Discover North Korea

NORTH KOREA

Travelling to the "open air museum of Kim's Utopia". See with your own eyes how socialism works. Now you have the chance to visit North Korea, a country that appears to be on the threshold of major changes.
As one of very few tour operators in Europe, VNC Asia Travel is able to organise tours to this very special destination. North Korea is a destination for travellers, not for tourists.

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The tour as described is an example of what is possible. We can and do make tailormade tours. You could stay longer in Korea, you can take a direct flight between Beijing and Pyongyang etc.
For bookings, more information or specific questions, send an e-mail to: northkorea@vnc.nl.

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Day 1 Nighttrain Beijing - Pyongyang, appr. 24 hours (soft sleeper)
The train leaves Beijing late in the afternoon. You will spend the night in a soft sleeper compartment. After passing the city of Dandong you will enter Korea. The scenery seems nice and might be mistaken for prosperous. Fields with rice and corn, neat villages with houses painted white.

Day 2 Arrival Pyongyang
Late in the afternoon you will arrive in Pyongyang, capital of Korea. It appears to have been built to impress. You will be brought to your hotel, driving through broad, almost empty, avenues.

Please note: from half August till early October 2010  the spectaculair ARIRANG MASS GAMES will be held in Pyongyang. This festival will take place in May Day Stadium. Hundreds of thousands of people will participate. It is a unique happening, held nowhere else in the world, only in North Korea. VNC Asia Travel can arrange entrance-tickets for you. Click on the link to a photo-impression of a previous Arirang, in the top right hand corner of this page.

Day 3 Pyongyang / Mt. Myohyang
From Pyongyang you will drive to Myohyang, 160 km north-west of Pyongyang. Myohyang is a scenic area covering 372-km2 of mountains and valleys. On the banks of Myohyang River stands the International Friendship Exhibition (IFE) Centre. This classical Korean palace-style building dates from 1978 and was built to accommodate gifts that official visitors from all over the world  presented to Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il.
In Myohyang you can enjoy some fine walks and visit several ancient temples. The large 11th century Pohyon Temple, although rebuilt several times, is certainly worth a visit.
In the afternoon you will return to Pyongyang.

Day 4 Pyongyang / Kaesong
Today you will visit the symbols of Kim's Korea. The Tower of the Juche Idea symbolises the idea of extreme self-reliance, which is such a strong element of ideology in Korea. It was built in 1982, on the occasion of the 70th birthday of Kim Il Sung. On top of the tower, which is 150 meters high, there is a gold coloured flame that lights up and shines in the evening. In front of the tower are statues in social-realistic style reminiscent of art in the Stalin era.
You will also visit Mansu Hill, located in the city centre. Originally part of ancient defence works, it is now devoted to Kim's revolution. It features the Big Monument, a gigantic bronze statue of Kim Il Sung, erected in 1972 on occasion of the 60th birthday of the 'Great Leader'. More statues and sculptures symbolise class struggle and an enormous mosaic shows Mount Paekdu, representing the traditional revolutionary spirit of the Korean people.

In the afternoon you will drive south, to Kaesong. Just near this historic city you will visit the Tomb of King Kongmin. Kongmin was the 31st king of Koryo and ruled between 1330 and 1374. His tomb is built in the style of the Chinese (Ming) emperors, with stone statues of civil servants, warriors and animals. The mausoleum is located in a lovely valley surrounded by green hills. You will spend the night in Kaesong.

Day 5 Kaesong / Pyongyang
Kaesong is a relatively modern town with an old city centre between the main street and the river. Kaesong used to be the capital of Koryo (918-1392).
In Kaesong you will visit Sonjuk Bridge, a small stone bridge originating from the 13th century. Nearby is Nam Gate (South Gate). It was built in the 14th century as part of the citadel and the only one of seven gates that still survives. On the gate is a pavillion. Inside the pavillion is the huge Yonbok Bell, cast in 1346 and used to signal the hours until the early 1900's.
Kaesong also prides itself in its Songgyungwan Academy. It was founded in 1089 as a university for classical arts, being mostly the Confucian classics. The academy is situated in a nice, green environment, just outside Kaesong. Today it houses the Koryo Museum, exhibiting an interesting collection of historical Korean art.

After lunch your guide will escort you by car to Panmunjom. Here the line of demarcation between the two Koreas was drawn as a result of the 1953 cease-fire. There is not very much to see in Panmunjom and yet the visit will make a lasting impression, because of the presentation and the anachronistic and still tense situation at the border. A military guide will tell you the northern version of war and peace in Korea. You will visit one or two of the barracks where the peace talks were held in the fifties. From the Panmun Pavillion you can look into South Korea and wave to tourists who do likewise from the other side. After returning to Pyongyang, you will enjoy a farewell dinner.

Day 6 Nighttrain Pyongyang - Beijing, appr. 24 hours (soft sleeper)
In the morning you will board the train back to Beijing. You will travel and spend the night in a soft sleeper compartment.

Day 7 Arrival Beijing
In the morning you will arrive back in Beijing and notice, especially after last week, that China really has changed a lot in the last decades and that Korea still has a long march to walk.

Start of tour from Beijing: Monday, Wednesday or Saturday