18 and 19 February 2019 - Pyongyang and Mt. Myohyohyang (North Korea)

I had a visit from diarrhea during the night but though I was alright in the morning I decided to stay in the hotel just in-case, thus missing the visit to the Pueblo, the American navy ship captured by the North Koreans in 1968. The Korean guide made sure I took the local medicine for diarrhea as well! Joining the group just before a special lunch of cold noodles there was nothing I thought worse than  noodles, and cold as well. I had green tea, bean powder pancakes and ice-cream, the first time we had been offered ice-cream since arriving here. 

Lunch dining room

Then it was off to the Architectural Exhibition Building, the Three Revolutions Exhibition and the Artificial Satellite Hall. It was very cold in all the buildings while in them we were escorted by our own guides and an additional guide for each building who explained what we were looking at.

The Artificial Satellite Building

Scenes inside the building

Don't know which rocket

Equipment made in North Korea

Equipment made in North Korea

Later we went by bus to Mount Myohyang and the beautiful Hyangsan Hotel. The countryside on the way was grey, brown and dry. The fields were being prepared for spring and the extensive irrigation channels tidied ready for the rains to come. Farms are now called communes, each commune having about 100 families working together. The roads were icy so it was a slow journey. It was made clear to us that photos could be taken from the bus even if local people were included provided they were not close-ups and not of the police or military personnel. This was no difference to the requirements in many other countries.

International Friendship Exhibition Building

View up to Mount Myohyang

 

Hotel Hyangsan

The hotel reception area

Mt. Myohyang is called the 'Mysterious Fragrance Mountain' and is around 150km north of Pyongyang. According to legend it was the home of King Tangun, the forefather of the Korean people. The purpose of the trip to Mt. Myohyang was to visit the International Friendship Exhibition. This is a large museum complex with many rooms showing a collection  of gifts presented to former leaders Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il from various foreign dignitaries. The items were from 88 countries and said to comprise 150,000 items ranging from animal skins, shells, ivory, gold and silver, and some odd items difficult to describe. Some large rooms had hundreds of gifts only from an individual country while gifts from the UK barely filled one small glass cabinet.

There were dioramas (large paintings) of the Kim's and Mrs. Kim to which we had to line up and bow. 

I was quite surprised to then visit a Buddhist temple nearby, the Pohyonsa Temple, because I did not expect to see signs of any religion here. There was a monk in residence who said that his wish was for the two Korea's to be united again. The original temple was built in 1042 AD, rebuilt later again and then again after being damaged during the Korean War.  

Entering the temple

One of the monks

Shrine area

Some of the temple buildings

The temple bell

The temple guardian gods

We were supposed to drive further up the mountain for the to see the view but the roads were too icy to go very far. We stopped a little way from the temple for people to have a walk, which I did. It was cold and quiet. Some of the others went in a different direction to have an armed soldier pop up in front of them in the forest making it plain that they could not go any further. In some places in the forest it was easy to see guards and buildings though what they were actually guarding was not obvious at all.

On returning to Pyongyang in the early evening we were taken to the Koryo Hotel where there was a post office where letters and postcards could be posted. I think all of us posted something and all I sent did arrive home. Except for one postcard which arrived in an envelope marked 'damaged in transit' to see that the stamp had been cleanly cut off with a scissors. I guess someone in the British Post Office really wanted a North Korean stamp! At least the postcard was forwarded on! Then it was up to the revolving restaurant in the Yanggakdo International Hotel and on the 47th floor. I did go up, stood on the floor which was shaking, and swiftly went back down to the ground. It definitely was not for me! The doormen here would not look out of place at a posh hotel in London what with their coats, gold stripes and braid.

Yanggakdo Hotel

Inside the restaurant

 
















Dinner was not at this hotel, can't remember where, but it consisted of a hotpot with the meat and vegetables being supplied raw and cooked in the hotpot by ourselves. By now most of the group were or had been ill with a fever, flu or diarrhea, one in-particular having been ill for a few days. Back to the hotel, do some light washing and leave on the floor overnight to dry by the underfloor heating.