Trip Report - North Korea

[Johannes C]

Just curious,

What food do they serve there? Can you take or shop for some souvenirs/local delights/etc?

[Nick W.]

Hey Johannes,

Food in the DPRK is very much just like any other asian destination. Lots of fresh veggies, plenty of fish and lots of pork and other red meat. On the last night for our farewell dinner we went to a BBQ Duck restaurant which was quite amazing, and a few nights before we had the specialty dish of Ginseng Chicken in Kaesong (DPRK's closest town to the demiliterized zone, not including Panmunjon).

There is the argument that tourists get over-fed to give a facade of the country not being in famine, but this could (of course) not be proven. In relation to airline food on Air Koryo, initially I was quite apprehensive but on the flight back we were given a simple chicken sandwhich. Cabbage is the most popular vegetable there, so I was dreading another serving, but luckily we avoided that. Every home in North Korea has a large pile of cabbages outside their house as it is coming into winter, and trucks carry full loads all over the countryside, not to mention all the rice paddies!

Souvenirs from the North are limited, and mostly come in the form of art or books. For example, we bought a statue of a North Korean world wrestling champ and a national flag, whilst back in Beijing a Mao watch was a much more popular gift! Tourism is still a very young industry there, and for me the best souvenirs were simply items that reflected the nation and it's outlook on the world, hence the 15 books I bought!

Nick

[Johannes C]

Wow! Quite surprising to hear that actually. A lot of different pictures about North Korea came up in my mind. I know that they have a very huge Stalinist architectural-style city, which is very spacious and its building complexes are mind-blowing, dominated by colossal sized buildings. While in the other hand, i imagined that the country is very poor that it partially lived with foreign aids.

Thanks for your kind answer.

This kind of trip to Bush's "evil list" countries could somehow gives us very different picture from what we currently perceived. I have been recommended by a lot of Iranian friends, that we should visit Tehran too. I was told that "US soldiers are not welcomed, but US tourists are more than welcomed." Well, i am very curious about it too.