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Tuesday 2006-09-05 - Beijing, China
We really have a group visa!
I wake up a little past six: that means no more jet lag! For breakfast I have the cup of yoghurt I bought last night at the supermarket.
Yvon, our travel companion collects all the stuff that is not allowed in the DPRK. Meanwhile I deliver the powerstrip I borrowed yesterday and get my 100Ұ deposit back.
At the airport Yvon spots a sign “Group visa only” and resolutely walks past all the long rows behind the other counters to find a nearly deserted one. The young official behind the counter has a problem though: he does not recognize our fancy visa (a sheet with passport photographs, our names (in Korean) and lots of other info) as a group visa and shows an example: a computer printout with basically just a list of names. “No, that is a Chinese one,”, Yvon says. It takes teh help of a colleague official (and of course a little patience on our side) but finally te young man sticks up his thumb to signal it’s all right. Next, we sail through security without any problems.
Tuesday 2006-09-05 - P’yŏngyang, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea
Cucumber salad
On the Air Koryo plane to P’yŏngyang, a small Iljushin (IL 62) with a definite 50’s atmosphere and open overhead luggage racks, we immediately get our usual “homework”: a Health Declaration Card, Customs Declaration, and an Entry/Exit card {“FILL IN CLEARLY IN ROME ALPHABET”). The field “name of delegation” is a little puzzling (we opt for “CNK”, our travel company’s code for this trip) and just leave the field “invited by” blank.
Lunch is nice, with chicken (or beef) in a slightly spicy sauce with sticky white rice, and a delicious side dish of cucumber salad with little strips of fish and sesame seeds sprinkled over it all. I’m immediately addicted to this Korean dish which as it turns out we’ll have many times during out stay in the DPRK.
Getting in is easy
It turns out to be surprisingly easy to get into the country. I had expected we’d have to open all luggage on arrival at the P'yŏngyang airport, but it simply goes through a scanner and we pass through a little gate and are scanned with a hand scanner. "Do you have a phone?" - "No." When my carry-on case goes through the scanner I'm asked: "Do you have a GPS?" - "No." -"Can I see?" - "Sure," and I open my case, suspecting they saw the silhouette of my image tank, which I show to them and explain it's a photo album and for listening to music; they believe me and I don't even have to turn it on. My little bags with cables are no problem either; I also have to open my little camera cleaning kit. And that's it. The security people are friendly and extremely polite as well - a pleasant change from many other border crossings I've done.
We meet our team
Outside the P'yŏngyang airport, our team for the trip is waiting for us: Mr. Pak, an experienced 44-year old guide (he's been doing this for 18 years, since shortly after the country opened up for tourists), Miss Un Hui ("Uni"), 22 years old and still inexperienced but friendly and open, and Mr. Hwang, a very experienced driver.
While we drive to the city, Uni tells us a little about the country: Korea has a population of 80 million in total, of which 20 live in the North. P’yŏngyang has 2.5 million inhabitants, 1.5 million of them in the suburbs. North and South Korea together are really one country, sharing one culture and one language. She gets a little flustered when interrupted with a question, but recovers fast — it’s just the nervousness of meeting a new group of people. Her English is actually very good, though not completely accentless. She tells me that in middle school students can choose between Russian and English as a foreign language. It’s obvious that she enjoys being a guide, though she’s still very much a junior and has been working for only 1.5 years.
On the way to the hotel we stop at the “Arc de Triomphe” — larger than the one in Paris — but I’m afraid I’m more interested in the people I see dancing on the other side of the street, my attention drawn by the sound of traditional instruments. I ask Uni what’s happening; they’re practicing for the Arirang games, she explains, even though it has been postponed because of the flooding. When I ask if we can go have a look, she says she’ll have to ask Mr. Pak; but we end up taking pictures and I even make a small video with my new camera.
On arrival at the Yanggakdo hotel (which I recognize from the satellite picture on Google maps) our passports are collected for registration but Mr. Pak promises we’ll have them back after two days and they’ll take good care of them.
