Tuesday, July 15: We got up early to get to the airport for our flight to Pyongyang. A little too early as it happened—we got to the airport at 9:00 for a noon flight. Fortunately there was a Starbucks on the concourse. We were anxious, though, and ready to get the next step taken. We’d gotten invited, picked up our visas and tickets, and now just wanted to be on the ground to be sure that this amazing adventure was really about to happen.
We left Beijing at noon on Air Koryo flight 152. We plane was a Russian Tupelov, fairly new and in nice condition. It’s a short 1 ½ hour flight, and you can imagine our surprise, being veterans of US air travel, to have a full meal served in flight!
Pyongyang is an hour ahead of Beijing, so we arrived there at about 2:30 local time. Air Koryo is the only regular carrier into Pyongyang and they don’t have many flights, so the airport was refreshingly calm. We were met by representatives of the Asia Pacific Peace Committee, who were our official hosts. The Committee was set up some years back to serve as a de-facto diplomatic outreach to countries with which the DPRK did not have diplomatic relations. They are very well connected and get high marks for making our trip both successful and pleasant.
We were escorted into a VIP lounge—very nice—where we went through passport control. Then down to pick up our baggage and go through customs. You go through security and x-ray both going into and coming out of the DPRK. I seem to have this Carlos the Jackal the thing going for me as, once again in my life, I was the only one to have my baggage opened for review. The agent looked at my books and opened my ditty bag and then waved me through. The whole entry process was easy and the officials were efficient and courteous.
Once out the terminal we could finally say that we’d arrived. Until this point the trip was marked both by excitement and a certain anxiety. We were all stepping into something entirely new with no real understanding of what we would encounter. Our first half hour in North Korea, though, was calming, and would foreshadow the rest of the week. We were introduced to our guides, Mr. Chae and Mr. Shin. These young men would be with us throughout the week, Chae serving as translator and Shin expediting all of our housing, feeding and travel arrangements. They turned out to be great companions and truly helpful to us during out stay. I made sure that Mr. Chae was never far from my side as I did my work—somehow speaking a little Spanish doesn’t do you much good in the Far East!
From the airport to the hotel in the heart of the city is a 30 minute jaunt. The airport is in the countryside, and the fields were green and lush. We passed rice paddies and cornfields, interestingly juxtaposed. North Korea is hilly country with little flat, arable land, so every inch of good land is farmed. The country has gone through some difficult cycles of drought and flooding over the past few years, and food production is a primary national concern.
Pyongyang is a city of 2.3 million people and has been a capital city since the 10th century. It was almost entirely destroyed during the Korean War, so the city we visited had pretty much been built over the past 60 years. It’s a city of broad avenues, monumental state architecture and apartment houses. There is very little private ownership of cars so traffic a light and is controlled by white-uniformed police, mostly young women, who stand in the center of the major intersections directing traffic with military precision. Their sharp, precise movements are like a martial ballet, and they are clearly not to be fooled with.
We were taken to the Koryo Hotel, one of a half-dozen or so hotels set aside for international guests. (Koryo is the name of one of the ancient kingdoms and present day Korea’s name is derived from it.) The hotel is an impressive structure with twin, 44-storey towers above the central area. I was on the 21st floor of tower 2, a great place to watch the rhythms of the city. It was built in the 70’s and retains the flavor of what is now a bygone era. (I remember when we thought of the 40s as a bygone era. Time marches on.)
By this time our first day on the ground was drawing to a close. We had a great dinner in the hotel—guljeopan, tiny pancakes out which small burritos are made with beef and vegetables, and bulgogi, thin strips of beef, duck and squid barbequed at the table. Then off to bed to rest up for our first full day in country.
Pyongyang is an hour ahead of Beijing, so we arrived there at about 2:30 local time. Air Koryo is the only regular carrier into Pyongyang and they don’t have many flights, so the airport was refreshingly calm. We were met by representatives of the Asia Pacific Peace Committee, who were our official hosts. The Committee was set up some years back to serve as a de-facto diplomatic outreach to countries with which the DPRK did not have diplomatic relations. They are very well connected and get high marks for making our trip both successful and pleasant.
We were escorted into a VIP lounge—very nice—where we went through passport control. Then down to pick up our baggage and go through customs. You go through security and x-ray both going into and coming out of the DPRK. I seem to have this Carlos the Jackal the thing going for me as, once again in my life, I was the only one to have my baggage opened for review. The agent looked at my books and opened my ditty bag and then waved me through. The whole entry process was easy and the officials were efficient and courteous.
Once out the terminal we could finally say that we’d arrived. Until this point the trip was marked both by excitement and a certain anxiety. We were all stepping into something entirely new with no real understanding of what we would encounter. Our first half hour in North Korea, though, was calming, and would foreshadow the rest of the week. We were introduced to our guides, Mr. Chae and Mr. Shin. These young men would be with us throughout the week, Chae serving as translator and Shin expediting all of our housing, feeding and travel arrangements. They turned out to be great companions and truly helpful to us during out stay. I made sure that Mr. Chae was never far from my side as I did my work—somehow speaking a little Spanish doesn’t do you much good in the Far East!
From the airport to the hotel in the heart of the city is a 30 minute jaunt. The airport is in the countryside, and the fields were green and lush. We passed rice paddies and cornfields, interestingly juxtaposed. North Korea is hilly country with little flat, arable land, so every inch of good land is farmed. The country has gone through some difficult cycles of drought and flooding over the past few years, and food production is a primary national concern.
Pyongyang is a city of 2.3 million people and has been a capital city since the 10th century. It was almost entirely destroyed during the Korean War, so the city we visited had pretty much been built over the past 60 years. It’s a city of broad avenues, monumental state architecture and apartment houses. There is very little private ownership of cars so traffic a light and is controlled by white-uniformed police, mostly young women, who stand in the center of the major intersections directing traffic with military precision. Their sharp, precise movements are like a martial ballet, and they are clearly not to be fooled with.
We were taken to the Koryo Hotel, one of a half-dozen or so hotels set aside for international guests. (Koryo is the name of one of the ancient kingdoms and present day Korea’s name is derived from it.) The hotel is an impressive structure with twin, 44-storey towers above the central area. I was on the 21st floor of tower 2, a great place to watch the rhythms of the city. It was built in the 70’s and retains the flavor of what is now a bygone era. (I remember when we thought of the 40s as a bygone era. Time marches on.)
By this time our first day on the ground was drawing to a close. We had a great dinner in the hotel—guljeopan, tiny pancakes out which small burritos are made with beef and vegetables, and bulgogi, thin strips of beef, duck and squid barbequed at the table. Then off to bed to rest up for our first full day in country.
(Note-- the picture is Kim Il Sung Square from atop the Juche Idea Tower)
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