I can't believe it's already been 200 days...Nothing to talk about here besides just updating my blog with trip stuff and relaxing until the new semester begins in a couple days. I don't think I'll ever get my trip to North Korea out of my mind for a very long time, and I know there are some things that will stick with me forever...
That's it for this post, have fun reading my travel stories/posts, all of it begins on Day 179.
Places visited-->
Seoul:
Gwanghwamun (Gyeongbok palace), Banpo (Rainbow) bridge, Itaewon, Gangnam, Gapyeong, Namdaemun, Cheongyecheon, Seoul City Hall, N Seoul Tower, Hongdae (Trick eye museum), Changgyeong palace, Changdeok palace, Deoksu palace, Bukchon, Myeongdong, Jongmyo Shrine, Arisu Water Purification Centre, Sinchon, Seonreung and Jeongreung royal tombs, Sinsa
Jeju Island: Hallasan, Ilchulbong, Jeju City, Seogwipo
Yongin: Korean folk village
Demilitarized Zone (DMZ): Panmunjom/JSA, Dora Observatory, Third Infiltration tunnel, Dorasan Station
Jeonju
Busan
Paju (Heiri Village)
China:
Beijing
Tianjin
Dandong
DPRK:
Pyongyang
Kaesong
DMZ
Mt. Myohyang
Sunday, February 26, 2012
Day 195, North Korea/China day 9
Last post, and it's about the train ride. It wasn't bad at all actually, the bed could've been a little softer and the man above me could've snored a little less, but other than that I slept pretty good. I don't think I'll take an overnight train again though since it's just too long and I've experienced it already so no need to again. Arriving in Beijing in an hour or so and after it's off to the Koryo tours office to repay back some borrowed money. What's next after that is anyone's guess. I think I'll head to the airport, even though my flight won't be for another 7 hours, since I can't do anything dragging my luggage around.
When we arrived at Beijing station, I was rushed off the train by these greedy Chinese men carrying my luggage for me. I didn't want them to since I knew I would have to pay them after, but they refused to listen. Because of those 2 idiots I couldn't say my goodbyes to Eva, Lindis, Neil, or Ian...and it cost me 200 RMB...It's times like these I feel ashamed to be Chinese, we're supposed to be better than greedy con artists aren't we?
After, I made my way to the subway station and had to miss like 10 trains because they were all packed and there was absolutely no room for me or my luggage at all. I was only able to finally get on because one of the platform guides directed me to the front of the train, where it was less crowded. I thank him so much for that! After that, the trains weren't so packed anymore, so it was easy getting to the Koryo office. As I was leaving the offices, I bumped into Lindis who was coming to retrieve her belongings left at the office, so I did get to say my goodbye at least to her.
It's funny how when I'm back in China, I want to get the hell outta here as fast as I can. The biggest lesson i've learned here is say no to anyone not in a police uniform, otherwise you're gonna get scammed. Also, hold onto your luggage at all times, refuse anyone who wants to carry it.
So my final thoughts on China: It was a bittersweet experience. I can't wait to get back to Seoul, where you don't need to put any bags or luggage through an x-ray machine at train stations. Yeah, if I didn't mention that earlier, every station here in Beijing requires you to put any bags or luggage you have through an x-ray machine. Pain in the ass. If I could sum up my first trip to China, those would be the words I'd use, along with Nightmare.
And my final thoughts on North Korea: I enjoyed the trip as much as I could, but there was always the thought of pity in the back of my head for all the people I saw. How could they live in the conditions they do and whole heartedly accept it as the best is anyone's guess, even for the people who've traveled outside the country. How they could come back from China and then go back to their regular lives is amazing. In my honest opinion, I don't really think many are happy with their lives, except for the ones who are very high up in the ruling party or military. The ones who are unhappy can't express it openly, otherwise they'd be sent to the concentration camps. It's my hope, one day that the North is liberated, cause I just don't feel good when I see people who can't live their full potential. Yes, life is unfair, but do these people really deserve this type of life?
And for all the people I know who complain and whine about not having the latest things and trends: Grow up! Take a trip there and then let's see if you keep whining for the latest trends and gadgets. We at least have heated shelters, stocked grocery shelves, electricity, decent public transportation, good health facilities, and freedom. These are just basic needs I listed off, I haven't even listed leisure activities or things we so readily waste and not give a damn about, when it would be considered luxury there. It doesn't make me feel well that we have so much and still somehow find room to complain and whine over sometimes the stupidest things, while they practically have nothing but can't complain or whine at all. They deserve every single right to whine, complain, and do anything and everything. We need to learn to shut up. If anything I've taken away from this trip, it's view the way we live in a whole different perspective. I'm not going to feel sorry or care too much for the West anymore. This trip has just reaffirmed my belief that we are a wasteful society and do no appreciate nor care for the small things we take for granted every day in life.
A small glimmer of hope for the future came from the people themselves. Even after 60 years of separation, they still refer to themselves as Korean, not North Korean or anything, just plain Korean. Some things never change, and in the end that will be extremely good.
I'll end my two weeks of blogging with an interesting story. My luggage was tagged with a customs inspection label upon arrival at Seoul Incheon. As you might expect, I was panicking a little. Had they found my North Korea things?? Turns out, the 3 toy model guns I had bought in China were flagged...thank god, cause if they had seen the North Korean things, I don't know how they would've reacted. Now I know not to put any thing that looks like a gun, even if it's a small toy model, in my checked luggage and instead just mail it home. If they reacted this way to some small toys, I don't know how they would've reacted to the North Korean flags, pins, books, and postcards. Surely I'd be pulled aside for more questioning.
What a way to end a trip though.
When we arrived at Beijing station, I was rushed off the train by these greedy Chinese men carrying my luggage for me. I didn't want them to since I knew I would have to pay them after, but they refused to listen. Because of those 2 idiots I couldn't say my goodbyes to Eva, Lindis, Neil, or Ian...and it cost me 200 RMB...It's times like these I feel ashamed to be Chinese, we're supposed to be better than greedy con artists aren't we?
After, I made my way to the subway station and had to miss like 10 trains because they were all packed and there was absolutely no room for me or my luggage at all. I was only able to finally get on because one of the platform guides directed me to the front of the train, where it was less crowded. I thank him so much for that! After that, the trains weren't so packed anymore, so it was easy getting to the Koryo office. As I was leaving the offices, I bumped into Lindis who was coming to retrieve her belongings left at the office, so I did get to say my goodbye at least to her.
It's funny how when I'm back in China, I want to get the hell outta here as fast as I can. The biggest lesson i've learned here is say no to anyone not in a police uniform, otherwise you're gonna get scammed. Also, hold onto your luggage at all times, refuse anyone who wants to carry it.
So my final thoughts on China: It was a bittersweet experience. I can't wait to get back to Seoul, where you don't need to put any bags or luggage through an x-ray machine at train stations. Yeah, if I didn't mention that earlier, every station here in Beijing requires you to put any bags or luggage you have through an x-ray machine. Pain in the ass. If I could sum up my first trip to China, those would be the words I'd use, along with Nightmare.
And my final thoughts on North Korea: I enjoyed the trip as much as I could, but there was always the thought of pity in the back of my head for all the people I saw. How could they live in the conditions they do and whole heartedly accept it as the best is anyone's guess, even for the people who've traveled outside the country. How they could come back from China and then go back to their regular lives is amazing. In my honest opinion, I don't really think many are happy with their lives, except for the ones who are very high up in the ruling party or military. The ones who are unhappy can't express it openly, otherwise they'd be sent to the concentration camps. It's my hope, one day that the North is liberated, cause I just don't feel good when I see people who can't live their full potential. Yes, life is unfair, but do these people really deserve this type of life?
And for all the people I know who complain and whine about not having the latest things and trends: Grow up! Take a trip there and then let's see if you keep whining for the latest trends and gadgets. We at least have heated shelters, stocked grocery shelves, electricity, decent public transportation, good health facilities, and freedom. These are just basic needs I listed off, I haven't even listed leisure activities or things we so readily waste and not give a damn about, when it would be considered luxury there. It doesn't make me feel well that we have so much and still somehow find room to complain and whine over sometimes the stupidest things, while they practically have nothing but can't complain or whine at all. They deserve every single right to whine, complain, and do anything and everything. We need to learn to shut up. If anything I've taken away from this trip, it's view the way we live in a whole different perspective. I'm not going to feel sorry or care too much for the West anymore. This trip has just reaffirmed my belief that we are a wasteful society and do no appreciate nor care for the small things we take for granted every day in life.
A small glimmer of hope for the future came from the people themselves. Even after 60 years of separation, they still refer to themselves as Korean, not North Korean or anything, just plain Korean. Some things never change, and in the end that will be extremely good.
I'll end my two weeks of blogging with an interesting story. My luggage was tagged with a customs inspection label upon arrival at Seoul Incheon. As you might expect, I was panicking a little. Had they found my North Korea things?? Turns out, the 3 toy model guns I had bought in China were flagged...thank god, cause if they had seen the North Korean things, I don't know how they would've reacted. Now I know not to put any thing that looks like a gun, even if it's a small toy model, in my checked luggage and instead just mail it home. If they reacted this way to some small toys, I don't know how they would've reacted to the North Korean flags, pins, books, and postcards. Surely I'd be pulled aside for more questioning.
What a way to end a trip though.
Day 194, North Korea/China day 8
First full day of freedom, so to say.
Started off the day with a good buffet style breakfast in the 4 star hotel were staying at. Heated and so much selection, no more frozen salami slices!! It's very unfortunate that half of our tour group is out sick. They were throwing up and just generally not feeling well. It's probably a bad case of food poisoning from the lunch on the train yesterday. So, our Dandong group turned into a 3 person tour. We started the tour with a visit to the "1 meter hop" which is China's equivalent to the DMZ, since at it's nearest point, the border with North Korea and China is just 1 meter apart. The real 1 meter hop was more upstream and there would be a fence and guards posted there. The part we saw though was just a shallow stream that was over a meter apart, but still very close to each other, you could just walk in the stream and be in North Korea. Of course that's not recommended at all since there are regular military patrols on both sides. After that, we walked another part of the Great Wall, tiring as usual, and soon after a visit to the Chinese Korean War memorial. What a difference from the North's version of events. I don't know if I mentioned this or not, but during the visit to the museum in the North, they never mentioned once how much the Chinese intervention saved them from complete collapse. All that was mentioned was how great Kim Il Sung led the North's counterattack against the US...obviously the Chinese museum was more truthful. Even the Chinese know the North began the war with the South and they don't hide that fact. They also don't hide the letter written personally by Kim Il Sung requesting assistance from China...overall it was very good, even learned the US had tried to use biological warfare against the Chinese too.
Lunch was at a North Korean restaurant but with Chinese amenities: heated, different dishes and with light. It was good and resembled more southern Chinese cuisine again, but I'm not an expert on this so ehh...
A cruise on the Yalu river was next, but the boat needed to be full first before departing, so the wait was a good opportunity for a rest/nap. It was good...(how many times have I used that already on this trip? :P) saw North Korea again and with it the slogans on the buildings. After we got back on land, we went on the half broken bridge.
The Korean half having been bombed by the Americans during the Korean War. And with that, the Dandong day tour ended. Now came the 14 hour overnight train journey to Beijing. Nathan will not be joining us on the train, too sick, so he opted for a flight out instead. In summary, 6 people arrived for the Dandong tour, 3 were sick and couldn't do anything for the tour, and in the end 5 will leave for Beijing on the train. I'd like to thank Mr. Shen for guiding us around Dandong. He was very informative on many things and was extremely polite and nice.
Started off the day with a good buffet style breakfast in the 4 star hotel were staying at. Heated and so much selection, no more frozen salami slices!! It's very unfortunate that half of our tour group is out sick. They were throwing up and just generally not feeling well. It's probably a bad case of food poisoning from the lunch on the train yesterday. So, our Dandong group turned into a 3 person tour. We started the tour with a visit to the "1 meter hop" which is China's equivalent to the DMZ, since at it's nearest point, the border with North Korea and China is just 1 meter apart. The real 1 meter hop was more upstream and there would be a fence and guards posted there. The part we saw though was just a shallow stream that was over a meter apart, but still very close to each other, you could just walk in the stream and be in North Korea. Of course that's not recommended at all since there are regular military patrols on both sides. After that, we walked another part of the Great Wall, tiring as usual, and soon after a visit to the Chinese Korean War memorial. What a difference from the North's version of events. I don't know if I mentioned this or not, but during the visit to the museum in the North, they never mentioned once how much the Chinese intervention saved them from complete collapse. All that was mentioned was how great Kim Il Sung led the North's counterattack against the US...obviously the Chinese museum was more truthful. Even the Chinese know the North began the war with the South and they don't hide that fact. They also don't hide the letter written personally by Kim Il Sung requesting assistance from China...overall it was very good, even learned the US had tried to use biological warfare against the Chinese too.
Lunch was at a North Korean restaurant but with Chinese amenities: heated, different dishes and with light. It was good and resembled more southern Chinese cuisine again, but I'm not an expert on this so ehh...
A cruise on the Yalu river was next, but the boat needed to be full first before departing, so the wait was a good opportunity for a rest/nap. It was good...(how many times have I used that already on this trip? :P) saw North Korea again and with it the slogans on the buildings. After we got back on land, we went on the half broken bridge.
The Korean half having been bombed by the Americans during the Korean War. And with that, the Dandong day tour ended. Now came the 14 hour overnight train journey to Beijing. Nathan will not be joining us on the train, too sick, so he opted for a flight out instead. In summary, 6 people arrived for the Dandong tour, 3 were sick and couldn't do anything for the tour, and in the end 5 will leave for Beijing on the train. I'd like to thank Mr. Shen for guiding us around Dandong. He was very informative on many things and was extremely polite and nice.
Day 193, North Korea/China day 7
Today the North Korea trip officially ends, but we'll still be taking the train out of the country so technically I'll still see more of North Korea. But by the end of the day, I'll be back in China in the city of Dandong. Finally will get a chance to check emails and jump ahead 20 years to the present again. Finishing the last breakfast in Pyongyang, I really didn't feel anything. In fact, almost everything we ate on this tour, it was almost the same type of set menu: meat, soup, potatoes, fish, rice, and occasionally noodles. There wasn't really anything traditionally Korean besides the bibimbap, some BBQ's, and Pyongyang cold noodles, everything else was completely western. For regular North Koreans, I'm sure what we had can only be considered a dream for them. Taking the train to Dandong was interesting, never took a sleeper car train before but they seem surprisingly roomy. Lots of false stops and go, and when I mean false stop, I mean the train slows down to a stop but then you're jolted from putting the brakes on to stop the train from going backwards, or just jolted going forward...Oh yeah and have I mentioned on how both China and North Korea are very smoky, as in cigarette smoky? I mean you just can't go anywhere in these two countries without someone lighting up a cigarette. I think I've shaved 5-10 years off my life just breathing the air. The ride through the countryside was all right. It's the same what I've seen from the trips to Mt. Myohyang and Kaesong/DMZ. There really isn't anything to see since it's winter and therefore barren land. Any structures look dilapidated but they still stand, haven't seen any collapsed ones. The only buildings that do look nice, are the ones that bear the picture of the Kim's. Going through customs was extremely easy, I was expecting my bag to be thoroughly searched, but our room/cabin wasn't searched at all. A guard just came and collected our customs forms, asked a few questions and that was it. It was a breeze compared to Canada or South Korea, but customs at these places won't take 2 hours since here, it's done by hand, there's no machine or anything. Crossing the bridge from North Korea into China, it was two worlds. Modern buildings and high rises in China, but absolutely none in Sinuiju, North Korea. Upon arrival, our small group who had decided to do a day tour of Dandong, got off here at the station and was greeted by out guide Mr. Shen, who has also been to North Korea over 100 times. That was it for him though, just guide, not spy or direct us. I missed the freedom. I don't need to worry about taking pictures of things and I can go anywhere without being watched. It was great to have a good dinner tonight again, not just the same potatoes, eggs, meat, etc. the dinner was more close to Cantonese cuisine than Northern Chinese. Also, there's lights on everywhere and heat too, no more random blackouts or unheated restaurants anymore!
Tomorrow will be the last official day of this entire trip, I can't say I'm looking forward to the 14 hr overnight train ride though...but after that it's off to Seoul!
Overall, China was ok and North Korea was very good. I would've enjoyed my trips more if it weren't for this cold I picked up in China. I would've enjoyed North Korea so much more if I weren't coughing and blowing my nose almost constantly. But the interesting part is, I barely got any better since I caught it...probably because of all the cigarette smoke I've been constantly inhaling and the fact I haven't eaten a real serving of fruit in 2 weeks. I'll be extremely happy getting back to Seoul, but it might feel weird as in being able to go wherever I want again instead of being watched and told where to go. I'll also miss seeing red letters and such on top of buildings bearing "Long live the 21st century son comrade Kim Jong Il!" or another revolutionary type slogan.
Tomorrow will be the last official day of this entire trip, I can't say I'm looking forward to the 14 hr overnight train ride though...but after that it's off to Seoul!
Overall, China was ok and North Korea was very good. I would've enjoyed my trips more if it weren't for this cold I picked up in China. I would've enjoyed North Korea so much more if I weren't coughing and blowing my nose almost constantly. But the interesting part is, I barely got any better since I caught it...probably because of all the cigarette smoke I've been constantly inhaling and the fact I haven't eaten a real serving of fruit in 2 weeks. I'll be extremely happy getting back to Seoul, but it might feel weird as in being able to go wherever I want again instead of being watched and told where to go. I'll also miss seeing red letters and such on top of buildings bearing "Long live the 21st century son comrade Kim Jong Il!" or another revolutionary type slogan.
Day 192, North Korea day 6
Well last full day of the tour and I just found out that our group was featured on North Korean TV. We were shown paying our respects to Kim Jong Il a couple days ago.
Anyway, the itinerary today called for a tour of Kaesong and the DMZ. Looking forward to seeing it from the North side instead of the South just a few months ago.
Driving to the DMZ on this side was the same as from the South; checkpoints, lots of soldiers, etc. But I'll admit this side of the DMZ is more armed...I was also surprised to find out that Kaesong is the home of ginseng in North Korea or all of Korea, I forgot...
The visit to Panmunjom and the DMZ was nice, much better than the South's. There was no restriction on pictures while in the JSA (Joint Security Area), unlike in the South. From the South side, the officials there said no one was allowed to take pictures of the US-South Korean main building in the JSA...well I got my picture of it from the North side so ehh. Even got a shot of a couple soldiers from the South, but of course, all the US-ROK soldiers were in their building watching us.
We had a traditional type lunch, as in many small side dishes served with rice and soup. Also tried dog meat soup for the first time too! It was good and meaty, and now I know how Snoopy and Toto taste like xD
Visited the Koryo museum after, which was about the Koryo dynasty of Korea. Nothing really to be expected, it's like what you'd see in a historical place here in the South: artifacts, written scrolls, etc. There was a small recreation of what the inside of a royal tomb would look like. And after the visit to the museum, we did go and visit the tomb of King Kongmin, which is just one of the few tombs of a royal in the North, the majority being in the South. But like one of the reasons why all the tombs of the Joseon dynasty are world heritage sites, his tomb is exactly the same as all the other ones. A good example of uniformity when it comes to the royal tombs of the Kingdom of Korea. There were a few things missing though, like the spiked red gate, although, that may be only for Joseon dynasty tombs and not for the Koryo dynasty. It was interesting none the less since it's an original and not a rebuilt tomb. Oh and the drive back to Pyongyang, the highway had no cars at all. The last one I counted at least 70...With that, all major sites in North Korea have finished and the next major one will be back in China, on the border city of Dandong tomorrow.
I think the biggest thing I will take away from this trip will be a completely different view of North Korea. Yes, it has some major human rights issues, and yes most of the population live in complete poverty, but I've learned to take a different view on things. I've also learned not to judge so fast either or at least not until you have both sides of the story. The North Korean people are not evil, they just follow what to them is right, and for us from a Western perspective, is wrong. There was a question I wanted to ask Hannah, our Koryo tours leader, but didn't really get a chance, it was: how Koryo tours, or for that matter, anyone that deals with tourism in North Korea, know about the human rights issues or I'm sure they've thought about it at one point or another, keep their moralities in check while also gaining trust to help the Korean people? There is a fine line between morality and earning trust to help people under a regime.
It all comes down to this on what I've learned from North Korea, and Murat is connected with this: The people are not bad, it's just the government. And it's true.
This trip was tiring and at times boring and exciting, just like any other one I've taken. I would highly recommend this trip for anyone who wants to expand and open their minds. This also means I will come back again one day since I want to see and learn more.
I'll end with a thank you to our guides Ms. K, Mr. C, and our driver, Mr. P. They were very friendly and nice to us, and contrary to any of you that think they would be mean, angry, and wanted to indoctrinate us, you couldn't be further from the truth. I'd also like to thank my fellow tour mates, Dan, Thomas, Nathan, and especially Eva, for lending me 200 RMB. All of them and more, made this trip that much more better.
Anyway, the itinerary today called for a tour of Kaesong and the DMZ. Looking forward to seeing it from the North side instead of the South just a few months ago.
Driving to the DMZ on this side was the same as from the South; checkpoints, lots of soldiers, etc. But I'll admit this side of the DMZ is more armed...I was also surprised to find out that Kaesong is the home of ginseng in North Korea or all of Korea, I forgot...
The visit to Panmunjom and the DMZ was nice, much better than the South's. There was no restriction on pictures while in the JSA (Joint Security Area), unlike in the South. From the South side, the officials there said no one was allowed to take pictures of the US-South Korean main building in the JSA...well I got my picture of it from the North side so ehh. Even got a shot of a couple soldiers from the South, but of course, all the US-ROK soldiers were in their building watching us.
We had a traditional type lunch, as in many small side dishes served with rice and soup. Also tried dog meat soup for the first time too! It was good and meaty, and now I know how Snoopy and Toto taste like xD
Visited the Koryo museum after, which was about the Koryo dynasty of Korea. Nothing really to be expected, it's like what you'd see in a historical place here in the South: artifacts, written scrolls, etc. There was a small recreation of what the inside of a royal tomb would look like. And after the visit to the museum, we did go and visit the tomb of King Kongmin, which is just one of the few tombs of a royal in the North, the majority being in the South. But like one of the reasons why all the tombs of the Joseon dynasty are world heritage sites, his tomb is exactly the same as all the other ones. A good example of uniformity when it comes to the royal tombs of the Kingdom of Korea. There were a few things missing though, like the spiked red gate, although, that may be only for Joseon dynasty tombs and not for the Koryo dynasty. It was interesting none the less since it's an original and not a rebuilt tomb. Oh and the drive back to Pyongyang, the highway had no cars at all. The last one I counted at least 70...With that, all major sites in North Korea have finished and the next major one will be back in China, on the border city of Dandong tomorrow.
I think the biggest thing I will take away from this trip will be a completely different view of North Korea. Yes, it has some major human rights issues, and yes most of the population live in complete poverty, but I've learned to take a different view on things. I've also learned not to judge so fast either or at least not until you have both sides of the story. The North Korean people are not evil, they just follow what to them is right, and for us from a Western perspective, is wrong. There was a question I wanted to ask Hannah, our Koryo tours leader, but didn't really get a chance, it was: how Koryo tours, or for that matter, anyone that deals with tourism in North Korea, know about the human rights issues or I'm sure they've thought about it at one point or another, keep their moralities in check while also gaining trust to help the Korean people? There is a fine line between morality and earning trust to help people under a regime.
It all comes down to this on what I've learned from North Korea, and Murat is connected with this: The people are not bad, it's just the government. And it's true.
This trip was tiring and at times boring and exciting, just like any other one I've taken. I would highly recommend this trip for anyone who wants to expand and open their minds. This also means I will come back again one day since I want to see and learn more.
I'll end with a thank you to our guides Ms. K, Mr. C, and our driver, Mr. P. They were very friendly and nice to us, and contrary to any of you that think they would be mean, angry, and wanted to indoctrinate us, you couldn't be further from the truth. I'd also like to thank my fellow tour mates, Dan, Thomas, Nathan, and especially Eva, for lending me 200 RMB. All of them and more, made this trip that much more better.
Saturday, February 25, 2012
Day 191, North Korea day 5
I can't believe I'm past the halfway mark of this trip now, only 2 more days left for North Korea and 4 more until I'm back in Seoul. I don't know how much I will write anymore.
Today, we start off with a look at the captured American spy ship, the USS Pueblo. It was interesting and very fun, looking at all the main ship compartments and rooms, and the old 50 cal machine gun too. I especially liked the short video they played at the beginning before the walk through. It set the tone for what was to come. Anyway, next stop was the Korean film studios, which was another interesting place. And on another note, I've completely lost track of all time, I thought today was Friday, turns out it was Saturday...Oh and also figured out why there were really no cars on the highway we traveled yesterday, apparently it's used mostly for tourists only. A way so they don't see anything that might be "unpleasant", since 2012 for North Korea is supposed to be they're a strong and prosperous country. The film studio was interesting, it consisted of over 100000 Sq/M of space and had lots dedicated to European, Korean, Chinese, and Japanese style streets. This film studio was also visited by Kim Jong Il 590 times too. I guess it can confirm the rumor that he loved movies and had a collection of over 20000 titles.
We took a walk in the streets of Pyongyang after the studios and it was good, but I would've enjoyed it more if it weren't freezing. Went back to the hotel for lunch after and then an unusual thing afterwards, a 2 hour break. It was good, gave us some time to unwind and relax a little. After our break, we went to the national park in the city for a walk. Nothing special besides the Korea-Soviet friendship monument and the children playing "slide down the ice on the hill" for lack of a better term.
Visited a school afterwards, and I'll remember it the most for the small performance some of the kids did for us. Even I danced with them a little. I left my camera on the bus and am kicking myself for doing that. But I had mixed feelings watching their performance. They were very in sync with each other which tells me they practiced a lot. Watching that, I felt they were pressured to perform and be perfect. At the same time, the school didn't have any heat at all. I'm sure it was just because it's a holiday/weekend today. A good stop before dinner was at a quaint tea shop, well more like a shop for many types of food, even hamburgers. But I only had tea, and along with everyone, apple pie. Others had a gin and tonic or espresso or coffee. I have to admit, that was one of the best apple pies I've ever had, and to think, I found it in Pyongyang. When we did finally eat dinner, I tried Pyongyang cold noodles, yes cold noodles in winter. It was ok, but I don't think I want to try it again, in both North and South. Just not a fan of it at all.
Ending day 5 with this: I feel a little sad that tomorrow will be the last full day of the trip, but at the same time I want to jump ahead 20 years again.
Today, we start off with a look at the captured American spy ship, the USS Pueblo. It was interesting and very fun, looking at all the main ship compartments and rooms, and the old 50 cal machine gun too. I especially liked the short video they played at the beginning before the walk through. It set the tone for what was to come. Anyway, next stop was the Korean film studios, which was another interesting place. And on another note, I've completely lost track of all time, I thought today was Friday, turns out it was Saturday...Oh and also figured out why there were really no cars on the highway we traveled yesterday, apparently it's used mostly for tourists only. A way so they don't see anything that might be "unpleasant", since 2012 for North Korea is supposed to be they're a strong and prosperous country. The film studio was interesting, it consisted of over 100000 Sq/M of space and had lots dedicated to European, Korean, Chinese, and Japanese style streets. This film studio was also visited by Kim Jong Il 590 times too. I guess it can confirm the rumor that he loved movies and had a collection of over 20000 titles.
We took a walk in the streets of Pyongyang after the studios and it was good, but I would've enjoyed it more if it weren't freezing. Went back to the hotel for lunch after and then an unusual thing afterwards, a 2 hour break. It was good, gave us some time to unwind and relax a little. After our break, we went to the national park in the city for a walk. Nothing special besides the Korea-Soviet friendship monument and the children playing "slide down the ice on the hill" for lack of a better term.
Visited a school afterwards, and I'll remember it the most for the small performance some of the kids did for us. Even I danced with them a little. I left my camera on the bus and am kicking myself for doing that. But I had mixed feelings watching their performance. They were very in sync with each other which tells me they practiced a lot. Watching that, I felt they were pressured to perform and be perfect. At the same time, the school didn't have any heat at all. I'm sure it was just because it's a holiday/weekend today. A good stop before dinner was at a quaint tea shop, well more like a shop for many types of food, even hamburgers. But I only had tea, and along with everyone, apple pie. Others had a gin and tonic or espresso or coffee. I have to admit, that was one of the best apple pies I've ever had, and to think, I found it in Pyongyang. When we did finally eat dinner, I tried Pyongyang cold noodles, yes cold noodles in winter. It was ok, but I don't think I want to try it again, in both North and South. Just not a fan of it at all.
Ending day 5 with this: I feel a little sad that tomorrow will be the last full day of the trip, but at the same time I want to jump ahead 20 years again.
Day 190, North Korea day 4
Buffet type breakfast as usual, I'm just gonna skip writing about it unless something interesting happens. Today, the itinerary called for Mt. Myohyang and the visit to the International friendship exhibition, the place where gifts for leaders Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il are housed. Was very interesting. On the way there, our guide Ms. K told us a few things about education and marriage here in the North. Education here consisted of 11 levels and began with pre-school, by the time children reached the age of 9 they are offered the chance to start learning Russian or English. Our guide also said joining the military was not compulsory but voluntarily. Youth could join and do volunteer for 3 years before moving onto university. I'm doubting the non-compulsory part but I can see why everyone joins the military and usually stay, since North Korea has a military first policy. To get anywhere in life here, you'd have to join the military. And as for marriage, single women aren't allowed to have their own place. They continue to live with parents until they are married. The average age of marriage for women here is 25-28 and 28-30 for men.
Driving through the countryside, I can say it looked like it was early 1970s-1980s rural South Korea. But the houses weren't shacks or anything though, they were actual concrete buildings. If they're heated is another question. Before I began the trip, I had expected to be taken back in time 40 years, yet I only feel it's only 25 years at most. North Korea doesn't look as backwards on many places as it appears to be.
Both the Kims' exhibition halls of gifts were very interesting. In Kim Il Sung's, there were gifts from 180 countries and 225000 articles of items. Kim Jong Il's had about 60000 articles from over 100 countries as well. The most interesting gift I saw was a car given to Kim Il Sung from Stalin. Bullet proof and weighed 6 tons, I won't forget the view at the top of his hall either, the view of the forest was spectacular. I was also surprised to see some gifts from Canada too, albeit only 10 items and shared the case with the US and some other country that I forgot. Another surprise was seeing many gifts from Japan, despite hostile relations. But most of it came from citizens and organizations, not officials from the government. It's really too bad we couldn't take any photos inside and also not having enough time. I would've loved to see more, but it would take at least another day or two to see everything in just Kim Il Sung's one alone.
Lunch was ok again, gonna skip writing about it along with dinner unless it's interesting/noteworthy. This lunch was in an unheated hotel, a far cry from our lunch yesterday which was back at our hotel in the revolving restaurant at the top.
Next up, was the Buddhist temple, the largest in North Korea, and then a small hike around Mt. Myohyang. The temple was good, there were some structures that were originals and this is the place that houses the collection of 80000 buddhist books. The wood blocks that were used to write these books is housed in the Tripitaka Koreana in South Korea. And since we were in wilderness, we took a small hike, and I use that word loosely...it was more of a climb...Thank god I didn't go any further with the rest of the people. And a note on the ride to and from Mt. Myohyang, which I can only describe in 3 words: amusement park ride. There were so many dips and bumps in the road at times I felt like I was gonna fly out of my seat. Oh and the highway was devoid of cars, but not people, many of whom were walking along or just riding bikes. Other than that, I could count how many vehicles I saw that day in total: 70...
Wide, empty, bumpy, sometimes curvy, most of the times straight roads. Perfect for an STI :)
The only thing worth mentioning about dinner was the small bibimbap served. Twice as small as the ones served in the South.
Ending day 4 with this: Mid-trip fatigue has set in. Maybe because from the lack of interesting sites and the fact there's only 3 days left.
Driving through the countryside, I can say it looked like it was early 1970s-1980s rural South Korea. But the houses weren't shacks or anything though, they were actual concrete buildings. If they're heated is another question. Before I began the trip, I had expected to be taken back in time 40 years, yet I only feel it's only 25 years at most. North Korea doesn't look as backwards on many places as it appears to be.
Both the Kims' exhibition halls of gifts were very interesting. In Kim Il Sung's, there were gifts from 180 countries and 225000 articles of items. Kim Jong Il's had about 60000 articles from over 100 countries as well. The most interesting gift I saw was a car given to Kim Il Sung from Stalin. Bullet proof and weighed 6 tons, I won't forget the view at the top of his hall either, the view of the forest was spectacular. I was also surprised to see some gifts from Canada too, albeit only 10 items and shared the case with the US and some other country that I forgot. Another surprise was seeing many gifts from Japan, despite hostile relations. But most of it came from citizens and organizations, not officials from the government. It's really too bad we couldn't take any photos inside and also not having enough time. I would've loved to see more, but it would take at least another day or two to see everything in just Kim Il Sung's one alone.
Lunch was ok again, gonna skip writing about it along with dinner unless it's interesting/noteworthy. This lunch was in an unheated hotel, a far cry from our lunch yesterday which was back at our hotel in the revolving restaurant at the top.
Next up, was the Buddhist temple, the largest in North Korea, and then a small hike around Mt. Myohyang. The temple was good, there were some structures that were originals and this is the place that houses the collection of 80000 buddhist books. The wood blocks that were used to write these books is housed in the Tripitaka Koreana in South Korea. And since we were in wilderness, we took a small hike, and I use that word loosely...it was more of a climb...Thank god I didn't go any further with the rest of the people. And a note on the ride to and from Mt. Myohyang, which I can only describe in 3 words: amusement park ride. There were so many dips and bumps in the road at times I felt like I was gonna fly out of my seat. Oh and the highway was devoid of cars, but not people, many of whom were walking along or just riding bikes. Other than that, I could count how many vehicles I saw that day in total: 70...
Wide, empty, bumpy, sometimes curvy, most of the times straight roads. Perfect for an STI :)
The only thing worth mentioning about dinner was the small bibimbap served. Twice as small as the ones served in the South.
Ending day 4 with this: Mid-trip fatigue has set in. Maybe because from the lack of interesting sites and the fact there's only 3 days left.
Day 189, North Korea day 3
Starting off the day like yesterday, breakfast in the hotel then off to our itinerary again. Except for the fact it's Kim Jong Il's 70th birthday today. The breakfast was good, there was actual fruit, well just apple but it was the first copious amount of fruit I've had in the first 2 weeks.
First up, was the Fountain park. The ride to the park was more interesting than the park itself since we saw many citizens walking en masse in the same direction towards Kim Il Sung square to pay respects to Kim Jong Il. The fountain park is more interesting during the summer when it's actually shooting water and shut off and dry. What came after was surreal though, and something I won't forget from this trip. We headed to Kim Il Sung square afterwards to pay respects to Kim Jong Il. When we got off our bus and made our way up to the front, our group of 20 stopped/cut in front of thousands of people already there so we could pay our respects. I felt like part of a group of foreign diplomats, and we all offered our flowers and then all bowed in unison afterwards. There was no noise or anything, just cameras and the silent thousands behind us. After we walked off, the thousands of people went up and paid their tributes and respects. We took a walk around Kim Il Sung square, which wasn't as big as Tiananmen Square but there was much more ideological items.
The next stop was a visit to the martyr's cemetery where people who fought against the Japanese during the colonial period. Kim Jong Il's mother is interred here along with Kim Il Sung's younger brother. We had to rush this place since much of the group was going off to see a figure skating competition that I didn't want to watch, but I will be watching the military circus in the afternoon though. It was close to noon now, and the roads were full of people with flowers. It's incredible since they block the road and it seemed endless. Arriving at the figure skating thing, I was the only one in my group that didn't go see the skating. Instead, I joined a few people from group A and their guides and we took a stroll down the riverbank and around the area. It was very nice talking to the group A guides Mr. B and Ms. Y. Also had some green tea as well.
Lunch was served back in the hotel and it was good, lots of small things from dumplings to fish. I'll remember it more for the revolving scenic view of Pyongyang though.
The military circus was really fun. The acrobats did spins and flips and whatever other moves they do in an acrobatic circus. it's no Cirque, but I've never seen Cirque before either, but I can say the first time I went to the circus was in Pyongyang, North Korea. After, there was synchronized swimming, but obviously that's not interesting for me, so our good guide Mr. C took us to the department store/supermarket. Let's just say, it was bare inside...it's what you'd expect in North Korea. And the store itself was a third the size of a Superstore in Canada, along with only a third of food as well. If North Koreans walked into a Superstore, they'd be surprised or drop dead from the shock. It wasn't all bad though, Thomas was able to buy a bottle of water, a pack of cookies, 3 packs of cigarettes, and 3 bottles of alcohol for 5 Euros...I can't believe it, you could drink and smoke yourself to death for sure here in North Korea. Dan was able to buy a bottle of Soju for $2 USD. I didn't buy anything though cause I was sick and coughing away, popping in cough drops whenever I could. Damn China made me sick...
We visited the Foreign Languages book store, and it's here you could find practically any book written by the Kims. Unfortunately, I couldn't find an anti-American propaganda poster for Alex. To be honest, I have yet to see any anti-America propaganda poster in public. There just aren't any. Maybe it's because it's ingrained in every Koreans' minds already so no need to have any reminders.
The last stop of the day was to a bowling alley. It didn't just have bowling but it was like a multi purpose fun house. Too bad I'm low on money and couldn't participate...TT
Dinner was at an Austrian coffee shop, but of course we didn't have coffee for dinner, it was the standard meat and vegetables, and also had a nice talk with Thomas.
Ending day 3 with this: It was a very interesting day today, especially the circus and Kim Jong Il memorial at Kim Il Sung square. I don't think I'll ever forget that, just standing in central Pyongyang in front of thousands paying tribute. Also got a glimpse of North Korean regular life and the entertainment they have (the circus, swimming, and skating).
First up, was the Fountain park. The ride to the park was more interesting than the park itself since we saw many citizens walking en masse in the same direction towards Kim Il Sung square to pay respects to Kim Jong Il. The fountain park is more interesting during the summer when it's actually shooting water and shut off and dry. What came after was surreal though, and something I won't forget from this trip. We headed to Kim Il Sung square afterwards to pay respects to Kim Jong Il. When we got off our bus and made our way up to the front, our group of 20 stopped/cut in front of thousands of people already there so we could pay our respects. I felt like part of a group of foreign diplomats, and we all offered our flowers and then all bowed in unison afterwards. There was no noise or anything, just cameras and the silent thousands behind us. After we walked off, the thousands of people went up and paid their tributes and respects. We took a walk around Kim Il Sung square, which wasn't as big as Tiananmen Square but there was much more ideological items.
The next stop was a visit to the martyr's cemetery where people who fought against the Japanese during the colonial period. Kim Jong Il's mother is interred here along with Kim Il Sung's younger brother. We had to rush this place since much of the group was going off to see a figure skating competition that I didn't want to watch, but I will be watching the military circus in the afternoon though. It was close to noon now, and the roads were full of people with flowers. It's incredible since they block the road and it seemed endless. Arriving at the figure skating thing, I was the only one in my group that didn't go see the skating. Instead, I joined a few people from group A and their guides and we took a stroll down the riverbank and around the area. It was very nice talking to the group A guides Mr. B and Ms. Y. Also had some green tea as well.
Lunch was served back in the hotel and it was good, lots of small things from dumplings to fish. I'll remember it more for the revolving scenic view of Pyongyang though.
The military circus was really fun. The acrobats did spins and flips and whatever other moves they do in an acrobatic circus. it's no Cirque, but I've never seen Cirque before either, but I can say the first time I went to the circus was in Pyongyang, North Korea. After, there was synchronized swimming, but obviously that's not interesting for me, so our good guide Mr. C took us to the department store/supermarket. Let's just say, it was bare inside...it's what you'd expect in North Korea. And the store itself was a third the size of a Superstore in Canada, along with only a third of food as well. If North Koreans walked into a Superstore, they'd be surprised or drop dead from the shock. It wasn't all bad though, Thomas was able to buy a bottle of water, a pack of cookies, 3 packs of cigarettes, and 3 bottles of alcohol for 5 Euros...I can't believe it, you could drink and smoke yourself to death for sure here in North Korea. Dan was able to buy a bottle of Soju for $2 USD. I didn't buy anything though cause I was sick and coughing away, popping in cough drops whenever I could. Damn China made me sick...
We visited the Foreign Languages book store, and it's here you could find practically any book written by the Kims. Unfortunately, I couldn't find an anti-American propaganda poster for Alex. To be honest, I have yet to see any anti-America propaganda poster in public. There just aren't any. Maybe it's because it's ingrained in every Koreans' minds already so no need to have any reminders.
The last stop of the day was to a bowling alley. It didn't just have bowling but it was like a multi purpose fun house. Too bad I'm low on money and couldn't participate...TT
Dinner was at an Austrian coffee shop, but of course we didn't have coffee for dinner, it was the standard meat and vegetables, and also had a nice talk with Thomas.
Ending day 3 with this: It was a very interesting day today, especially the circus and Kim Jong Il memorial at Kim Il Sung square. I don't think I'll ever forget that, just standing in central Pyongyang in front of thousands paying tribute. Also got a glimpse of North Korean regular life and the entertainment they have (the circus, swimming, and skating).
Friday, February 24, 2012
Day 188, North Korea day 2
What a surprise for breakfast, it was almost a western style buffet breakfast with limited selection. I would rate the buffet breakfast 2/5 since some of the things were just ok, like the sausage...still partly frozen, so imagine biting into a watery sausage piece/slice. After breakfast, we began our day, but I didn't know I had to fill out the visa forms for my reentry visa to China. So I had to get off the bus and rush back into the hotel to fill them out. It was the fastest I've ever filled out any visa application, finished in 10 minutes, since I felt bad for holding up the bus but everyone understood. The visa cost 700 RMB since it was a one day rush service, due to the holiday for Kim Jong Il the next day, ê´‘ëª…ì„±ì ˆ. I figured out the RMB-Euro conversion from that though, just multiply the Euro by 10 to get the RMB equivalent. After that our day finally began. Oh before I forget, the main difference between North and South Korean language is the North uses much more formal and polite endings than the South.
We first visited the Pyongyang metro museum, an entire building which is the size of a compound, all dedicated to the design and execution of the Pyongyang metro under the guidance of Kim Il Sung. Our guide at the museum was very friendly and nice, so it was interesting to say the least, especially seeing the chairs that Kim Il Sung sat in or the flashlight he used. We didn't even finish the whole museum since it had like 80 or so rooms/halls. We only finished the first part which was about design and construction under the leadership of Kim Il Sung. And frankly there was no mention of any other person besides Kim Il Sung, no names of planners or architects or anything, just all Kim Il Sung. It was more of a museum to praise Kim Il Sung instead of the story of how the metro was built. Personally, I think an entire building just dedicated to the construction of a metro is little overboard. Thomas, a fellow tourist in my group said "every other country would be pissing laughing" and he would be right. The sole purpose of the museum was not to tell the story of how the metro was built, but how great the leader Kim Il Sung was in planning this feat, and to venerate him and Kim Jong Il.
Next was the Fatherland Liberation War museum or the North's Korean War museum. It was very interesting to hear their side of the story. It started off with us watching a movie that depicted how the imperialist US and South Korea began to bomb the peaceful and democratic North. The reason why the US wanted to start the war was because it had made so much money during WWII, building and supplying materiel to others, that once it ended, the US needed some new sources of revenue. So it and South Korea conspired to start a war. I recorded 10 mins of the film, and I wish I could've recorded more but I needed to save my batteries, more on that later...after that, we went through the rest of the museum and saw some captured memorabilia from the US and weapons and vehicles used. The usual things you'd see in a war museum. When our museum guide finished explaining how the course of the war and invasion began, and then asked if anyone had questions about it, no one made a sound. But I could tell everyone wanted to say "That is wrong..." though there would be no point in arguing. They're taught that way from childhood. I'm just happy to have both sides of the story now. That museum mostly focused on North Korea's successes early on in the war, before the UN intervention. After, there was not so much talking about glorious victories or destroying the enemies and such. They didn't mention anything about the Chinese intervention for their side at all. Not one mention of China...Ending the museum tour, we visited the war monument outside and it was large, as usual for monuments here in the North. Now I know I need to bring extra batteries since mine died...so I could only take 3 photos of that place. From the war monument, we headed off to lunch at a local restaurant. It was a traditional Korean bbq, with pork, duck, and squid. Really good. And there was also some Korean dancers there for entertainment too. They sang and danced with other tourists as well. But even though it was really fun and entertaining, it's only for us foreigners, it gives us a different view of the country. There was a small tension inside me while watching the performance, that there are people in concentration camps that could only dream of what we just had. Even the performers seemed forced to perform perfectly, since there was one performer there who seemed to direct all the other women dancers.
After lunch, we went to the house where Kim Il Sung was born. Contrary to claims, all the streets we drove weren't deserted at all. His birth place was ok, since it was just a traditional Korean house. The big thing was to show his humble beginnings. The next stop on the itinerary was more interesting, a ride on the Pyongyang subway. The escalator just to get down there was the longest I've ever seen and taken. The train cars of course were like 30+ years old. And riding on the subway, it was packed. That is one thing I won't forget about the subway, the other was seeing 2 small children running about in the station. They stopped for a second and looked at all of us foreigners and smiled. I could see both their hands were covered in soot or something black. That was a little disturbing.
Next stops were Juche Tower and the Kim Jong Illia (flower named after Kim Jong Il) exhibition. The Juche tower at the top was an open platform and there was a strong wind blowing up there so it was freezing. But the flower exhibition was warm. However, it was one of the most propagandist places on this tour yet, besides the war museum. There were flowers and pictures of him everywhere, along with revolutionary slogans too. The other thing I will not forget and was a little disturbing again was seeing this little boy's flower exhibit. He had won first place in cultivating this type of flower, and the guide said he was 9 years old as well. From my eyes, there was no way he looked 9, he looked more like 5-6. He was small and stunted, which brings up many questions, yet his small slogan on the top of his exhibit read: I miss you dear general.
Last item on the itinerary for the day was a trip to the party foundation monument, a statue of hands holding a hammer, torch, and sickle. The monument was directly in line with the statue of Kim Il Sung.
Dinner featured hot pot, it tasted ok. I don't really like hot pots in the first place though, but the dinner was memorable for the Pyongyang blackout.
Ending day 2 with this: very tiring but interesting too. Also able to observe regular North Koreans' way of life and their admiration for their leaders' cult of personality.
We first visited the Pyongyang metro museum, an entire building which is the size of a compound, all dedicated to the design and execution of the Pyongyang metro under the guidance of Kim Il Sung. Our guide at the museum was very friendly and nice, so it was interesting to say the least, especially seeing the chairs that Kim Il Sung sat in or the flashlight he used. We didn't even finish the whole museum since it had like 80 or so rooms/halls. We only finished the first part which was about design and construction under the leadership of Kim Il Sung. And frankly there was no mention of any other person besides Kim Il Sung, no names of planners or architects or anything, just all Kim Il Sung. It was more of a museum to praise Kim Il Sung instead of the story of how the metro was built. Personally, I think an entire building just dedicated to the construction of a metro is little overboard. Thomas, a fellow tourist in my group said "every other country would be pissing laughing" and he would be right. The sole purpose of the museum was not to tell the story of how the metro was built, but how great the leader Kim Il Sung was in planning this feat, and to venerate him and Kim Jong Il.
Next was the Fatherland Liberation War museum or the North's Korean War museum. It was very interesting to hear their side of the story. It started off with us watching a movie that depicted how the imperialist US and South Korea began to bomb the peaceful and democratic North. The reason why the US wanted to start the war was because it had made so much money during WWII, building and supplying materiel to others, that once it ended, the US needed some new sources of revenue. So it and South Korea conspired to start a war. I recorded 10 mins of the film, and I wish I could've recorded more but I needed to save my batteries, more on that later...after that, we went through the rest of the museum and saw some captured memorabilia from the US and weapons and vehicles used. The usual things you'd see in a war museum. When our museum guide finished explaining how the course of the war and invasion began, and then asked if anyone had questions about it, no one made a sound. But I could tell everyone wanted to say "That is wrong..." though there would be no point in arguing. They're taught that way from childhood. I'm just happy to have both sides of the story now. That museum mostly focused on North Korea's successes early on in the war, before the UN intervention. After, there was not so much talking about glorious victories or destroying the enemies and such. They didn't mention anything about the Chinese intervention for their side at all. Not one mention of China...Ending the museum tour, we visited the war monument outside and it was large, as usual for monuments here in the North. Now I know I need to bring extra batteries since mine died...so I could only take 3 photos of that place. From the war monument, we headed off to lunch at a local restaurant. It was a traditional Korean bbq, with pork, duck, and squid. Really good. And there was also some Korean dancers there for entertainment too. They sang and danced with other tourists as well. But even though it was really fun and entertaining, it's only for us foreigners, it gives us a different view of the country. There was a small tension inside me while watching the performance, that there are people in concentration camps that could only dream of what we just had. Even the performers seemed forced to perform perfectly, since there was one performer there who seemed to direct all the other women dancers.
After lunch, we went to the house where Kim Il Sung was born. Contrary to claims, all the streets we drove weren't deserted at all. His birth place was ok, since it was just a traditional Korean house. The big thing was to show his humble beginnings. The next stop on the itinerary was more interesting, a ride on the Pyongyang subway. The escalator just to get down there was the longest I've ever seen and taken. The train cars of course were like 30+ years old. And riding on the subway, it was packed. That is one thing I won't forget about the subway, the other was seeing 2 small children running about in the station. They stopped for a second and looked at all of us foreigners and smiled. I could see both their hands were covered in soot or something black. That was a little disturbing.
Next stops were Juche Tower and the Kim Jong Illia (flower named after Kim Jong Il) exhibition. The Juche tower at the top was an open platform and there was a strong wind blowing up there so it was freezing. But the flower exhibition was warm. However, it was one of the most propagandist places on this tour yet, besides the war museum. There were flowers and pictures of him everywhere, along with revolutionary slogans too. The other thing I will not forget and was a little disturbing again was seeing this little boy's flower exhibit. He had won first place in cultivating this type of flower, and the guide said he was 9 years old as well. From my eyes, there was no way he looked 9, he looked more like 5-6. He was small and stunted, which brings up many questions, yet his small slogan on the top of his exhibit read: I miss you dear general.
Last item on the itinerary for the day was a trip to the party foundation monument, a statue of hands holding a hammer, torch, and sickle. The monument was directly in line with the statue of Kim Il Sung.
Dinner featured hot pot, it tasted ok. I don't really like hot pots in the first place though, but the dinner was memorable for the Pyongyang blackout.
Ending day 2 with this: very tiring but interesting too. Also able to observe regular North Koreans' way of life and their admiration for their leaders' cult of personality.
Day 187, North Korea day 1
Well I'd never thought I'd write that title but here I am. said my goodbye to Su and headed off to the Koryo Tours office. Met up with Dan, a very nice world traveler (67 countries and counting), and Zeb, an American student studying abroad in Austria. Currently writing this on the bus from the offices to the airport. The check in was very smooth, well actually it just seems standard. Then again, it was a group tour check in so I don't know if it was fast or not. Being at the gate and seeing the plane we'll be going on, it doesn't look ancient at all. It looks like an Air Canada plane that services Vancouver and Calgary. Boarding the Air Koryo flight in itself was a surreal experience, I couldn't believe I was boarding a plane for Pyongyang. We were greeted by two flight attendants in red and sporting their Kim Il Sung badges on their lapel. I don't know why some people say the Koryo planes seem old, the one we took seemed just as modern as any other small jet type plane.
After that, a spiffy intro video opened that praised Kim Jong Il and his policies for all his contributions to Air Koryo. The flight was ok, but it would've been better if I didn't have a cold and my ears would've popped properly. Because of that stupid cold, my right ear was deaf and somewhat throbbing...Checking into Pyongyang airport was the fastest I've ever experienced. From outside the tarmac to the entrance of the airport, took less than 20 mins. The airport was nice and simple, just a big terminal type building, with pictures of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il over the top of the entrance. The entire building was no bigger than Beijing Station and certainly not bigger than Shinjuku Station in Tokyo. Hell, even Calgary International was bigger, and that's saying a lot.
After, we made our way to the bus and was introduced to our guides (not using full names for their protection): Ms. K, and Mr. C and our driver Mr. P. Ms. K was very nice and gave us a speech. Her speech alone already smashed the western perception I had that North Koreans would try to brainwash/indoctrinate us. She didn't mention anything that would be considered propaganda at all. She just listed facts that everyone learns about Korea: the language, people, geography, and early history. And another perception that taking pictures in North Korea would be very restricted, was also smashed by her. Unless otherwise stated, she said we would be allowed to take photos of anything except military and specific civilian pictures, but you just needed to ask first if they want their picture taken. The one big restriction was any picture of the Kims, we're not allowed to thrwo away, crumple, or fold the part with their face.
Our first stop was the Arch of Triumph and the area surrounding it. It was a very grand monument and one that dwarfs the one in Paris. In the first couple of hours in Pyongyang, many perceptions I've had about North Korea from western media depictions had been completely smashed. For our hotel, we stayed at the Yangakdo International hotel. I was paired with Dan for our room, and I have to say, our room isn't bad at all. It's considered luxury in NK, but equivalent to a 3 star hotel elsewhere. I was surprised to see the TV in the room had foreign channels. I only expected the local DPRK news network, well that is on here too. Of course, this hotel is for foreigners and the ruling elite, so it should be made to look good. The dinner wasn't bad either, the hotel served great kimchi and chicken noodle soup. Afterwards, I went to the small bookshop in the hotel and bought a few souvenirs, a few flags, pins, and the DPRK's socialist constitution.
Well that sums up day 1 in the DPRK. As expected, there is nothing looking out from my hotel window, Pyongyang is dark. My perception of the North Korean people has completely changed. Of course I know there are gross human rights violations that are hidden, but from what I've seen out our tour bus window of Pyongyang citizens, they just go about their own lives. To us, seeing their life may look harsh and we may think that they hate it, especially compared to the South, but I'm really starting to think they don't care or mind. It's their way of life, not ours. They're not being forced to live their daily lives the way they are. It's not like all of them to put on an act before we came, because that's impossible. What I saw was real, not faked. But this is in Pyongyang, THE city where all North Koreans want to live.
On another note, I found out it didn't matter what denomination of RMB you had. In fact, it seems good to have the large denominations of RMB since the biggest, 100, is only equal to 10 Euros...If I'd known that yesterday, I wouldn't have converted so much of my money into small denominations...
After that, a spiffy intro video opened that praised Kim Jong Il and his policies for all his contributions to Air Koryo. The flight was ok, but it would've been better if I didn't have a cold and my ears would've popped properly. Because of that stupid cold, my right ear was deaf and somewhat throbbing...Checking into Pyongyang airport was the fastest I've ever experienced. From outside the tarmac to the entrance of the airport, took less than 20 mins. The airport was nice and simple, just a big terminal type building, with pictures of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il over the top of the entrance. The entire building was no bigger than Beijing Station and certainly not bigger than Shinjuku Station in Tokyo. Hell, even Calgary International was bigger, and that's saying a lot.
After, we made our way to the bus and was introduced to our guides (not using full names for their protection): Ms. K, and Mr. C and our driver Mr. P. Ms. K was very nice and gave us a speech. Her speech alone already smashed the western perception I had that North Koreans would try to brainwash/indoctrinate us. She didn't mention anything that would be considered propaganda at all. She just listed facts that everyone learns about Korea: the language, people, geography, and early history. And another perception that taking pictures in North Korea would be very restricted, was also smashed by her. Unless otherwise stated, she said we would be allowed to take photos of anything except military and specific civilian pictures, but you just needed to ask first if they want their picture taken. The one big restriction was any picture of the Kims, we're not allowed to thrwo away, crumple, or fold the part with their face.
Our first stop was the Arch of Triumph and the area surrounding it. It was a very grand monument and one that dwarfs the one in Paris. In the first couple of hours in Pyongyang, many perceptions I've had about North Korea from western media depictions had been completely smashed. For our hotel, we stayed at the Yangakdo International hotel. I was paired with Dan for our room, and I have to say, our room isn't bad at all. It's considered luxury in NK, but equivalent to a 3 star hotel elsewhere. I was surprised to see the TV in the room had foreign channels. I only expected the local DPRK news network, well that is on here too. Of course, this hotel is for foreigners and the ruling elite, so it should be made to look good. The dinner wasn't bad either, the hotel served great kimchi and chicken noodle soup. Afterwards, I went to the small bookshop in the hotel and bought a few souvenirs, a few flags, pins, and the DPRK's socialist constitution.
Well that sums up day 1 in the DPRK. As expected, there is nothing looking out from my hotel window, Pyongyang is dark. My perception of the North Korean people has completely changed. Of course I know there are gross human rights violations that are hidden, but from what I've seen out our tour bus window of Pyongyang citizens, they just go about their own lives. To us, seeing their life may look harsh and we may think that they hate it, especially compared to the South, but I'm really starting to think they don't care or mind. It's their way of life, not ours. They're not being forced to live their daily lives the way they are. It's not like all of them to put on an act before we came, because that's impossible. What I saw was real, not faked. But this is in Pyongyang, THE city where all North Koreans want to live.
On another note, I found out it didn't matter what denomination of RMB you had. In fact, it seems good to have the large denominations of RMB since the biggest, 100, is only equal to 10 Euros...If I'd known that yesterday, I wouldn't have converted so much of my money into small denominations...
Day 186, China day 8
So it's time for the final full day in China. We won't be doing too much today besides picking up our laundry, going to the supermarket to buy an extra memory card, and meeting Ada for lunch. Besides those things, nothing really left to do. My briefing for NK is at 4 and by this time tomorrow I'm sure I'll be packing up and getting ready to head over there. Before that though, we took a stroll through the fake clothing market, but I'll tell you, there were some really good fakes. Like a Canada Goose jacket that usually costs $300-$500 was $60 here. The price gave it away immediately but if they didnt mention the price, the jacket would've convinced me it was real. We ended the day with a final Peking duck dinner, at a restaurant that can be deemed acceptable to average in service. The food was ok, but the real meal was supposed to be the Peking duck. It was delicious, which made up for the service. Even got to see the duck carved up at our table!
My final thoughts on China: Coming here for the first time, I had some very high expectations. Some were met while others fell completely short or werent achieved at all. The things I'll remember China the most for are: the Peking duck dinners, walking the Great Wall, visiting Tiananmen Square and Mao's mausoleum, walking the Forbidden City, visiting the Temple of Heaven, seeing the Zhou Enlai statue and having dinner with Su's family in Tianjin, and all the tea I drank. Those are the ones I'll remember the most.
Of course, there are things that were just plain awful that I'd rather just forget. First, the lack of hot running water in taps for the first 2 days or so, the squat toilets, the lack of heating in some places, and the Tianjin trip was just complete hell. Out of all those things, Tianjin was the worst of all, combining all those things into one place, and also add in a horrible public transportation system, lazy taxi drivers, and train stations built in the middle of nowhere. I swear I will not recommend anyone to travel there unless they want to drive there and experience freezing or lose weight by walking between bus stops, taxi stands or subway stations and not actually see any sights or attractions.
Oh and I also need to say something about the drivers and pedestrians here in China: They're both crazy! Pedestrians just seem to cross where and whenever they please, while drivers sometimes do the same thing. And if not for that, they just speed recklessly, like last night when we were walking to dinner, some taxi sped on the wrong side of the road just to pass a slow car when there was traffic heading straight towards it too. And this was on a two lane road. I don't want to add to the stereotype that Asian drivers are bad, they're not since I haven't seen or heard of any accidents while I was here, they're just reckless and almost ignore all traffic laws and drive like it's a race between themselves and all the other cars.
Overall, China was ok. Some of it I'll remember forever and others I'd much rather forget. Would I visit again? Yes, but perhaps not Beijing and after I learn some mandarin. China has been at times very exciting and very boring at others, but above all it's extremely inexpensive and tiring. It felt good to visit my homeland for the first time and I know I'll be back again. Finally, I'd like to thank Su for guiding and accompanying me in Beijing. He could've easily said no and this trip might've been a lonely nightmare, so until we meet again my friend.
My final thoughts on China: Coming here for the first time, I had some very high expectations. Some were met while others fell completely short or werent achieved at all. The things I'll remember China the most for are: the Peking duck dinners, walking the Great Wall, visiting Tiananmen Square and Mao's mausoleum, walking the Forbidden City, visiting the Temple of Heaven, seeing the Zhou Enlai statue and having dinner with Su's family in Tianjin, and all the tea I drank. Those are the ones I'll remember the most.
Of course, there are things that were just plain awful that I'd rather just forget. First, the lack of hot running water in taps for the first 2 days or so, the squat toilets, the lack of heating in some places, and the Tianjin trip was just complete hell. Out of all those things, Tianjin was the worst of all, combining all those things into one place, and also add in a horrible public transportation system, lazy taxi drivers, and train stations built in the middle of nowhere. I swear I will not recommend anyone to travel there unless they want to drive there and experience freezing or lose weight by walking between bus stops, taxi stands or subway stations and not actually see any sights or attractions.
Oh and I also need to say something about the drivers and pedestrians here in China: They're both crazy! Pedestrians just seem to cross where and whenever they please, while drivers sometimes do the same thing. And if not for that, they just speed recklessly, like last night when we were walking to dinner, some taxi sped on the wrong side of the road just to pass a slow car when there was traffic heading straight towards it too. And this was on a two lane road. I don't want to add to the stereotype that Asian drivers are bad, they're not since I haven't seen or heard of any accidents while I was here, they're just reckless and almost ignore all traffic laws and drive like it's a race between themselves and all the other cars.
Overall, China was ok. Some of it I'll remember forever and others I'd much rather forget. Would I visit again? Yes, but perhaps not Beijing and after I learn some mandarin. China has been at times very exciting and very boring at others, but above all it's extremely inexpensive and tiring. It felt good to visit my homeland for the first time and I know I'll be back again. Finally, I'd like to thank Su for guiding and accompanying me in Beijing. He could've easily said no and this trip might've been a lonely nightmare, so until we meet again my friend.
Day 185, China day 7
Waking up today was the best since the first day. Sure I have a cold, but it seems minor, just waking up warm and not having to brush my teeth in freezing cold water and also having a regular sit down toilet is the best. We thought the inn would have free breakfast but turns out we booked without it...and if we did want to eat there, it would've cost 7 RMB. So we decided to head out for the art district in Beijing. It's named 798 for a reason I don't know, but the entire district used to be an old factory, there's even some old Cultural Revolution slogans on the side of buildings: Long live the Chinese Communist Party! and Long live Chairman Mao! There is no escaping Chairman Mao here in Beijing at all, especially here in the art district where there's something Mao in every store.
For dinner, we went to some restaurant that was just absolutely terrible. They had a picture menu and everything looked so good, we ordered 3 dishes but when the food came, it looked nothing like the pictures at all. We ordered a bean and meat dish, and in the menu it showed lots of green beans and meat. When it came, it probably had 5, no more than 10 pieces of meat, and the beans seemed wilted.
The second dish was a shrimp, and vegetable one. In the menu, it showed large amounts of shrimp and veggies. Turns out, the shrimp was actually the small, dried out ones, and the vegetables only consisted of chinese melon slices...
And finally, the most misleading thing I've ever seen was the egg and tomato soup. The picture in the menu made it look so good, as usual...it had large amounts of good, think looking broth, vegetables, and egg in it. How disappointed was I when that dish came, it was a small amount of egg and tomato and cucumber slices in hot water...I could've made that in my room by boiling some water in the boiler and throwing in some egg, tomato, and cucumbers. Bottom line, I'm just gonna add that to my long list of worst dinners I've had on this trip, and there's been a lot. There've only been 2 excellent dinners I've had here, on my first night with the Peking duck, and with Su's cousins and family in Tianjin.
Other than that, it was another lazy day, probably because China is winding down and North Korea is coming up. That or Su was tired and didn't want to do anything :P
Anyway, I don't think there'll be too much to write about China anymore besides my final thoughts in the next couple days.
For dinner, we went to some restaurant that was just absolutely terrible. They had a picture menu and everything looked so good, we ordered 3 dishes but when the food came, it looked nothing like the pictures at all. We ordered a bean and meat dish, and in the menu it showed lots of green beans and meat. When it came, it probably had 5, no more than 10 pieces of meat, and the beans seemed wilted.
The second dish was a shrimp, and vegetable one. In the menu, it showed large amounts of shrimp and veggies. Turns out, the shrimp was actually the small, dried out ones, and the vegetables only consisted of chinese melon slices...
And finally, the most misleading thing I've ever seen was the egg and tomato soup. The picture in the menu made it look so good, as usual...it had large amounts of good, think looking broth, vegetables, and egg in it. How disappointed was I when that dish came, it was a small amount of egg and tomato and cucumber slices in hot water...I could've made that in my room by boiling some water in the boiler and throwing in some egg, tomato, and cucumbers. Bottom line, I'm just gonna add that to my long list of worst dinners I've had on this trip, and there's been a lot. There've only been 2 excellent dinners I've had here, on my first night with the Peking duck, and with Su's cousins and family in Tianjin.
Other than that, it was another lazy day, probably because China is winding down and North Korea is coming up. That or Su was tired and didn't want to do anything :P
Anyway, I don't think there'll be too much to write about China anymore besides my final thoughts in the next couple days.
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Day 184, China day 6
Woke up feeling like crap. My head was pounding and I caught a cold. I felt hungover even though I didn't drink a sip of beer last night, just lots of OJ. But I will feel much better today anyway, since today is the last day of Tianjin, thank god! But I'll feel a little sad after what Su's family did last night. They told me that I had earned their respect, and there was also a feeling I can't describe. I wasn't related by blood and yet I was treated like a family member. The elder at the table toasted me at least 3 times and had said he was proud of me for coming back to China even though I was born outside, since not a lot of Chinese, like me, come back and visit their homeland.
And I found out about this today: Apparently Su was a little too drunk last night to translate what most of his family members were saying, but many of them wanted to introduce their daughters to me. No one wanted to introduce their daughters to Su though...damn Su doing that :P I heard one of the daughters were really beautiful too...TT
I just can't seem to have enough good things to say about Tianjin (rolls eyes)... Almost missed our train back to Beijing. Su's cousin didn't know where the station was, so we got out of his car when we were stopped at a red, and we ran across a street to catch a taxi. Frankly, to sum up Tianjin in the past 2 days: I'm sore, tired, dirty, caught a cold, freezing so had to sleep in my jacket...Tianjin was for the most part a complete waste of 2 days. Spent more time walking between bus stops, and train stations than really exploring. But there were some really good things there too, best described, those things were the flower that grew out of that pot of dirt.
After getting back into Beijing, praise the lord!, we checked into the 7 days inn/motel. For 3 nights it's $132 CDN but it's worth every cent since it felt like a 3 star hotel. Su, who had been advocating we stay at that bunker at the Chinese academy of Sciences again because it was cheap, did a complete 180 and said he'd never stay at that place ever again xD. But I had left luggage back there so we had to go back and get it...
Later in the evening, when I was looking forward to taking my first shower in a couple days, I couldn't effing believe it. The shower didn't have hot water...Actually, it turns out we needed to let the water run for 5 mins to have hot water. Never heard that before at all, but only in China.
I'll end day 6 with this: It's wonderful to be back in Beijing and feels great to be clean again. The day started off crappy but ended really good. Today was a rest day but it sure didn't feel like it. I'm tired, and sore all over.
And I found out about this today: Apparently Su was a little too drunk last night to translate what most of his family members were saying, but many of them wanted to introduce their daughters to me. No one wanted to introduce their daughters to Su though...damn Su doing that :P I heard one of the daughters were really beautiful too...TT
I just can't seem to have enough good things to say about Tianjin (rolls eyes)... Almost missed our train back to Beijing. Su's cousin didn't know where the station was, so we got out of his car when we were stopped at a red, and we ran across a street to catch a taxi. Frankly, to sum up Tianjin in the past 2 days: I'm sore, tired, dirty, caught a cold, freezing so had to sleep in my jacket...Tianjin was for the most part a complete waste of 2 days. Spent more time walking between bus stops, and train stations than really exploring. But there were some really good things there too, best described, those things were the flower that grew out of that pot of dirt.
After getting back into Beijing, praise the lord!, we checked into the 7 days inn/motel. For 3 nights it's $132 CDN but it's worth every cent since it felt like a 3 star hotel. Su, who had been advocating we stay at that bunker at the Chinese academy of Sciences again because it was cheap, did a complete 180 and said he'd never stay at that place ever again xD. But I had left luggage back there so we had to go back and get it...
Later in the evening, when I was looking forward to taking my first shower in a couple days, I couldn't effing believe it. The shower didn't have hot water...Actually, it turns out we needed to let the water run for 5 mins to have hot water. Never heard that before at all, but only in China.
I'll end day 6 with this: It's wonderful to be back in Beijing and feels great to be clean again. The day started off crappy but ended really good. Today was a rest day but it sure didn't feel like it. I'm tired, and sore all over.
Day 183, China day 5
After waking up from a freezing sleep, since there was no heat or anything, we began the day with some hot tea. Yes, Su's cousins run a tea shop, seems like the norm for small businesses here. I was gonna put everything from yesterday about Tianjin behind me since it was a new day and I would give Tianjin another chance...that was a little premature. I can honestly say now Tianjin has THE worst public transportation system I've ever experienced. The buses seem to come sporadically and there are different fares between a non-AC bus and an AC bus. And if it wasn't for that, then the stops that are listed on some bus stops are missing, as in, we were looking for a bus that went to the central train station that was on a map we had. When we looked for it on the bus stop, it didn't say that specific bus went to the station, but after we asked some people, they said the bus actually did stop at the station...
Making our way to the station, Su decides that the subway is better and faster than taking the bus, I reluctantly agreed since he'd made a lot of mistakes already. And guess what? The subway line we were supposed to take was still under construction. We took the damn bus after another small lengthy walk to the bus stop, and here's where the sporadic bus note comes in. Waiting for 20 mins I would expect in Calgary, but not here...
Su's indecisiveness didn't really help either, switching between "let's take the bus, wait the subway, wait the taxi, oh never mind let's just take the bus, ok go go go..."
My image of Tianjin is this: I thought it would be a great improvement over yesterday, but it became worse. I will only recommend anyone to visit this city as a desperate last resort if they want to lose weight/exercise, or freeze your ass off during the winter, but you could do that in a walk in freezer for free...The only saving grace that prevented me from completely writing off Tianjin and discarding it into my travel dust bin, was seeing the Zhou Enlai statue at Nankai University. Other than that, I spent more time walking between bus stops, subway stations, and taxi stands than seeing what Tianjin had to offer.
I'd like to thank Su's cousin and his wife for letting me stay at their place, very nice people and excellent tea. Also for the wonderful restaurant outing and cheers/toasts of good fortune and wishes from Su's family too. Lots of beer, but after what happened with Su's uncle, I drank OJ, thank god or I would've been completely angry, subdued, and quiet. The OJ does make you full a lot more than beer. And I believe Alex now, all of Su's family is surnamed Su. Other than this restaurant outing and the Zhou Enlai statue, I can't wait to leave this city and never come back!
And have I mentioned how lax the traffic laws here in China are? You can practically cross any road, anywhere as long as there's no police. Oh and people just seem to pop out from anywhere so if you plan on driving in China, I suggest keeping one foot ready on the brakes at all times.
Making our way to the station, Su decides that the subway is better and faster than taking the bus, I reluctantly agreed since he'd made a lot of mistakes already. And guess what? The subway line we were supposed to take was still under construction. We took the damn bus after another small lengthy walk to the bus stop, and here's where the sporadic bus note comes in. Waiting for 20 mins I would expect in Calgary, but not here...
Su's indecisiveness didn't really help either, switching between "let's take the bus, wait the subway, wait the taxi, oh never mind let's just take the bus, ok go go go..."
My image of Tianjin is this: I thought it would be a great improvement over yesterday, but it became worse. I will only recommend anyone to visit this city as a desperate last resort if they want to lose weight/exercise, or freeze your ass off during the winter, but you could do that in a walk in freezer for free...The only saving grace that prevented me from completely writing off Tianjin and discarding it into my travel dust bin, was seeing the Zhou Enlai statue at Nankai University. Other than that, I spent more time walking between bus stops, subway stations, and taxi stands than seeing what Tianjin had to offer.
I'd like to thank Su's cousin and his wife for letting me stay at their place, very nice people and excellent tea. Also for the wonderful restaurant outing and cheers/toasts of good fortune and wishes from Su's family too. Lots of beer, but after what happened with Su's uncle, I drank OJ, thank god or I would've been completely angry, subdued, and quiet. The OJ does make you full a lot more than beer. And I believe Alex now, all of Su's family is surnamed Su. Other than this restaurant outing and the Zhou Enlai statue, I can't wait to leave this city and never come back!
And have I mentioned how lax the traffic laws here in China are? You can practically cross any road, anywhere as long as there's no police. Oh and people just seem to pop out from anywhere so if you plan on driving in China, I suggest keeping one foot ready on the brakes at all times.
Day 182, China day 4
Where can I start off for day 4? Me and Su were on our way to Tianjin for a 2 day trip, and I would never have to see that bunker in the Academy of Sciences (near a Wal-Mart Supercenter, for reference) again! Thank god since I couldnt stand brushing my teeth and washing my face and hands in freezing cold water for another day. Also, there was no internet or anything either, it wasn't a deal breaker but since I had other plans, I needed it to check emails.
I did get to check my email though, at a Mcdonald's again...and had breakfast/lunch there too. First time trying a Mcd's in China and it wasn't bad at all. It seems McDonald's in Asia always tastes better than the ones in North America. After "brunch", and before Tianjin, we headed off to the Temple of Heaven, and like every site in China, it was big. I think it's the site where emperors prayed to the heavens for good luck/harvest. Perhaps it was also the place for the mandate of heaven? (need to check up on that though). Nothing I have seen in Korea can compare to anything I've seen in China. I don't really have too much to talk about for the Temple of Heaven since nothing can really describe it. For those that don't know what it looks like, it's the Calgary Chinese cultural center but much larger and more grand.
On a personal note, I didn't think Beijing would be so demanding, physically and emotionally too. Physically since I've been out for at least half the day, everyday. Emotionally since I would've never thought I'd want to learn some Mandarin too. I felt foreign and not Chinese since I could barely speak a word of Mandarin, yet I can speak Cantonese. I really don't know how to feel when I go up to a Chinese person and start speaking in English. Maybe I felt that way because Beijing wasn't really my home, Guangdong and Hong Kong are.
Anyway, right after arriving in Tianjin, I already had some interesting stories to tell. We arrived in an almost empty train station (Tianjin West Station), built in the middle of no where, on a grand scale, in my opinion to just show off, like some buildings in Pyongyang... and that should've been an omen of things to come...we first tried a taxi to take us to Su's cousins' house, so we left the station to find one. But apparently, the taxi drivers thought it was too far away and it was also nearing their quitting time so they said no...
After that, we tried a bus. Tianjin was completely new to both of us so we had no clue about what bus to take. So, we walked back towards the bus stops in front of the station and asked some people which bus to take. A lady pointed us in the right direction, which was the way we just came from...walking back we looked for the bus stop. What a surprise when we found the info given to us by that lady turned out to be wrong...it was nearing 8 PM and we were both hungry, McDonald's again. Thank god the cashiers in there helped us on which way to go. Turns out it was the subway we were supposed to take.
The subway turned out to be right, but there was another surprise that awaited me at Su's cousins' house. No heating... I can honestly say I hate Tianjin. From the train station built in the middle of no where, to its lazy taxi drivers, to no heating in the houses even when it's freezing. If first impressions mean anything, then I'd never recommend anyone travel to Tianjin, especially during the winter months.
I still can't believe how poor some parts of China are. Most public facilities lack running hot water, and heating, not in major cities, seems optional. Not to sound like I'm complaining or anything, but when there's no heating during the winter months, you might as well sleep on the streets outside...looks like China isn't all it's made out to be.
I did get to check my email though, at a Mcdonald's again...and had breakfast/lunch there too. First time trying a Mcd's in China and it wasn't bad at all. It seems McDonald's in Asia always tastes better than the ones in North America. After "brunch", and before Tianjin, we headed off to the Temple of Heaven, and like every site in China, it was big. I think it's the site where emperors prayed to the heavens for good luck/harvest. Perhaps it was also the place for the mandate of heaven? (need to check up on that though). Nothing I have seen in Korea can compare to anything I've seen in China. I don't really have too much to talk about for the Temple of Heaven since nothing can really describe it. For those that don't know what it looks like, it's the Calgary Chinese cultural center but much larger and more grand.
On a personal note, I didn't think Beijing would be so demanding, physically and emotionally too. Physically since I've been out for at least half the day, everyday. Emotionally since I would've never thought I'd want to learn some Mandarin too. I felt foreign and not Chinese since I could barely speak a word of Mandarin, yet I can speak Cantonese. I really don't know how to feel when I go up to a Chinese person and start speaking in English. Maybe I felt that way because Beijing wasn't really my home, Guangdong and Hong Kong are.
Anyway, right after arriving in Tianjin, I already had some interesting stories to tell. We arrived in an almost empty train station (Tianjin West Station), built in the middle of no where, on a grand scale, in my opinion to just show off, like some buildings in Pyongyang... and that should've been an omen of things to come...we first tried a taxi to take us to Su's cousins' house, so we left the station to find one. But apparently, the taxi drivers thought it was too far away and it was also nearing their quitting time so they said no...
After that, we tried a bus. Tianjin was completely new to both of us so we had no clue about what bus to take. So, we walked back towards the bus stops in front of the station and asked some people which bus to take. A lady pointed us in the right direction, which was the way we just came from...walking back we looked for the bus stop. What a surprise when we found the info given to us by that lady turned out to be wrong...it was nearing 8 PM and we were both hungry, McDonald's again. Thank god the cashiers in there helped us on which way to go. Turns out it was the subway we were supposed to take.
The subway turned out to be right, but there was another surprise that awaited me at Su's cousins' house. No heating... I can honestly say I hate Tianjin. From the train station built in the middle of no where, to its lazy taxi drivers, to no heating in the houses even when it's freezing. If first impressions mean anything, then I'd never recommend anyone travel to Tianjin, especially during the winter months.
I still can't believe how poor some parts of China are. Most public facilities lack running hot water, and heating, not in major cities, seems optional. Not to sound like I'm complaining or anything, but when there's no heating during the winter months, you might as well sleep on the streets outside...looks like China isn't all it's made out to be.
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Day 181, China day 3
Day 3 was very fun and interesting as usual. Started off the day with another Chinese breakfast, this time it was beef and shrimp buns, 4 of them, and some soy milk. And I mean real soy milk, no sugar or anything. Afterwards, we headed off to the Great Wall, and it was a breathtaking experience. The scenery and historic value is something I'll never forget. The weather during the hike was ok, cold and windy, but worked up a sweat so it wasnt bad at all. Of course, we didn't walk the entire portion of the wall, I say portion since we only saw a small section of the entire thing. But in the section we did walk, it was amazing. In my opinion, I think it's every Chinese persons responsibility to visit the Great Wall at least once, even if they're only half Chinese.
After climbing back down, we sat in a souvenir shop and drank some complimentary tea. The boss that worked there came over and started saying "nihonjin? nihonjin?" to us, but mostly me. Looks like I wasn't Chinese to him...In Korea I'm thought of as Japanese or Korean, in China, this man thought I was Malaysian Chinese...But the guy was really nice and good to talk to. Or I spoke and Su translated...
For dinner that night, we were to meet Su's uncle who would treat us to hot pot. On our way to his place, I was ecstatic to learn we would ride on a double decker bus! That was another experience I won't forget. I wish Calgary would have a few double deckers, it would make the bus ride more interesting and fun. Su's uncle and his wife run a tea shop, and they served us a few samples, which were really good. I could've sat and drank tea all night since it was different and extremely good. At the dinner was when I drank the most in my entire life. Thank god the beer wasn't too strong since I was a little out of it after the 2nd bottle. Usually, drinking makes people happy, well for me it makes me more angry and closed, so I was like that for the rest of the dinner. I didn't want to be like that especially in front of his uncle, but I can't help it. I said sorry at least 3 times for my behavior and the fact I couldn't drink. Su's uncle understood and it didn't bother him one bit.
We were rushing after dinner, since our bunker accommodations had a curfew of 11 PM and by the time we were on the bus to head back it was already past 10. I didn't know what we would do if we were locked out for the night. I wasn't going to sleep on the streets! But we did make it back on time with 15 mins to spare. Thank god it would be the last night we stay at this bunker accommodation, since the next day we would head off to Tianjin for a couple days and stay with Su's cousin there.
After climbing back down, we sat in a souvenir shop and drank some complimentary tea. The boss that worked there came over and started saying "nihonjin? nihonjin?" to us, but mostly me. Looks like I wasn't Chinese to him...In Korea I'm thought of as Japanese or Korean, in China, this man thought I was Malaysian Chinese...But the guy was really nice and good to talk to. Or I spoke and Su translated...
For dinner that night, we were to meet Su's uncle who would treat us to hot pot. On our way to his place, I was ecstatic to learn we would ride on a double decker bus! That was another experience I won't forget. I wish Calgary would have a few double deckers, it would make the bus ride more interesting and fun. Su's uncle and his wife run a tea shop, and they served us a few samples, which were really good. I could've sat and drank tea all night since it was different and extremely good. At the dinner was when I drank the most in my entire life. Thank god the beer wasn't too strong since I was a little out of it after the 2nd bottle. Usually, drinking makes people happy, well for me it makes me more angry and closed, so I was like that for the rest of the dinner. I didn't want to be like that especially in front of his uncle, but I can't help it. I said sorry at least 3 times for my behavior and the fact I couldn't drink. Su's uncle understood and it didn't bother him one bit.
We were rushing after dinner, since our bunker accommodations had a curfew of 11 PM and by the time we were on the bus to head back it was already past 10. I didn't know what we would do if we were locked out for the night. I wasn't going to sleep on the streets! But we did make it back on time with 15 mins to spare. Thank god it would be the last night we stay at this bunker accommodation, since the next day we would head off to Tianjin for a couple days and stay with Su's cousin there.
Day 180, China day 2
Today was another tiring but fun day. Began it with brushing my teeth in freezing cold water, which completely numbed my mouth. I don't know if that's a good thing or not, but no choice. Breakfast was good though, it consisted of a Chinese pancake with egg cooked into it and I had mine with a sausage. It was extremely cheap, the equivalent of $1.30 CDN and that included a drink too.
After that, we made our way to Tiananmen Square and queued for the Mao Zedong mausoleum. I couldn't believe how strict the rules were to get in and see his body lie in state. Had to surrender cameras and go through metal detectors, and when we did get the chance to see the body, it wasn't that good since it was behind two layers of glass and the body just didn't look like him...
Making our way out of the mausoleum, I finally got to experience the real Tiananmen Square. Bought a couple flags and a communist hat. It felt good to be there in person after seeing and reading about it so much.
Of course, you couldnt just leave that place without going under the gate (the one with the massive Mao photo) and explore the Forbidden City! I can tell you now that no palace I've seen in Korea can compare at all to the Forbidden City. It's bigger than all the palaces in Korea combined, which is why it took up most of our day and we still didn't finish seeing all of it...So the rest will be saved for my next trip back to Beijing.
Wangfujing was next up. The only way I can describe Wangfujing, is it's a mix between Myeongdong and Namdaemun market. And that was the place where I finally found some wi-fi...well it was in a McDonald's and it wasn't unlimited, only 30 mins free and after you'd have to pay. I would've thought Beijing would have better internet facilities. Wangfujing was also where I could buy some Mao and Cultural Revolution memorabilia on a side street market.
Ended the day with a stroll through Beijing University. The dinner wasn't too special, it was just some meat and rice, a far cry from the delicious Peking duck yesterday. Sigh I miss that...
After that, we made our way to Tiananmen Square and queued for the Mao Zedong mausoleum. I couldn't believe how strict the rules were to get in and see his body lie in state. Had to surrender cameras and go through metal detectors, and when we did get the chance to see the body, it wasn't that good since it was behind two layers of glass and the body just didn't look like him...
Making our way out of the mausoleum, I finally got to experience the real Tiananmen Square. Bought a couple flags and a communist hat. It felt good to be there in person after seeing and reading about it so much.
Of course, you couldnt just leave that place without going under the gate (the one with the massive Mao photo) and explore the Forbidden City! I can tell you now that no palace I've seen in Korea can compare at all to the Forbidden City. It's bigger than all the palaces in Korea combined, which is why it took up most of our day and we still didn't finish seeing all of it...So the rest will be saved for my next trip back to Beijing.
Wangfujing was next up. The only way I can describe Wangfujing, is it's a mix between Myeongdong and Namdaemun market. And that was the place where I finally found some wi-fi...well it was in a McDonald's and it wasn't unlimited, only 30 mins free and after you'd have to pay. I would've thought Beijing would have better internet facilities. Wangfujing was also where I could buy some Mao and Cultural Revolution memorabilia on a side street market.
Ended the day with a stroll through Beijing University. The dinner wasn't too special, it was just some meat and rice, a far cry from the delicious Peking duck yesterday. Sigh I miss that...
Day 179, China day 1
Yes I know it's not the 179th day here anymore, but I will just write about my trip to China and North Korea on the day it happened. So here is Day 1 of the trip.
Day 1 was a crazy experience. I'll start off with Air China, they weren't bad at all, even served a meal for a flight that was less than 2 hours. Better than Air Canada for sure, if it was a flight from Vancouver to Calgary by them you only get a bag of pretzels...
Anyway, after landing in Beijing, I thought I'd have a hard time finding Su, but somehow I picked him out of the crowd that was waiting. To be honest, when I first eyed him, I didn't know if it was him or not, since he had a different hair cut and look, so I looked at his shoes and that's when I knew it was him :P
After the airport, which by the way is the size of a small city itself, we made our way to the accommodations which were located in the Chinese Academy of Science's campus. I was thinking "oh we'll be staying with one of Su's friends in their dorm..." turns out that was completely wrong. We actually stayed in an air defense basement complex on the campus...AKA an air defense bunker. Technically, foreigners werent allowed to stay in this facility, but thanks to Su's convincing and persistence, I was allowed. I think he convinced them by saying "Look he's Chinese and here's his Chinese name..." Even though I had a Canadian passport. It only cost 48 RMB a night, which is equivalent to about $8, cheapest place I've ever stayed at. That has a two way meaning though. The place looked very cheap, but it was intended for when the city was being bombed and was for citizens or military personnel. I'm sure that explains the lack of hot water running in the taps, and squat toilets. That was another surprise. And I couldn't believe how easy those were to use. The fear of soiling my pants when going on one of those has completely faded after learning the right way of going :D
To end the day, we had dinner with Su's friend Wang Hai Long and his girlfriend (Yeah her name was hard to remember). I was surprised they ordered Peking duck since it was just the first night and I was thinking this is too much for me on the first night. But good thing it was ordered though, it was the absolute best Peking duck I've ever had. The duck skin was extremely crispy and flavorful, unlike the ones I've had in Calgary. And I had actually considered the ones in Calgary tasted good...an another thing happened. Anyone who knows me knows I hate mushrooms, but I ate every one of them served to me. Overall, it was a really good dinner.
Last thing me and Su did for the first night was visit the Bird's Nest stadium, or Olympic stadium. It looked very complex of course, and it's too bad we couldnt go in and look around where the opening ceremonies for the 2008 Olympics took place. Oh and before I forget, I came on the day of the lantern festival, so there were continuous firecrackers and fireworks going off on every block. There were times when I thought Beijing was getting bombed...And to top all that, Su got us lost heading back to the bunker...
That was day 1 in Beijing, but it wasn't even a full day!
Day 1 was a crazy experience. I'll start off with Air China, they weren't bad at all, even served a meal for a flight that was less than 2 hours. Better than Air Canada for sure, if it was a flight from Vancouver to Calgary by them you only get a bag of pretzels...
Anyway, after landing in Beijing, I thought I'd have a hard time finding Su, but somehow I picked him out of the crowd that was waiting. To be honest, when I first eyed him, I didn't know if it was him or not, since he had a different hair cut and look, so I looked at his shoes and that's when I knew it was him :P
After the airport, which by the way is the size of a small city itself, we made our way to the accommodations which were located in the Chinese Academy of Science's campus. I was thinking "oh we'll be staying with one of Su's friends in their dorm..." turns out that was completely wrong. We actually stayed in an air defense basement complex on the campus...AKA an air defense bunker. Technically, foreigners werent allowed to stay in this facility, but thanks to Su's convincing and persistence, I was allowed. I think he convinced them by saying "Look he's Chinese and here's his Chinese name..." Even though I had a Canadian passport. It only cost 48 RMB a night, which is equivalent to about $8, cheapest place I've ever stayed at. That has a two way meaning though. The place looked very cheap, but it was intended for when the city was being bombed and was for citizens or military personnel. I'm sure that explains the lack of hot water running in the taps, and squat toilets. That was another surprise. And I couldn't believe how easy those were to use. The fear of soiling my pants when going on one of those has completely faded after learning the right way of going :D
To end the day, we had dinner with Su's friend Wang Hai Long and his girlfriend (Yeah her name was hard to remember). I was surprised they ordered Peking duck since it was just the first night and I was thinking this is too much for me on the first night. But good thing it was ordered though, it was the absolute best Peking duck I've ever had. The duck skin was extremely crispy and flavorful, unlike the ones I've had in Calgary. And I had actually considered the ones in Calgary tasted good...an another thing happened. Anyone who knows me knows I hate mushrooms, but I ate every one of them served to me. Overall, it was a really good dinner.
Last thing me and Su did for the first night was visit the Bird's Nest stadium, or Olympic stadium. It looked very complex of course, and it's too bad we couldnt go in and look around where the opening ceremonies for the 2008 Olympics took place. Oh and before I forget, I came on the day of the lantern festival, so there were continuous firecrackers and fireworks going off on every block. There were times when I thought Beijing was getting bombed...And to top all that, Su got us lost heading back to the bunker...
That was day 1 in Beijing, but it wasn't even a full day!
Sunday, February 5, 2012
Day 177, 178
This is a first, doing a post at 7:30 AM, but it's because I won't be updating this for the next two weeks. Heading off to the airport in a couple hours bound for China!
If I get a chance to update this in China, I will, but don't hold me to it.
See you in a few weeks.
Places visited in Korea-->
Seoul:
Gwanghwamun (Gyeongbok palace), Banpo (Rainbow) bridge, Itaewon, Gangnam, Gapyeong, Namdaemun, Cheongyecheon, Seoul City Hall, N Seoul tower, Hongdae (Trick Eye museum), Changgyeong palace, Changdeok palace, Deoksu palace, Bukchon, Myeongdong, Jongmyo Shrine, Arisu water purification center, Sinchon,, Seonreung and Jeongreung royal tombs, Sinsa
Jeju Island: Hallasan, Ilchulbong, Jeju City, Seogwipo
Yongin: Korea folk village
Demilitarized Zone (DMZ): Panmunjom/JSA, Dora observatory, Third Infiltration tunnel, Dorasan Station
Jeonju
Busan
Paju (Heiri Village)
If I get a chance to update this in China, I will, but don't hold me to it.
See you in a few weeks.
Places visited in Korea-->
Seoul:
Gwanghwamun (Gyeongbok palace), Banpo (Rainbow) bridge, Itaewon, Gangnam, Gapyeong, Namdaemun, Cheongyecheon, Seoul City Hall, N Seoul tower, Hongdae (Trick Eye museum), Changgyeong palace, Changdeok palace, Deoksu palace, Bukchon, Myeongdong, Jongmyo Shrine, Arisu water purification center, Sinchon,, Seonreung and Jeongreung royal tombs, Sinsa
Jeju Island: Hallasan, Ilchulbong, Jeju City, Seogwipo
Yongin: Korea folk village
Demilitarized Zone (DMZ): Panmunjom/JSA, Dora observatory, Third Infiltration tunnel, Dorasan Station
Jeonju
Busan
Paju (Heiri Village)
Saturday, February 4, 2012
Day 171, 172, 173, 174, 175, 176
Nothing to write here besides some excitement for China in 48 hours! Just a heads up, I will not be able to blog or anything from Feb 6-22 since I will be in China and won't bring my laptop or anything either. I will check my email though whenever possible, so if anyone needs to contact me they can do it through my Shaw email.
I will definitely have some interesting stories to tell when I get back. So stay tuned ;D
Places visited in Korea-->
Seoul:
Gwanghwamun (Gyeongbok palace), Banpo (Rainbow) bridge, Itaewon, Gangnam, Gapyeong, Namdaemun, Cheongyecheon, Seoul City Hall, N Seoul tower, Hongdae (Trick Eye museum), Changgyeong palace, Changdeok palace, Deoksu palace, Bukchon, Myeongdong, Jongmyo Shrine, Arisu water purification center, Sinchon,, Seonreung and Jeongreung royal tombs, Sinsa
Jeju Island: Hallasan, Ilchulbong, Jeju City, Seogwipo
Yongin: Korea folk village
Demilitarized Zone (DMZ): Panmunjom/JSA, Dora observatory, Third Infiltration tunnel, Dorasan Station
Jeonju
Busan
Paju (Heiri Village)
I will definitely have some interesting stories to tell when I get back. So stay tuned ;D
Places visited in Korea-->
Seoul:
Gwanghwamun (Gyeongbok palace), Banpo (Rainbow) bridge, Itaewon, Gangnam, Gapyeong, Namdaemun, Cheongyecheon, Seoul City Hall, N Seoul tower, Hongdae (Trick Eye museum), Changgyeong palace, Changdeok palace, Deoksu palace, Bukchon, Myeongdong, Jongmyo Shrine, Arisu water purification center, Sinchon,, Seonreung and Jeongreung royal tombs, Sinsa
Jeju Island: Hallasan, Ilchulbong, Jeju City, Seogwipo
Yongin: Korea folk village
Demilitarized Zone (DMZ): Panmunjom/JSA, Dora observatory, Third Infiltration tunnel, Dorasan Station
Jeonju
Busan
Paju (Heiri Village)
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