.
Conveniently once we reached ground level the station was located directly across the street from the Arch de Triumph. It was without question much larger then the one in Paris. As we walked over to the arch our guide asked us about religion in America, and how our political system worked. Seemed like a dicey subject to be discussing in North Korea, but we both did our best to sketch her a broad picture of how our federal government worked. She was a little tripped up when I tried to explain how our law making process works she had assumed President Obama simply called the shots. I did my best to explain the systems of checks and balances, and how congress works. It felt a little odd to be discussing all of this with her, but I figured since she asked it was okay to answer.
They summoned a local guide to give us the details of the arch, but there wasn’t one available who spoke English. They simply translated what the one guide was saying about the arch. We had another uniquely Pyongyang moment here as the tour was conducted mostly standing in the middle of the four-lane road where there were no cars. We just stood in the middle of the street as the details of the arch were explained to us.
After our time at the arch the trip really became quite interesting. The guides explained that since we didn’t actually have an itinerary and we had three hours until dinner they weren’t sure where to take us, and gave us a couple of choices. Having read so much about what tourists can do here in Pyongyang I knew there were a couple of other things open to tourists that she didn’t mention. I figured I had nothing to loose by asking if we could visit the shooting range. I had read one first hand account of someone visiting, and know that a couple future tours would also be visiting in the future. She seemed a little surprised that I knew about it, but quickly agreed that we could go. She said that we could also take a walk through the park, and see more of a local’s hangout. All of the reading and advice that these tours are structured and planned down to every last detail and changes to itineraries can’t be made, and here we were calling the shots on how we’d like to spend the afternoon. The other options were visiting the workers party monument, the microbrewery, or the bowling alley. I have read that the bowling alley is a nightlife hotspot for the who’s who of Pyongyang, so I figured it wouldn’t be as interesting to visit in the middle of the day. Plus there are lots of reports of people visiting there I don’t think nearly as many people visit the shooting range.
The park was right next to the soccer stadium, which a week later would host a World Cup qualifier between North Korea and Yemen. The park was more like a series of stairs and pathways that were taking us up a large hill. It was quite a climb to the top. During the walk our guides spent some more time asking us questions about America and some pop culture questions. We finally reached the top of the hill, and there was one more set of rather uneven steps up to a pagoda/viewing platform. The guides both wearing high heels said that they would wait for us while we climbed up. When we reached the top where we were rewarded with some nice views. I also joked with my dad that we had finally shaken our guides and this was our big chance to make a break for it and stay forever. Naturally we elected not to run and probably spend some serious time in prison. After we took a couple more pictures we climbed back down and met up with our guides.
They lead us down a different way then we came, and we got to see people enjoying the afternoon. There was a large group of people dancing and we stopped for a couple of minutes to watch them. It felt very similar to some of the parks I have visited in China. We then met back up with our driver to head back out to the sports village.
Once we arrived they gave us the option of shooting indoors or outdoors. We elected to use the indoor range. Neither one of us is big on shooting, so we figured we’d embarrass ourselves either way. At least when you shoot inside there are less variables to worry about. The last time I went shooting was actually in Vietnam on one of the tours I took they had a small range with AK-47s, and that was an opportunity I didn’t want to pass up. They first took us into the range so we could inspect the weapons. We both just shrugged and said they would be more than adequate. Then back to the entrance to buy some ammunition we both bought 10 rounds at a dollar a piece. The range was really quite state of the art it recorded each booth from multiple angles and had digital scoring. I shot better than I expected although I certainly wasn’t impressing the range attendant. When I saw the targets were 50 meters away I didn’t expect to even to find the target, but I managed to put a few rounds into the black. After we went through those rounds they pulled out a different rifle with a scope, and I bought five more rounds to run through that gun. I did much better with the scope, which was cool since it was my first time using one. Apparently, I scored high enough to win a prize. For my efforts I was rewarded with a pack of North Korean smokes. I tried to politely decline, but they insisted I take them.
Satisfied with our time shooting we asked if we could tour the rest of the building. Off of the lobby was a very strange room, which was the only room in the entire building they didn’t let us take pictures in. It was filled with slot machines and some other games of chance. There was also a small booth where you could trade in your winnings for various prizes. I guess it wasn’t exactly gambling, but I was still surprised to see it. It also was weird that they put it next to a shooting range. I really wish I had a picture of the place to show you it honestly felt kind of surreal.
Upstairs we found a pretty elaborate archery range that even had a crossbow. My shooting is ugly, and my skills with a bow are even worse. We declined to shoot here to avoid complete embarrassment. There was a family there watching their son shoot. The father spoke absolutely flawless English with no accent, and we had a very brief chat with him. We wondered who he was since clearly he had received extensive lessons in English. We then headed down the hall to the pistol range. We also declined to shoot there. We did however watch a young women give it a go. We walked around a little more and saw the electronic shooting range that was basically a very large version of the deer hunter arcade game. Having satisfied our curiosity at the shooting range we headed back to the van for the drive to dinner.
The restaurant was a couple blocks from the Koryo Hotel where our passports were still being stored. We first stopped at the hotel, and were reunited with our passports, which was a nice feeling. They then said if we wanted we could walk from the hotel to the restaurant. Obviously, we elected to take a walk through the city. Pretty much everywhere downtown there are no crosswalks on the surface streets there are stairs that lead down to tunnels where you can cross. We again were pretty much totally ignored by everyone we walked past. I felt a little uneasy in the tunnels as in other parts of the world they would be a perfect set up to get mugged, but I reminded myself where I was. We took a couple turns and came back up to street level diagonal to where we had entered. Again we found not a shred of advertising or graffiti just plain tiled walls.
When we arrived at the restaurant the guides surprised us by saying they would be joining us for dinner as well. It was a Korean Barbeque restaurant where they provided some raw meat for us to cook over the coals in the center of the table. The mystery meat was identified as duck. Our guides had also on a couple occasions mentioned the traditional cold noodle dish, which apparently you only eat for very special occasions like your wedding. It was on todays’ menu and along with a dumpling soup. Our guides and driver all went with the cold noodle dish, and I figured that if it was really that special I should take the chance to try it. My dad went with the dumplings. The food was all very good, and I found the cold noodles to be unique. However, the food was really secondary to the excellent and frank conversation we had with our guides about our perceived differences, and why so few Americans visit the DPRK. Our guides really opened up and spoke about their lives in detail, and gave us some insights into what life is really like there. The one guide admitted that she was quite nervous about our tour, as we were in fact the first Americans she had ever met. The conversation stretched well beyond the time it took for us to actually eat, and suddenly it was time to head back to the airport.
Unfortunately, the sun had already set so we would be heading back to the airport in the dark again. Unlike the ride in where I was nervous, and kept my guard up and wasn’t thrilled with talking too much about myself with the guides we continued our excellent conversation all the way to the airport. As we instructed by the tour agency we also gave out the tips and gift of instant coffee we had bought along while we were on the way to the airport. They certainly sounded excited when they figured out it was instant coffee, which is what the tour company recommended we bring.
We arrived at the airport about two hours before the flight was scheduled to take off. They hadn’t even opened check in yet when we arrived, so our guides sat with us at the terminal until then. The new airport terminal is still sparkling clean. It was very nice, and had range of shopping and dining options both landside and airside. Check in is sort of unique since its not only where you would drop your checked bags, but you also go through customs right there at the counter. We turned in our customs forms as they handed us our boarding passes. We used the dedicated business class check in counter since my dad was in business. I expected that my jump seat status on the flight would be an issue at check in, but it wasn’t even mentioned. I was handed a boarding pass that was totally normal except under seat assignment it simply said jump seat. We said our good-byes to our guides, and as we walked to immigration we realized that we would have no way to ever communicate with them again.
Immigration was pretty simple. Although I heard my dad have a good laugh with his agent about only staying a day. I instead found myself face to face again with the same agent who admitted me into the country some 19 hours ago. Ugh, 10 lines open and I ended up with him again. This time there was no heart quacking pause, or questions. He stamped me out of North Korea without any fan fare. We headed into the terminal, and walk through the entire place in about ten minutes. We purchased a couple small souvenirs, and then found the business class lounge. It was closed of course, but impressive that they had one. We then accepted our fate and found some seats near the gate.
We began to talk about the trip and the afternoon, as this was really our first chance to speak to each other one on one since lunch. We both agreed that there is way to much misinformation about traveling here online, and that we felt completely safe the entire time. That our fears that they would treat us poorly since they have an unfavorable view of America all of it was simply untrue. We both agreed that we should have picked a longer tour, and that this is an experience worth repeating on a longer trip. I think that a lot of it had to do with it being a private tour with just the two of us that gave us what felt like tremendous flexibility. Boarding was announced a couple of minutes late, and there was no priority boarding for business class passengers.
My dad got comfortable up in seat 1A, while I was lead by a flight attendant to the rear galley, and shown my accommodations for the trip. At this point I was so exhausted I knew that regardless of where I was sitting on the plane I would be sleeping. I was hoping that maybe there would be one no show or something, but I guess you don’t just miss a flight on Air Koryo. As we began our taxi a flight attendant came back to the galley, and said that this seat wouldn’t do. He then walked me the length of the plane to the jump seat next to door 1L. It felt so strange to walk around the plane during taxi as that’s such a major no no almost anywhere else. I then settled down in my new seat up front. I can’t say much about this flight as the lack of sleep caught up to me before the gear was even up. I remember being awake for the take off roll, and as we were climbing a flight attendant gave me a copy of the Pyongyang Times. The next thing I can remember I woke up, and realized that my bag was in the overhead at the way back of the plane. I walked down the aisle to go retrieve it, and noticed all the flight attendants were all strapped in. No one actually stopped me, but apparently we are on our final descent, and here I was bumbling down the aisle with my bag. I stowed it in the bin above row 1 and took my seat. Then the flight attendant from the other side of the galley told me I shouldn’t have gotten up. Well you could have stopped me before I walked out… Anyway I pretty much broke every rule in the book on that flight.
I wasn’t offered a drink or a meal during the flight, which was fine by me. I asked my dad if they had a cabin service, but he said he had no idea. Like me he ended up sleeping the entire flight. I suppose as interesting as it sounds to say I flew in a jump seat on Air Koryo out of North Korea my mental state of total exhaustion made it quite forgettable. We arrived at the same hard stand out on the apron we had left twenty-two hours ago, and were bussed back to the terminal. As the only two passengers that weren’t Chinese nationals we had no wait at all at the foreign passport desk, and I was admitted into China with a 72-hour transit visa.
Well as we sit here at almost 9400 words I will try and wrap this up. Overall it was an amazingly positive experience. I tried to include as many details as I could to try and fully illustrate my time in North Korea. I found it to be a very positive experience, and I think that there are way to many misconceptions about what its actually like to travel there. The only regret I have was buying into the fears and booking such a short trip because we wanted to test the waters, and weren’t totally sure about what we could expect there.
This trip inside North Korea was part of a much longer 17-day visit to Asia where I primarily stayed in Vietnam. I also flew home aboard Japan Airlines in First Class. Making it a round the world trip for me. I fully intend to write more about what I did on that trip if you guys can stand more of my writing.
Thank you for reading I hope you enjoyed it and apologize for any grammatical errors I went through it a couple of times, but with something this long I’m sure I missed a couple mistakes.
Edited to add the link to the photos.
https://goo.gl/photos/ajXFedtD2nXmsZDr7
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