A night in Kaesong

The drive south from Pyongyang to Kaesong took about 3 hours. Although we were supposed to be travelling on one of the main highways in North Korea, we rarely saw any other vehicles on the road. We passed farmers and military personnel hiking in both directions, going to places we could only wonder about.

About halfway to Kaesong, we stopped at the only roadside service area for a toilet break and to stretch out legs. When we entered, the building was quite cold inside and there was obviously no electricity supply. The only employee I saw sold some snacks and drinks at the entrance, although she didn't have a bottle opener to pop open my beer. Next to the building, farmers were trying to add nutrients to the soil by burning the patchy grass.

We were all very pleased to finally arrive at the Kaesong Folk Hotel, but not really sure what experience we would have there.

Kaesong Folk Hotel

As usual, my room was basic, but adequate. The buildings forming the hotel complex were quite rustic and homely, with little courtyards containing little trees and shrubs. There was a little stream running between the hotel buildings with charming little stone footbridges every hundred meters or so. The hotel was gated which made it impossible for anyone to enter or leave without being seen.

My room for the night

Dinner was again plain and simple - not very exciting, but would probably count as a feast to many of the people living in the country. I was very nearly sick on the table when I tried to eat the local speciality - dog! The meat emitted an odd odour and the odd crunch of cartilage on my second bite very nearly set me off.

Outside my room

By the time dinner has finished and I had recovered from my dead dog experience, the only place we could go was to the hotel bar. The electricity supply was reasonably steady that night and only cut out a few times. We all had a great time singing karaoke, chatting to each other and the guides, and learning a few Korean dance moves. By the end of the night, the bar tables were completely covered with empty beer bottles - we felt sorry for the mess we had created, so helped the lady running the bar to tidy up a little.

Before the party really got going....

A great experience and a great night of carousing. After such a full day, I was happy to return to my cozy room which was kept warm with underfloor heating. I slept on the floor under a futon, much like you do at a traditional Japanese hotel or inn.

The next morning, my concerns about a lack of hot water were unfounded. Plenty of hot water in my bathroom which allowed me to scrub up quite well and feel ready to face another fascinating day in the DPRK. Unfortunately, not all the guests were as lucky as I. It turned out that my room was the only room to have any hot water. Even worse, the underfloor heating in another room caused a fellow traveler to wake up at 4am to see his suitcase had melted and a blue flame emanating from his shoe.

A typical North Korean travelling experience - one article I recently read stated that North Korea specialises in simultaneously fancy shitty places e.g. a hotel with beautiful rooms but with no water or air conditioning. From my observations, that is a pretty accurate description of many of the places I visited in the country.

More soon........the DMZ and the Pyongyang Metro.