Do you want to travel to North Korea (DPRK)? Is North Korea worth it? How about the safety? Do you know the expenses? Well, North Korea is indeed a different country. The internet is full of articles about the myriads of problems in North Korea. There have been numerous reports about the international tourists being detained or imprisoned by the North Korean authorities. So, it’s quite understandable that many out there wonder if it’s safe to travel to North Korea.
As such, before my trip, even I was a bit concerned about the safety issues. I’d often wonder if it was worth to put my life at risk to visit the secretive state. Fortunately, in October 2018, I had a memorable trip from China to North Korea. Overall, I liked travelling to the North and my personal experience with North Korea turned out to be a rather positive one.
So, in this post, I’d share some of my personal reasons, why did I choose to travel to North Korea. I’d also suggest reasons about why you too should consider travelling to North Korea.
Why Did I Choose to Travel to North Korea?
Well, I had been considering a trip to North Korea for a couple of years. But the October trip was more of a sudden decision. Here are some of the immediate reasons that triggered me to fly to North Korea.
It was a festive season in China
In China, the first week of October is often referred as a Golden Week. During this time, we have a week long holiday. So, I didn’t see any reason to stay at home for a full week. Indeed, it was a time to travel to somewhere.
I wanted to travel in China
In fact, I was trying to figure out some new places to visit in China. I even considered travelling to Inner Mongolia, only to realize that October wasn’t probably the best time to see the Mongolian grasslands. I had even booked hotel in Hohhot, however, only to cancel the non-refundable booking later. Also, so far, there are no fast bullet trains to Inner Magnolia. So, irrespective of which season I decide to travel to Hohhot, I’d better use flights, and not the train.
Again, I didn’t want to use the flights as they are often expensive and if I happen to cancel the flights for some weird reasons, the cancellation charges would be rather higher (than the cancellation charges for the Chinese train tickets).
Train tickets were sold in advance
I even considered travelling to Zhangjiajie mountains in Hunan province (the Avatar movie’s Pandora). But when I started looking for the train tickets from Suzhou to Zhangjiajie, it turned out that there were no more train tickets left. I could have taken a flight to Zhangjiajie. But then, I could have taken a flight to elsewhere as well. And that’s what eventually happened!
I started wondering if I could travel to overseas.
I contacted North Korean tour organizers
After doing some online research, I considered a trip to North Korea. But I had no clear idea how to head to the Hermit Kingdom. I contacted the EXPLORE NORTH KOREA, the tour organizer. They had quite decent reviews on TripAdvisor and their representative, Sabrina, responded very positively. I also learned that, climate wise, October was the best time to be in North Korea. I was immediately suggested a few upcoming tours to North Korea. After exchanging some messages, I felt like going to North Korea for 4 days.
After further deliberations, I decide to make it a 6 day-long trip.
So, apart from my personal interest in travelling, not being able to find the Chinese train tickets and a positive response from Sabrina were the reasons that I headed to North Korea.
Why you too should travel to North Korea? Is North Korea Worth It?
Now, since I’m already back from North Korea, I’ll also suggest why you too should travel to North Korea. Here are some of the reasons!
North Korea welcomes tourist
You heard me right – North Korea welcome tourists. They need Forex, isn’t it? Due to myriads of ever increasing international political and economic sanctions, the North Korean economy heavily depends on tourism. It’s a reliable source of Forex and ensures a consistent supply of the much needed foreign currency to the government. No wonder, in North Korea, we don’t use Won, the North Korean currency. We can directly use € (Euro), $ (US) or Chinese Yuan (RMB). In fact, I never saw the Korean currency during my trip to the North.
Getting a North Korean visa is simple
Well, one important proof that North Korea welcome tourist is that the process of obtaining a North Korean visa is very simple and straightforward. I’ve an Indian passport and due to its poor international passport travel rank, it’s often frustrating to visit an embassy to get a tourist visa. Fortunately, getting a North Korean visa was not at all difficult! I just forwarded copies of my passport and Chinese multiple entry visa to the tour organizer, and they got the visa for me. I didn’t do anything else to get my North Korean visa.
Also, the North Korean visa fee is fixed irrespective of your nationality. You’ll just need to pay € 50 to the tour operator. I paid the visa fee to the tour organizer at Shenyang Airport, right before flying to Pyongyang.
A natural and scenic country
Well, if you’d like to check out the natural scenery, I think you don’t need to think twice! The Korean scenery is indeed beautiful and offers great views. The country’s terrain is 80% mountainous and then there are parks, lakes, waterfall, etc.
When you are planning a trip, make sure to select a trip that includes a scenic drive through the countryside.
An unexplored country?
How many people in your friend circle have been to North Korea? Well, due to the negative news in the international media, it’s not surprising that not many people prefer to travel to the North. However, North Korea is like an untouched country. The terrain is still like what it used to be decades ago. Not to mention, North Korea is largely an unexplored country. So when you come here, you’ll have an opportunity to collect invaluable novel travel memories.
Fresh air and Blue sky
Since the country is yet to see a heavy industrialization, the air pollution in North Korea is not high. The air is mostly fresh and sky in North Korea is blue that often reminded me of Australia and New Zealand. There are many places where the groundwater is considered to be virtually free from the impurities and you can drink them if you’d like to. I did drink the mountainous water during my trekking to the Mt. Kumgang.
Friendly and curious people
Irrespective of what’s your opinion about (the Great Leader) Kim Jong-un or North Korea, you’ll be surprised to know that the North Korean are friendly and welcoming. They are often shy. I remember asking a few times to the locals for a photo together, sometime they’d agree, sometime they will be shy. Sometime, I waved hands to the people on the local buses, and they greeted me in reply.
When I was returning from the trekking of Mt. Kumgang, there was a little girl with a Korean tour group. I requested a photo with her. Soon the whole group was taking our photos. There were at least 20 cameras talking out my photos with the little girl. Let me show you the little girl, don’t you think North Korean kids are cute as anywhere else?
Most of the tourists in North Korea are from China (some of them are ethnic Korean). For example, in my tour group, there were total 9 tourists. Excluding me, 8 were from China (4 of them were ethic Korean and spoke the Korean language fluently). Nevertheless, the interaction between Koreans and foreigners (irrespective of nationality) is highly restricted.
Overall, to me, the North Koreans appeared to be warm and welcoming, and often indicated curiosity about the foreigners.
You don’t need to plan the trip
Traveling to a country like North Korea, where food, language and culture is different, the internet is virtually blocked and the GPS doesn’t work, won’t be any easy task. However, on the other hand, in North Korea, you can only travel with an organized group, and so, you are always accompanied by the tour guides (minders). They’ll arrange almost everything for you (such as meal, itinerary, accommodations) — you don’t need to do much planning. Just inform your tour organizer that how many days you wish to spend in North Korea (and pay accordingly), they’ll take care of the rest.
Stay away from electronic gadgets
You might be spending a few hours every day just starring at your phone, probably surfing the internet or sending WhatsApp messages. Can you imagine life without the internet? Well, there is no free internet in North Korea (Wi-Fi is also non-existent). You can, of course, buy an expensive North Korean prepaid SIM card for US $200 (and pay an additional amount of US $75/month for a limited internet data), but most of the tourists who come to Korea for a 4-day trip, usually don’t buy the Korean SIM card.
So, in all likelihood, you’re going to spend your time in the North Korea without an internet connection. Do you mind giving a try?
Laid back life
Well, in the North, you can’t use GPS, there are no fast bullet trains and the fast food is largely unavailable. Also, since the use of technology in the North is rather minimum, you’ll feel how life used to be a few decades ago. That is to say, you’ll have a better idea how the laid-back life looked like during your grandparents’ time (some 25-30 years ago).
Alright. I’ll stop here. I’m going to write separate articles for each of these points (such applying for a North Korean visa in China).
In summary, I loved travelling to North Korea. I’d recommend that a trip to North Korea is indeed worth it. Just keep your expectations low, and everything will be fine. 🙂
That’s all about why to travel to North Korea blog-post in North Korea Safe Travel Guide and Reviews. If you have any question about traveling to North Korea and organized tours, feel free to post in our forum so that others could also contribute and learn. For regular updates like us on Facebook, or follow on Twitter!
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Wish you a great time travelling to North Korea!
Cheers!
Last updated: Tuesday, October 16, 2018