Goodbye North Korea

The last couple of days in North Korea saw us venture out of Pyongyang to visit a factory that is supposed to produce a range of foodstuffs - we neither saw any staff at work or evidence that anything was actually produced there. My best guess is that production is intermittent - only possible when ingredients and electricity are available.

North Korea justifiably gets a lot of ridicule when foreign visitors visit the country - all the blogs and travel stories I have read mention factories with no staff or production.

JHS students

We also visited a Junior High School. The students were well presented and clearly well educated - their English by far surpassed the level of most JHS students in Japan. The headmaster was very friendly and clearly used to having visitors at the school. My view is that these are the lucky students and that they are not indicative of students across the country. In fact, it was probably one of the best schools in the DPRK. The school was very similar to the many schools I have visited in Japan.

The gulf between the haves and have nots became immediately apparent when we were driving away from the school. As we pulled away from the gates, a boy covered with grime and wearing torn clothes waved to us.

I have lost track of our exact movements in Pyongyang during our final day or two. We visited a film studio, which presumably makes, amongst other things, anti-Japanese propaganda. We walked down a street containing many Japanese language signs, perhaps meant to represent 1940s Tokyo.

We visited an art gallery to view, and if we wished, to buy some lovely works of art. When I indicated that I did not wish to make a purchase, there was a certain degree of hostility from the gallery staff. Next to the gallery, another statue of the deceased former leaders.

Another statue, just for good measure.....

We were also taken to a Pyongyang department store, out of reach of most people living in the DPRK, except the wealthy elite (which according to the official party line are not supposed to exit). Our last evening saw us visit a duck restaurant for some satisfying (and hot) food. Clearly our guides wished our final experience of North Korean cuisine to be a good one.

Dusk - our last evening in Pyongyang

I was sad to come to the end of my visit, but also relieved at the same time. I did start to feel the pressure of confinement and despite my best efforts to avoid the propaganda, I had become tired of it. We still had one big adventure to go, the train journey from Pyongyang to Beijing.