Last Friday night, just before midnight, my friends Natalie, Jemma, Coman and I boarded the Adventure Korea bus for an overnight trip to North Korea. Whether it was excitement about our upcoming adventure, our normal nocturnal patterns or Coman and Natalie's incessant chatter, none of us had slept for more than a few minutes on and off when we arrived at the border around 6:00 A.M. After a brief rest stop, we drove into the DMZ (Demilitarized Zone) between North and South Korea. I'd been on a tour of the DMZ a few months prior and had had an interesting, though not overly exciting experience. This was entirely different. The sun was just coming up and we were on the east coast, with a lovely view of the Sea of Japan (or East Sea to Koreans). You couldn't have asked for a more beautiful view, with the exception of the double row of barbed-wire fences on either side of us and Korean soldiers every half mile or so!
I had read about the DMZ in one of my guide books and learned that the four mile stretch between the divided country, is the world's largest protected temperate zone. There is hope among environmentalists that if the countries ever reunited, this land would remain protected as a national park. No doubt, that's an attractive dream, but for now, it remains one of the world's most protected borders.
A brief list of things you are not allowed to bring to North Korea:
- Cell phones, cell phone batteries, cell phone chargers and any other communication devices.
- Cameras with telephoto lenses or binoculars with more than 10x power.
- PDA's, laptop computers, calculators (?) - though MP3 players were OK.
- Newspapers and magazines from South Korea, and any other questionable reading material (I left behind "I am America and So Can You," by Stephen Colbert)
- Alcohol
Other regulations:
- You must ALWAYS wear your ID badge around your neck- if you don't you will be shot- KIDDING, but you will be fined- more on that later.
- You must carry your passport with you at all times.
- You must not take any pictures from a vehicle.
- You must not take any pictures of North Korean people.
- You must not wash your hands or feet in public streams.
- You must not take any natural items - such as rocks or sea shells.
- There are lots of rock carvings with propaganda messages from the government, you may photograph them, but you may not touch them.
- You may not speak the name of Kim Jung Il. This is a highly disrespectful insult, he should rather be referred to as "the Fearless Leader," "the Great Master," or some other fitting title. My friends and I had fun with this refering to him as Big K, He Whose Name Should Not Be Spoken, etc.
We were warned that the North Korean government will try to impose a fine for just about anything, so don't mess around. Needless to say, going through immigration was a bit intimidating. We had to line up in some preset order with all of our documents and our cameras ready to be inspected. Some people were questioned by the North Korean guards, but we all made it through safely. As far as I know, no one from our tour had anything confiscated. We had our ID badges (but not our passports) stamped. Then it was back on the tour bus and onto the hotel.
The views from the bus were more of the same: the sea on the right, striking mountains on the left, though instead of barbed-wire fences, it was a single green metal fence, and instead of South Korean soldiers, there were North Korean soldiers- infinitely more intimidating looking! However, the biggest difference was that rather than pristine wilderness, there was continuous farmland dotted with simple houses. Occasionally you could see a man working in the field, a family walking along a dirt path, or someone on a bicycle, crossing the fields. In addition, aside from N. Korean guards, there was also a lot of military equipment to be seen- one area appeared to have some sort of sheds or garages built into the mountains with tanks inside. I heard the two guys behind me on the bus saying something about a rocket launcher. I didn't see what they were referring to, and might not have know what it was even if I had seen it. But the point is, there was no mistaking that this was a military state we were in. Of course, no pictures were allowed.
About 30 minutes after entering North Korea, we arrived at the special tourist area . It was safely out of view from the North Korean people and guarded by military at every exit. There were a few hotels, restaurants, a convenience shop, a souvenir shop and a duty-free shop. We quickly stocked up on snacks for our hike and piled back into the bus for our hike into the mountains.
There was snow and ice on the ground and we had to rent spikes for our shoes, but the weather was actually very nice. It was sunny and about 45 or 50 degrees Fahrenheit. It was about a 4 or 5 hour hike though the valley of the Geumgang Mountains. We followed the course of the river most of the way. It should go without saying that the views were amazing, but if there is any doubt, check my pictures!
It was a fun hike. Coman threw snowballs at all of us at every chance he got. All of us talked and joked and took in the scenery. We hiked over suspension bridges, saw frozen waterfalls and Coman drank from the stream of youth-said to take 10 years off your age! You'd hardly guess we were in North Korea with a few exceptions: first, there were specially trained tour guides, all with orange jackets, every few minutes along the path, making sure that we followed the rules and didn't stray from the path. Coman walked down a little too close to the water at one point and was reprimanded for it. Secondly, the government rock carvings were everywhere. Our tour guide told us "the leader says it and they write it." Lastly, we crossed paths with a few North Koreans along the way. How did we know they were from North Korea and not South? They are required to wear red pins with Kim Jung Il on them any time they go out in public. A member of the Adventure Korea group asked one of them if he could take a picture, just of the pin, but he was declined.
After the hike there was time for an hour nap and a quick shower before we were off to the acrobat show. I had been told that it was supposed to be world class, but when the announcer informed us that we were about to see the "world's best acrobatic show, which can only be seen at the North Korean Cultural Center," I had to wonder. How do they know that they are really the best if they don't go out and compete against other countries?
Some of the acts were indeed world class! There were gymnasts, jugglers, trapeze artists- all incredible. But as I enjoyed the show, I couldn't stop my mind from wondering about what the lives of these performers were like. A top performer in other countries would certainly have a fairly comfortable, if not altogether lavish, lifestyle. They would enjoy some praise and some fame and the opportunity to travel and compete. I had to wonder if the North Korean performers enjoyed any benefits as a result of their amazing talents.
Not every act was amazing. There was a clown team that I found altogether annoying. I don't know if it was because of the language barrier, a different sense of humor, or because they just weren't that good. There were also a few acts that were good, though mistakes were made. Of particular note was a man on the trapeze who did an astounding quadruple flip thingy -an official term- only to not be caught by his partner. I was impressed enough by the flip that I wasn't all too worried that he had fallen (safely into the net), but he got back up and tried it again. And he fell again. The third time was the charm, though I wondered how many times he would have gotten back up there if it hadn't been. I also wondered what went on behind the scenes in a situation like that. Would the guy be punished for it some how? My mind wondered to all sorts of different scenarios. Would he be beaten, forced to work 20 hours a day, would food be withheld? It's possible that the punishment, if any, would be far less severe, but an outsider like myself could never know what would happened to the poor guy. You just can't help but wonder.
We had a low-key evening- as everyone was exhausted. There was a buffet dinner, followed by a few drinks in the hotel lounge. When we entered, we were the only guests, and there was a three person singing group performing on a small stage. They did a number of English songs for us and we were sure to give them a nice tip. Then it was back to the room for a game of spoons! Natalie lost the first round and suddenly became very tired. I'm not trying to imply that she's a sore loser or anything, just that she didn't try at all after that and was off to bed a few minutes later. Coman attempted to teach us a card game called 25 which we were starting to understand in our half drunken, half sleep deprived states of mind, but after just a round or two, we all agreed it was bed time. It couldn't have been past 10:30.
I woke up in the middle of the night with a migraine. If you've never had a migraine- just imagine what it might feel like if someone suddenly jabbed a sharp knife into your brain from your temple. Then imagine that they keep jabbing in and out. Everything makes it worse. Heat, noise, light, when you stand up, you feel dizzy, sometimes nauseous, there can be problems with your vision- black spots or everything goes white except for what you are focused on. I get these headaches somewhat often, and sometimes I can't even get out of bed to get myself some aspirin. This one wasn't the worst I've had, but it was pretty bad. I wondered if I'd be able to go hiking the next day. I took a bunch of Tylenol, drank some water and put a damp towel around my neck. The headache was still there in the morning. This brings me to the miracle of caffeine. I don't know why, but sometimes (not always) a little caffeine is enough to make all the pain go away. I had a Starbucks Double Shot drink in my bag and Natalie was kind enough to buy me a cup of coffee downstairs in the hotel. Within an hour, the beast of a migraine had subsided enough for me to choose the more difficult hike up to the top of the mountain.
The ride up to Manmul-San ("san" means mountain) was a half hour of steep climbing and lots of switchbacks. We (Coman and I- Jemma and Natalie took the easier trail to the lake) arrived at the trail head at the same time as a few thousand (this might be a slight, but not overly elaborate exaggeration) other tourists! A ll the buses leave from the hotel area at the same time and there is nothing else to do but to go hiking- so there we all were. Between the migraine and the pushy Koreans, the first hour or so of the hike was not the most fun I've ever had. But after a while people spread out, the headache all but disappeared, and the hike became wonderfully enjoyable. It was steep and there was a lot of ice and snow, but the views were out of this world! At times I had to stop and rest, but I didn't mind sitting for a few minutes to take it all in. Though I had motivation to keep going because I was starting to get dehydrated and Coman had agreed to carry my backpack in exchange for me letting him keep his water in it. But he had trudged on ahead of me early on and was no where in sight. Whenever the going started to get rough, I just kept on telling myself there was water at the top.
There was more than water at the top. When I finally reached it, the first view of the other side of the mountain was of the East Sea. Even on an overcast day, with the fog and haze, it was a sight to see! If there is anything I love more than hiking in the mountains, it's sitting by the sea and here you could do both. At one point, it started to snow a little. It was exhilarating!
Coman was at the top waiting and we sat for a moment before he was rushing back off with my pack again. I lingered longer, not wanting to forget the moment. Then I took my time as I shuffled back down. Going down is always harder for me because of my bad knee, and the ice didn't make it any easier. There were 70 year old ladies pushing past me, but I was in no hurry. I didn't have to be anywhere and I was enjoying being outside.
When I finally got back down, Coman was no where to be found. I assumed he took an earlier bus back to the tourist area and I got on the next one leaving, but I couldn't find him there either. Again, I needed my bag, this time because I had no money on me. I looked around for Jemma and Natalie, but I couldn't find them either. I finally convinced the host of the buffet restaurant to let me in to look for my friends. There were Jemma and Natalie, but still no Coman. Where did he go? Jemma bought me lunch and half way through, Coman came in looking for us! We must have passed each other on the mountain. He was able to get the guide to let him take a different path down. So, I had though he was way ahead of me, but I had actually gotten down first.
We had a few hours to kill before the bus was leaving to head back home. There were some hot springs we could go soak in, which sounded to me like a great idea after a difficult hike, but though I'd bonded with the girls over the weekend, neither of them wanted to get naked with me. Rather, we decided to take a walk down to the giant picture of Kim Jung Il and Kim Il Sung. This meant that we had to walk down the road outside of the tourist zone. No pictures were allowed and we were not even allowed to snap our own shots of the monument to the "Great Ruler," but had to ask the bellhop at a nearby hotel to do it for us. I wondered what he thought. He was a fairly friendly guy and he didn't seem troubled to be taking multiple pictures for all the Westerners who were there. But, I couldn't help but wonder if he assumed that we were supporting his government. If he was proud. I felt strange about having my picture taken in front of this massive tribute to one of the world's worst (if not the worst) dictators. It just seemed like a strange thing to do, and yet, it also seemed like the kind of thing I might as well do since I was there.
As we walked back, we had to cross over a path that connect two of the North Korean villages. There were three North Koreans coming from the opposite direction. Natalie stopped to tie her shoe so that we might be able to cross paths with them. The guards we not fooled! Whistles started blaring and red flags went up. We were signaled to continue moving and the North Korean people had to stop until we were safely out of sight. I had to wonder why it was that some North Koreans are allowed to go hiking up in the mountains and talk to us if they wish and why others couldn't even cross paths with us. Were the people we'd been seeing on the mountain, all employees at the resorts? What kind of special training did they need to be allowed to interact with foreigners?
When we were safely on the other side, back into the tourist zone, it was time for Coman to get an action photo of us. He'd been trying to get a good one all weekend without any luck. He'd declined the idea that I take a picture of him jumping off the top of the mountain. So, we found a bench to jump from instead. He seemed to think that we could get a good shot using the timer on his camera, but that didn't work. So, we tried to explain our mission to a Korean man who was sitting at a nearby table. Three, four, five jumps later we still couldn't get the shot . By this time, we were gaining an audience. I can hear their thoughts What are the crazy foreigners doing now? We recruited a Western girl to take the photo, but she couldn't capture it either. Finally, a Korean man stepped in and volunteered to take it. "You have to jump on two," he told us. And it worked. We jumped on 2 he snapped the shot on 3, it was perfect! The best part was that after we got our shot, some of the Korean men who'd been watching up wanted to get their own action shot. Coman got it on the first try, using the Jump on 2 method! A good time was had by all!
We still had an hour or so to kill before leaving, so it was on to the duty free shop to find something that said "Made in the DPR Korea." (Ironically, North Korea is officially called The Democratic People's Republic of Korea.) A bottle of liquor seemed to have the added bonus of having liquor in it, so I took a look at some of the selections. There were some nice ones- blueberry wine, honey liquor, fur seal penis liquor- for stamina, of course! I ended up buying a snake liquor. When purchased for consumption in North Korea, it actually has a baby snake in it (!) but you can't take that one out of the country, so mine just has a picture of a snake on it. A set of hand carved wooden shot glasses completed my souvenir shopping. After a quick cup of coffee, we were back on the bus to return to Seoul.
Just before we were about to cross through the border, one of the guys on our bus informed the guide that he had accidentally brought his cell phone into North Korea and now he was scared about going back through the border. He had turned in his Korean cell phone, but had forgotten that he had his phone from his home country with him. He was pretty luck that he didn't get caught coming into the country, but what to do with the phone now? The tour guide frantically looked for a place to hide the phone on the bus- which is also inspected as it crosses the border. She ended up putting it inside a role of TP (which is used for TP, tissue and napkins and always available on the bus) and put it high up on the luggage rack.
Luckily, we crossed through and the phone was not found. However, two guys from our bus were stopped for questioning because one of them had a water spot on his ID card and the other's ID card had a small scratch on it. No one could tell us how long it would take or what the consequences would be. It took about 30 minutes or so, and the big conversation on the bus was whether or not the rubber gloves would be taken out during the interrogation. Luckily the guys were both allowed through, without so much as a fine and we were on our way again. Our guides encouraged us to wave to the North Korean guards along the road as we left. Most were stiff faces, but one actually raise up a hand. Our guide told us it was the first time she'd seen one of them wave back! Encouraged, we continued waving to every guard we saw, but there was nothing more from the North Koreans . However, as soon as we entered the South Korean part of the DMZ, the South Korean soldiers were more than enthusiastic about waving to us! It was a nice greeting and it felt good to be back.
Overall, I really enjoyed this weekend. I got to go hiking on two of the most beautiful trails I've ever been on, see an amazing acrobatic show, and bond really closely with some already good friends. However, it never once left my mind where I was. There must have been thousands of toursist in North Korea for the weekend, and it was still winter. I wondered how much money was being pumped into the communist government every week from tourism. Though I am glad to have had the experience, given the chance I wouldn't come back simply for that one reason alone.
I might feel differently if I had the feeling that I'd really gotten to see North Korea, but the entire set up was clearly designed to give a good impression of the place. There was no cultural exchange in any way that might encourage breaking down the barriers between north and south. I would say that rather than feeling like I know a little more about North Korea now, that I actually have a lot more questions: The North Koreans we were allowed to talk to all seemed content, if not happy- is it all a show or is that the way they really feel? What do they have to go through to be allowed to interact with foreigners on a regular basis? How are their lives different from the farmers in the village? What do both of these groups of people think about foreign visitors? Are their feelings different about South Korean toursists than about Western tourists? And if so, in what ways? Natalie saw a sign that said something to the effect of "America is the Enemy," do they think that I am their enemy? How much do they really know about the outside world? There must still be a generation alive which remembers Korea before the war? What do they think? What have they told their families? Do they really love and respect Kim Jung Il, or are they afraid to imply otherwise? People, especially people who live near this tourist area, must wonder what life is like beyond North Korea. I want to know so many things about these people, but there is no way for me to ask them.
While I can't say that I got to know much about the people of North Korea, I can say that I have a better visual understanding of their political climate. It's one thing to hear or read about a situation in the news, it's quite another thing to whitness it first hand. I had this same sort of feeling the first time I saw millions of people living in shanty towns in Mexico City. It's the sort of thing that once you've seen, you will never forget. I'm certain to pay greater attention when I hear North Korea mentioned in the future and do my part to raise awareness about this divided country.
