Accommodation, food and drink >>
First things first: yes, it is possible to enter North Korea. However, you can’t just pop in on a whim, and those permitted entry will only be able to visit government-approved sights, and even then only in the company of a local guide. The process is often lengthy and never cheap, but it can be surprisingly simple: a travel agency usually does all the hard work with visas, permits and suchlike. The price of your tour will include pretty much everything: transport (most commonly a flight from Beijing to Pyongyang and an overnight train back out, as well as all internal travel), accommodation, meals and entry fees. Citizens of certain countries – most pertinently the US and Israel – will find their opportunities limited, but are occasionally allowed in.
Note that you can actually enter the country from South Korea, if only for a minute or two: some of the DMZ tours from Seoul allow you to take a few highly guarded steps across the border in the Joint Security Area. Though extremely enjoyable, this doesn’t offer a true taste of the DPRK – for this, you’ll just have to head to Pyongyang.
From China
While several routes into North Korea exist – there’s even a direct train from Moscow – almost all Western travellers start their journey in Beijing. From here you can either take a flight on Air Koryo, or an overnight train; which one you use will depend on your tour operator, and the cost will be factored into your tour price. Most tour groups fly into Pyongyang and take the train out, the latter leg giving a warts-and-all view of the North Korean countryside. Don’t be too trigger-happy on the camera, however: some tourists have got into trouble after being reported as spies by local farmers (see section on Photography for more information).
The flight (around 2hr from Beijing to Pyongyang) can be interesting to say the least, since most of Air Koryo’s fleet are Soviet relics from the 1970s and 1980s. The airline has actually been banned from flyinginto the EU, and in 2007 was the only carrier worldwide to be given a one-star seal of disapproval by Skytrax.
Train journeys take around 24 hours from Beijing, though with the permission of your tour company you’ll also be able to get on in Dandong, a Chinese city near the North Korean border; from here it’s only a seven-hour trip to Pyongyang. Carriages are split into four-bed berths, with foreigners usually grouped together in the same carriage. There’s also a restaurant car. Note that if crossing the border by train, the toilets are often locked for hours – go before you reach Dandong on the way to North Korea, and before arriving at Sinuiju, a city just a few kilometres from the Chinese border, on the way out. At Sinuiju station, those able to escape the guards’ attention may be able to take a quick look out over the town square.
Customs inspections are usually thorough, whether at the airport or at Sinuiju, so expect to be questioned. See “How to get deported” for information on what not to bring.
Tours and packages
A surprising number of travel operators offer tours into North Korea, most lasting for four to seven days. All visit the same core of Pyongyang-based sights, though some of the more expensive head to locations around the country. Group tours are cheapest – the size of the party can be anything from four to forty – but some also offer individual packages. These may sound appealing, but ironically you get more freedom on group trips – it’s simply a lot harder for the two guides to keep tabs on twenty people than one or two, so those on group tours get a bit more leeway when walking around, such as more picture-taking opportunities, the occasional chance to wander off by yourself for a few minutes, and less official spiel. Many is the tale of woe from an individual traveller who has been marched around the same sights as group tourists, had no foreign company to bounce ideas, questions or frustrations off, and paid twice the price for the privilege.
While all tours are pretty dear, it’s possible to save a lot of money by going through a Chinese operator in Beijing; the drawbacks are that these tours are hard to arrange, conducted in Mandarin only, and tend to revolve more around food than sightseeing.
To travel with the following operators, try to apply at least four weeks in advance.
Be careful when packing your bags for North Korea – with your trip likely to cost a pretty penny, it would be a shame to have to end it at customs control. In addition to the regular contraband – drugs, weapons, pornography and the like – you should be careful about taking in electronic equipment. Most cameras are fine (lenses larger than 150mm are not allowed), though video recorders may be confiscated on entry, as will any mobile phones or other communications equipment – these will be given back to you as you leave.
Beware of taking anything that’s very obviously American or South Korean – while K-pop on your music player is unlikely to be picked up, any clothing emblazoned with the stars and stripes surely will. Literature deemed to be of a subversive nature (which may include this guidebook) will also be frowned upon.
Tour operators
Explore Nelson House, 55 Victoria Rd, Farnborough GU14 7PA, UK 
0870/333 4001, 
www.explore.co.uk. This UK-based operator offers occasional twelve-day tours from London, which include four nights in Pyongyang, two at other DPRK destinations and a few in Beijing, from the curious price of £2527 per person, including flights.
Koryo Tours Near Yashow Market, Sanlitun, Beijing, China 
010/6416 7544, 
www.koryogroup.com. This company takes more than half of the DPRK’s foreign tourists, and its success is fully deserved – the tours are the best-informed and most enjoyable. So good are Nick Bonner’s contacts within North Korea that he’s been allowed to co-produce three documentaries in this highly secretive nation. All tours head off from Beijing, and range from four nights (€1190) to seven days (from €1690). Individual tours are available, as are visits to cities and sights inaccessible to any other company.
Regent Holidays Froomsgate House, Rupert St, Bristol, UK 
0845/277 3317, 
www.regent-holidays.co.uk. This agency has more than two decades of experience of sending travellers to North Korea and other far-out destinations. A standard tour gives seven nights in the DPRK for £1295, while “long weekend” trips cost £895.
Young Pioneers 
dprk.youngpioneertours.com. Operating from the Chinese city of Xi’an, this group offers the cheapest visits to the DPRK but cannot be recommended, since their tours are poorly organized and have been known to descend into farce. It’s hard to give an estimate of tour prices, since they seem to be made up on the spot.
Once inside North Korea you’ll have precious little say in your day-to-day travels – all transportation requirements will be arranged before you set foot inside the country, the cost factored in as part of the tour price, and you’ll be obliged to stick to the schedule.
Most travel is done by tour bus if you’re in a group, and taxi on independent tours, both within Pyongyang and for most trips to nearby destinations. You’ll notice that the roads are quiet in the capital, and almost deserted outside. Contrary to popular belief, the countryside around the highways hasn’t been overhauled to present a false face to foreign tourists, and you’ll see a great deal of poverty. The main highways themselves, however, are almost exclusively for foreign tour groups and military vehicles – they pass small villages, but there are almost no exits (hardly surprising given that almost no rural civilians own a car). There’s a subway system in Pyongyang, which figures on most tour schedules, though the city’s trams and buses are off-limits on all but the most expensive tours. Internal flights also exist, and those heading to Paekdusan or other more remote locations will find themselves taking one.
As with transportation, all of your accommodation and dining requirements will be taken care of and paid for prior to your arrival. While the country has occasional – and often severe – problems sourcing food, and leans heavily on the outside world for aid, try not to feel too guilty about eating here: the money you’re paying is more than enough to cover what you eat, and at least part of it will be used to help feed the locals.
Most travellers spend every night of their tour in Pyongyang, where there are a few excellent hotels but some tours include a night or two outside the capital; the two most common provincial bases are Kaesong, near the DMZ, and Paekdusan, a mountain straddling the Chinese border.
The quality of your own food will vary according to financial, political and climatic conditions, but most visitors emerge well fed. If you have special dietary requirements you should make them clear to your tour company on application. Local specialities include naengmyeon (a buckwheat noodle dish similar to Japanese soba, but served in a spicy cold soup) and barbecued duck.
There’s more choice with local drink, as it’s one of the only things that you’ll have to pay for once inside the country; many travellers buy a few bottles of grog to take home (perhaps more for the bragging rights than the taste). Local hooches include some curious mushroom, ginseng and berry concoctions, and the beers are great value at around €0.50 per bottle – Taedonggang is the most popular, but try to hunt down Ryongsong, which has a distinctive hoppy taste.
While locals subsist on the Nodong Shinmun (“Workers’ Daily”), North Korea also produces a surprising amount of English-language printed material, and is more than happy to offload it on foreign visitors.
In addition to the books written by Kim Jong-il – he’s said to have authored well over a thousand, and many have been translated into various languages for foreign consumption – there are a few interesting newspapers and periodicals, some of which may be dropped into your lap on the flight from Beijing. Once you get to your hotel, you’ll be able to tune into KCTV, the state television channel – for locals, this is off-air for much of the day, but foreign visitors get a full 24 hours of looped North Korean news and period drama. The latter is mainly made up of patriotic heroes refusing to capitulate to foreign forces, the themes a mix of Japanese occupation period, Korean War times, and not much else. In addition, there’s 
www.kcna.co.jp, the official news website of the DPRK; the near-daily stories (some real, some not) of South Korean unrest against American military presence bring to mind the news reports about Eurasian and Eastasian activity in Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four.
Titles to look out for include Korea Pictorial a colourful, glosssy A3 monthly – with the word “Korea” on the front – that focuses more on photography than reportage, though some stories are rather absorbing. Korea Today is a smaller, far wordier version, with a songsheet reading of the “Song of General Kim Il-sung” on the inside cover. The articles are rather insipid, but for the odd gem. The weekly newspaper, the Pyongyang Times, is not always easy to find inside the country, though its stories are fascinating (“School performs well”; “Factory increases shoe production”), and inevitably Kims-obsessed. Hang on to your copy should you be given one on the plane.
There’s only one event on the North Korean travel calendar, but what an event it is. The Mass Games must count as one of the world’s great spectacles, but contrary to popular belief, this colourful feast of song and dance is not aimed at tourists – almost all of the spectators are North Korean, and almost all citizens aim to see it at least once in their life: a kind of Juche rite of passage.
The timing of the games has been erratic of late, but the authorities are trying to make it a yearly celebration in July and August. Festival season normally lasts three or four weeks, with, usually, a performance every evening, lasting around ninety minutes, with tickets costing €50.
Special events are held on important anniversaries, and the 100th anniversary of the birth of Kim Il-sung in April 2012 promises to be one hell of a bash, perhaps the biggest ever seen in the DPRK – apply for your trip well in advance.
The first rule when travelling through North Korea is this: do not disrespect the Kims. Disobeying could lead to dramatic consequences, but the sheer madness of the place makes acquiescence a hard line to toe – it’s difficult not to pass comment on something that’s likely to run contrary to your own upbringing. While the propaganda stuffed down your throat may be hard to stomach, it’s unwise to react to it – asking questions or making accusations is not going to change the way that anybody thinks, much less the running of the country, and can only lead to trouble.
You’d be foolish to travel to North Korea with the intention of creating a stink, even after your visit: while a critical blog or travel article will not be of any danger to its author, the North Korean guides tarnished by association may get into a lot of trouble, and travel agencies have been known to lose their licences.
Good behaviour is required in private as well as public places – rumours abound of hotel rooms being bugged, and these cannot be wholly discounted; it’s also claimed that some in the Koryo have hidden cameras. Even seemingly innocent activity is not above suspicion – there’s one oft-quoted tale of a traveller who got into serious trouble after stubbing out his cigarette on a newspaper, inadvertently desecrating the holy face of Kim Jong-il.
However frightening all of this may seem, the vast majority of travellers encounter no problems whatsoever, and most have a fantastic time. Simply do as you’re told, don’t go running off, don’t take pictures when you’ve been told not to, and keep any frustrations bottled up until you’re back in Beijing. The local guides are usually amiable folk; getting into their good books at the beginning of the tour by behaving yourself and asking permission to take pictures is likely to result in your gaining greater leeway as you make your way around. Neither should you fear the local North Korean people, who end up being the highlight of many a journey. Repeated contact with Western tour groups has convinced many Pyongyangers that foreigners are not to be feared; acting in a courteous manner will continue the trend.
It’s also a good idea to bring gifts, not just for your guides and driver but for the locals who you’re likely to run into along the way. Make sure that they’re appropriate – nothing overtly capitalist, American or South Korean in origin. Western cigarettes go down well with local men and postcards from home with everyone, while balloons and small toys are always popular with children; try to ask a parent’s permission before handing anything over.
While staunchly anti-capitalist North Korea isn’t exactly renowned for its shopping possibilities, there are a number of interesting things to buy, most of which are impossible to get anywhere else, and make fantastic souvenirs.
The race to stock up on as much North Korean material as possible often starts on the plane – wet-wipe packets, tissues, cutlery sleeves and even sick bags can be sold for a quick buck on the internet, though most people choose to hang on to these little mementoes. You may also be handed propaganda-filled North Korean periodicals during your flight.
The larger tourist hotels have shops in which you can buy local goods. Among the more appealing buys are pin-badges, which come in a variety of styles from the North Korean national flag to commemorations of judo events; postcards, which render the beautiful DPRK both photographically and in socialist realist style; and a range of alcoholic drinks, usually including beer, mulberry wine and some acrid mushroom concoctions. Of interest to some are the tailored suits made in the Yanggakdo hotel. Most customers are looking for Kim Jong-il’s distinctive buttoned-up-to-the-collar chic, affectionately known to DPRK veterans as the “Kim-suit”. Prices vary – and on big occasions the tailors are booked solid – but for just over €100 you can usually get a made-to-measure bargain. Unfortunately, the sale to foreigners of one of the other great DPRK purchases – socialist realist prints and paintings – was recently made illegal, ostensibly because the espoused Juche philosophy is for North Korean consumption only. Those still interested can contact Koryo Tours in Beijing, who should be able to point you in the right direction.
You’re likely to be shown around a few shops on your travels around Pyongyang. The stamp shop is a popular stop that will delight philatelists and novices alike. If you’re staying in the Koryo and ask your guide nicely you may even be able to pop there on your own, as it’s just down the road from the hotel’s main entrance. There’s also the foreign-language bookshop, which stocks translated works from the pens of Kim & Kim, as well as a range of absorbing booklets about the country and a few of its more minor heroes. In Pyongyang there are also a couple of department stores, which feature on the occasional tour.
Children’s North Korea
It’s quite possible to travel to North Korea with children, but there are two points to consider. First, the sight-packed days can be hard even on adults – you’ll spend a lot of time in a tour bus or taxi, and yet more standing at sights while being bombarded with the greatness of the Kims. Second, there are precious few facilities for children, either in the hotels or around the country – bring everything that your child will need. That said, every housing block in Pyongyang has a small playground area; while tightly planned group tours are unlikely to squeeze this in, independent tours should be able to work a quick play into the schedule.
Communications
It’s possible to make international calls or send faxes from all major hotels, but the prices are guaranteed to be high – unless you’re happy with paying €15 for a minute-long telephone call or €20 for a one-sheet fax, it’s best to assume that you’ll be incommunicado with the outside world for the duration of your stay in North Korea. Also note that your mobile will be confiscated on arrival; even were that not the case, it wouldn’t work anyway thanks to interference devices placed around the border (you’ll even experience this if visiting Panmunjeom from South Korea).
In the major hotels you’ll find a computer terminal, from which you can send emails; this can only be done on the hotel’s account, and it’s not possible to receive replies. Also bear in mind that whatever you say or send is likely to be monitored. This also applies to post, which will be read and understood, whatever the language; anything that seems cryptic will be thrown away, and may also be used as evidence of espionage.
All accommodation and transport will be included in your tour fee, as well as two or three meals per day, but for drinks, snacks and souvenirs you’ll have to use hard currency, as there are no ATMs or banks accessible to foreigners. Most prices for tourist goods are quoted in euros, though American dollars and Chinese yuan are just as widely accepted. Those in North Korea for the Mass Games will have to pay €50 for a ticket, which is quite a bargain for such a stupendous event.
The official currency of the DPRK is the North Korean won, but you’re unlikely to have much contact with it as foreigners aren’t allowed to use local money. There was a time when the won was pegged at 2.16 to the dollar, a fiscally ridiculous nod to Kim Jong-il’s birthday on February 16, but this policy was abandoned in 2001.
Note that it’s illegal to export North Korean currency out of the country – if you do manage to get hold of some, keep your cache of cash well hidden when leaving. The easiest approach is to ask at your hotel reception; usually they won’t mind if you say that you’re collecting money from around the world. The notes that they dole out are suspiciously clean, but while they make for good souvenirs they’re nothing like the dirty, tattered, falling-to-bits rags that ordinary North Koreans use; to get your hands on one of these, you’ll have to use a bit of initiative. One good source are the tiny ice-cream stands that you’ll see around Pyongyang in warmer months – you don’t have any local money, the ice-cream women only have local change and will be glad for foreign currency, so everyone’s a winner. As long as your guide doesn’t notice, you should be able to walk away with a fistful of genuine notes.
Tipping is not a Korean custom, but will obviously be appreciated in a country as poor as this. A representative from most tour groups will usually pass the hat around on your final day, then split the pooled money between the various guides and drivers, who are not well paid despite their regular contact with foreigners – North Korean convention tends to reward work on the basis of danger, so guiding tourists is not high on the list. In larger groups, €5 per person usually adds up to a sizeable donation, while those travelling individually are advised to give around €20 to each guide and driver.
Entry requirements
Everyone needs a visa to enter North Korea, and though the process of obtaining one is lengthy, as long as you’ve got money and make your plans a couple of months in advance you should find it pretty easy to get in. Those from the “wrong countries” (ie US and Israel) are allowed in occasionally, most often during the Mass Games period – ask one of the listed travel agents listed here for the latest details. Journalists can also find it hard to get in, though again it’s not impossible – it’s the travel agency’s responsibility to vet applicants, so if you say that you’re a circus freak and they believe you, you’re in. Many try to avoid fraud by asking for signed confirmation from your employer.
Your visa is organized prior to arrival by the travel agency and forms part of your tour price. Unless you do your own visa application in a country that has diplomatic relations with the DPRK, it will come on a slip of paper (not as an insert in your passport) that you’ll only possess for a short time on entry to North Korea. You won’t receive a stamp, so there’ll be no evidence of your visit in your passport.
It’s wise to have travel insurance wherever you go, and North Korea is no exception. Most travel policies cover North Korea, but do check by making a quick call to your company; if they won’t cover you, find one that will.
In terms of pictures per traveller, North Korea must be one of the most photographed nations on earth, a hugely ironic fact given that most of it is closed off, and even official sights are subject to photographic restriction. This is a nation where even the mundane is incredible, and even on the shortest trips some visitors end up with over a thousand images.
Some of the photographic rules are those that apply worldwide: don’t take pictures of military installations or soldiers (unless you’re in the DMZ, where it is almost expected), and ask permission if taking any photographs of people. Others are a little harder to guess, many of them surrounding the Kims – if you’re taking a picture of a statue, mural or painting of the great men, try to get the whole body into your shot, as anything else may be viewed as disrespectful. (This can be quite a feat at the huge bronze statue of Kim Il-sung at Mansudae. It’s also risky to photograph anything that might be taken as a criticism of the country: a picture of a peasant sitting by the roadside could be construed as a deliberate attempt to smear North Korea’s stellar reputation (something which may also see you hauled in and accused of being a spy). In practice, though, these rules are hard to police, and customs officials simply can’t sift through each and every picture.
Travellers with disabilities
Travellers with disabilities can travel to North Korea, but there are next to no access facilities laid on for wheelchairs, and there are far easier countries to visit. It’s interesting to note that disabled locals are highly revered in North Korea, a country where brave resistance is the theme of most songs, films and TV dramas; many women, indeed, consider it their duty to marry injured soldiers.