After another visit to that magnificent Terminal Three and a short flight we arrived, at last, in Pyongyang airport, in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. We proceeded to the fairly basic, single-belt luggage reclaim and waited. Gradually it occurred to us that as all the luggage on the belt was marked as being on its way to Tokyo, our luggage might well be in Tokyo marked for North Korea. And so it proved to be. It was several hours before the authorities had processed everyone on the plane and we were on the bus heading for our hotel. First impressions of the city were not entirely favourable. The buildings were plain and drab and interspersed with huge posters of the Great and Dear Leaders, and assorted revolutionary monuments. If anyone had asked me to make up a fictional communist state set in the 1950s, it wouldn't have been very different from this.
We also met our local tour leaders, Miss Kim and Mister Lee. It was difficult so early to form any real opinion of either the city or the guides, and because of the long delay in clearing the airport the things we would have done during the day had been rescheduled, leaving us with just time to check into the hotel, shower, put dirty clothes back on and go to dinner, a Korean banquet in much the same multi-dish style as China, but with some rather different dishes. I've eaten Kimchi before and didn't care for it. Pickled cabbage isn't a favourite of mine even in its English version. The Korean version I like less. The rest of the food was fine though, with meat dishes, vegetable dishes, rice dishes and fish dishes. The fish ones were particularly tasty even if they weren't as spicy as I'd have liked.
After dinner I tried out the "Tea Shop" which seemed to sell no tea but rather a lot of beer, including a nice dark one that made a great change from the yellowish fizzy lager that is the normal fare in foreign parts.
The hotel, the Yanggakdo, was amazing, and amazingly full. It's a huge tower with a rotating restaurant on the roof. In Pyongyang, you don't have much choice as a tourist, you stay where the authorities tell you to stay. Given that this particular hotel is constructed on an island with guards at the only entrance, it's a pretty safe bet that people never go walkabout. The hotel has everything a guest could want, multiple dining rooms, bowling alley, swimming pool, bars, shops, billiard tables, Karaoke bar and nine-hole golf course. Of course you wouldn't want to leave. After all you didn't go to Korea to see what Korea was like did you?
The reason it was full was the date. It was 10th of April. In five days it would be the 15th of April, the birthday of the great leader and that means a week of celebrations. Countries that have diplomatic relations with Korea all had people there. Everyone was in the smartest of smart tuxedos and we were there in our grubby jeans and T-shirts. No wonder we got a lot of odd looks from the other guests.
We also met our local tour leaders, Miss Kim and Mister Lee. It was difficult so early to form any real opinion of either the city or the guides, and because of the long delay in clearing the airport the things we would have done during the day had been rescheduled, leaving us with just time to check into the hotel, shower, put dirty clothes back on and go to dinner, a Korean banquet in much the same multi-dish style as China, but with some rather different dishes. I've eaten Kimchi before and didn't care for it. Pickled cabbage isn't a favourite of mine even in its English version. The Korean version I like less. The rest of the food was fine though, with meat dishes, vegetable dishes, rice dishes and fish dishes. The fish ones were particularly tasty even if they weren't as spicy as I'd have liked.
After dinner I tried out the "Tea Shop" which seemed to sell no tea but rather a lot of beer, including a nice dark one that made a great change from the yellowish fizzy lager that is the normal fare in foreign parts.
The hotel, the Yanggakdo, was amazing, and amazingly full. It's a huge tower with a rotating restaurant on the roof. In Pyongyang, you don't have much choice as a tourist, you stay where the authorities tell you to stay. Given that this particular hotel is constructed on an island with guards at the only entrance, it's a pretty safe bet that people never go walkabout. The hotel has everything a guest could want, multiple dining rooms, bowling alley, swimming pool, bars, shops, billiard tables, Karaoke bar and nine-hole golf course. Of course you wouldn't want to leave. After all you didn't go to Korea to see what Korea was like did you?
The reason it was full was the date. It was 10th of April. In five days it would be the 15th of April, the birthday of the great leader and that means a week of celebrations. Countries that have diplomatic relations with Korea all had people there. Everyone was in the smartest of smart tuxedos and we were there in our grubby jeans and T-shirts. No wonder we got a lot of odd looks from the other guests.
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