KUMGANSAN, KOREA (AGAIN)

Monday, November 06, 2006
NORTH KOREA (AGAIN)
i'm sure that most of you reading this think i'm completely crazy for doing it, but i went back to north korea...the same program i did back in march, but i did different hikes this time around...
i'm not going to rewrite the first part of the trip, (the bus from seoul, picking up IDs and visas, going through south korean customs, going through north korean customs,) as it was essentially the same (only a few minor differences) as last time...
after going through north korea customs, we got back on the bus, and drove to our hotel...we didn't get to check in, but we did get to drop off our bags, which was nice...it meant we didn't have to find them on a bus later in the day after hiking...this time we stayed in hotel oekumgang...a new hotel, it opened in august...it's staffed by chinese mostly...they speak korean, (i don't know how well, but enough to run the hotel) but if you look at them, it's not difficult to see that they aren't korean...my travel partner later discovered that they are hired to come for two years at a time...we decided that would be crazy boring...it's not like there is much of anything to do outside of work...they can't just go hiking on their own, and night life is nonexistant...after dropping off our bags, we got back on the bus for the 30 second ride (we later found out we could walk it, as it was so close, unlike the hotel last time, where walking was NOT an option) to the shopping area...we bought tickets for lunch and the acrobats, and after only a little discussion, dinner tickets so we could eat north korean food...more on that later...
after the ticket purchases, we got back on the bus and headed toward the hike for the first day...it was the same hike as the last trip, so i'll spare you most of the details...howeva, this time the weather was very different...beautiful fall weather...the leaves were all sorts of colors, it was beautiful...it was nice to have secure footing too, instead of slipping quite a bit on ice and snow...we hiked up to the temple, same as last time...howeva, on the way down there was a little turnoff that i didn't get to do last time...(after hiking it, i know why...it would've been fairly dangerous with the ice and snow last time)...not knowing what we were getting ourselves into, we decided to do it...we saw some steps going up, but figured "how hard can it be?"...20-25 minutes later, after going continually UP, we finally got to the top...absolutely beautiful, and we got to take a couple pictures that were the same view seen on a couple of the postcards available...awesome...after coming down all of that, both of us ate some of the food we had brought along...let me tell you, i've never had an apple taste so good...
lunch was the same lunch we had the last time...bibimbap as the main course with a number of side dishes...
after lunch, we got back on the bus, and went back to the shopping area...we decided to go see the lake (samilpo) as that was an option we hadn't had last time...it was pretty, and this time there were two north korean ladies (at different spots) talking about the lake, it's history and all that...one of them sang a couple songs, they were neat to hear...i really wish i had been able to understand what they were saying...after the walk around the lake, it was back on the busses for the ride back to the shopping platz...when we got back, we even had time to go to the hotel, check in, and "freshen up"...(brush our teeth, take off sweaty undergarments, revel in the fact that we got to stay in a suite!!!!!!!!!)...
we went to the acrobatic performance, which was slightly different this time...i suppose they have to mix it up, since they do the same thing every day...they didn't drop any of the trapeze artists this time, it was impressive...
dinner that night was at the hotel we stayed in the first time...we thought we were buying tickets for a buffet...but it didn't work out quite that way...we were seated, and they started bringing out food...small plates with just a bit of everything, so it didn't seem like a lot...but it just kept coming...by the time they brought out the soup and rice, we were both stuffed...tofu, a roll with meat in the middle, rootlike veggies to put into lettuce leaves, acorn jelly, fish nuggets, sweet potato, rice, chicken soup, little meatballs, mandu, and finally, tea to finish the meal...after eating, we wandered outside, and i looked at the mural that was in front of the hotel...the last time we were in north korea, it was a picture of kim il sung on a park bench, reading to kids...(or something like that)...they had changed it...this time, it was a picture of father and son...kim il-sung and kim jong-il...(kim jr was painted to look a lot more slim than he is in real life)...though i don't know if i was supposed to, of course i took a picture...
back to the hotel, just chilling and relaxing, watching a little tv...(a luxury most north koreans don't have...if they do have it, they don't get to watch the channels our hotel has, like cnn)...i ended up falling asleep around 9pm...my traveling partner wanted to see the bar in the hotel, called the sky lounge...it was on the 12th floor, and apparently was almost the entire floor...i fell asleep long before he got home...the next morning, when we got up, i asked him about it...turned out he was the only guest up there, and hadn't gotten back to the room until midnight...this was when he found out that the staff is mostly chinese, not south korean...even though he and the staff didn't really have any language in common, they communicated as well as possible...ivan asking details of their work, them asking him about his life...
the next morning our alarms (and wake up call) went off at 630am...so early...same deal as last time, checking out at 730am...only this time, instead of doing the walk around the lake and the seashore, we chose to do the hike called manmulsang...the bus ride to the starting point was 11 km, mostly switchbacks for the last 10km...i've gotta give credit to the bus driver...normally i get very carsick on those sorts of drives, but i didn't feel a darn thing...we got out, and started the hike, with all the craziness that comes from people sorting themselves out...the people who mosey...the people who want to do the hike in world record time...the older ladies who hike in dress flats...(i saw several women who fit this description)...this hike was much like the second part of the previous day's hike...going up up up...only it went on for a lot longer...great views though...going up could basically be divided into two halves...the second half was rather windy...in a couple pictures ivan took, my hair is nearly straight up over my head...i did have some fear of being blown off the mountain...howeva, when we got to the top of manyeongdae (a cliff) we were able to see the shore in the distance...it would've been even better if there hadn't been any haze...definitely worth all the wind and steps...going down ended up being tougher for me than all the going up...my legs just weren't used to supporting me going down down down down...a lot of the way down was uneven, making my footing not so good...ivan was great at it though, he didn't seem to have any problems getting all the way down...
after the hike, the routine was the same as the last trip...shop a bit, kill time for several hours, then do everything backwards...north korean customs, south korean customs, then the bus ride back to seoul...
another great trip, even though it was short and i didn't understand nearly everything that was said by anyone other than ivan...the next time i go back to north korea (and i really hope there is a next time) i want to go to a different area, see another part of the country...here's hoping that works out sometime:)

KUMGANSAN, KOREA

The trip started with a bus ride from Seoul to the town just south of the North Korean border, Goseong. The bus left at 11pm Friday night, and arrived at Goseong at 3 a.m. We were herded off the bus and into a house where we slept for a couple hours on a floor heated in the traditional Korean fashion – by hot water pipes.
When we were woken up by the bus driver, we sleepwalked back onto the bus, and went to a hotel to pick up our ID/visa holders (these were extremely important: we had to wear them at all times). The next three hours were a tedious process; getting through South Korean emigration was slow because we had to go through the “foreigner” line.

We got onto a different bus to ride through the demilitarized zone (DMZ), and were immediately informed that it was against the rules to take pictures while on the bus at any time during the trip. The DMZ is the world’s most heavily fortified border. The bridges have concrete on either side that is filled with explosives. If North Korea ever decides to invade South Korea again, those bridges will be blown up so that tanks have no way to travel south. At regular points along the road, we saw guards posted, who were no doubt watching every move the bus made.

We knew that the North Korean soldiers were armed, and that there were probably quite a few more observing us that we didn’t see. We all wondered what goes through the minds of the soldiers as they regularly watch the tour buses going back and forth. We slowed down as we got closer to North Korean immigration, and we were able to get closer looks at the faces of these soldiers; very bland faces that showed no emotion.
Going through North Korean immigration was not exactly an organized process. As everyone piled off the buses, we were herded into an oversize tent, into lines that seemed to move very very slowly.

The officials who looked at our passports and visas at South Korean emigration were civilians. On the North Korean side, soldiers looked at our paperwork, and checked everything against the lists they had ahead of time. We figured that if our names hadn’t been listed correctly, we wouldn’t have been able to continue the trip. After finally making it through the lines, we got back on the buses, and rode to the central area of the “resort.”
Just before arriving at the resort, we passed by a ski run. The guide for our bus told us that since there hadn’t been enough snow this winter, it hadn’t been opened. We wondered when it had last been opened and used. There were no cable cars or T-bars, so I don’t know how skiers would have gotten to the top of the slope.

We left our bags on the original buses, switched buses (I’m not sure we ever figured out why those first buses weren’t used continuously,) and rode the new buses to where we started our hike. The hike was about 2.5 hours long, up and down stairs and a path. Some of it was covered in slightly melted snow, while some of it was clear.
It was frustrating because everyone had to hike together, but that's the way the rules worked on this trip. Every activity was planned, and deviating from the itinerary wasn’t an option.
The river along which we climbed was beautiful, and frozen in a number of places.

At the upper end of the hike was the 230-foot Guryong Falls waterfall flowing over a granite cliff. The waterfall was frozen as well. On my way down I slipped and fell a number of times, keeping people behind me highly entertained. The hike wasn’t strenuous, but when we finished, all of us were exhausted, mostly because no one had had a decent night of sleep.
After the hike was lunch, served in a restaurant staffed by North Koreans. As much as we would've liked to, we weren't really allowed to interact with them. They served us and that was about it. We again wondered what their thoughts were in seeing tourists all the time.

Lunch featured bibimbap, made the North Korean way, slightly different from the South Korean dish, a bowl of warm white rice topped with sauteed and seasoned vegetables, beef, a fried egg, and hot sauce. Our waitress was very emphatic in showing us the proper way to eat the meal, apparently she thought we wouldn’t know the proper technique.
Then it was back on the buses, and back to the shopping area. After hanging out for about an hour we boarded the buses again, and went to our hotels, and cleaned up after calling down to the front desk to get the heat, hot water and electricity turned on. North Korea doesn’t exactly have electricity to spare, so it isn’t on all day. Our little group checked in earlier than normal so the hot water hadn’t been turned on yet. We then got back on the buses again, and went back to the shopping area.

There we watched the Pyongyang Moranbong circus, an acrobatic performance. It was amazing. The North Korean performers were really talented, though I'm sure they had practiced for years. They presented all sorts of different acts: juggling, bicycle/unicycle riding, trapeze artists, etc. For those who didn’t fall asleep from the really long day, it was a great performance.
Dinnertime was another experience we’d never had before. There was a food court and after examining menus, we chose the restaurant we wanted, even our specific menu items. But when we tried to order, we were told that those items weren’t available.

So we walked to our second choice, and again tried to order. We tried to order chicken, but were told that because of the avian flu, they hadn’t been able to get chicken. It was the first experience any of us had had with the bird flu.
After finally finding something to eat, we got back on the buses to the hotel. You've probably gotten the idea that we weren't allowed to walk anywhere by ourselves. It was true. Since it had been a long night/day, most in our group were in bed and nearly asleep by 9 p.m.
We woke up entirely too early, at 6:15 or so, had breakfast, and checked out by 7:40 a.m. Once again it was back on the bus to the shopping area, and a switch to another bus.
On Sunday we had the choice of two different areas to visit: The Manmulsang area of mountainous terrain and valleys, or Samilpo Lake and the Haegeumgang Seashore. Due to sheer exhaustion, our group chose the lake and the shore.

On the way to the shore we passed by what appeared to be a community meeting, as everyone was seated in straight rows, and there were several people at the front addressing the crowd. On our way from the shore to the lake, the meeting had broken up and a game of volleyball was taking place. We thought this might have been staged to a certain degree, so that the tourists could see North Koreans having a good time.
Both the shore and the lake were beautiful. In contrast to the previous day, seeing these areas involved strolling instead of hiking. After visiting both areas, we got back on the buses, and drove back to the shopping area.

Then came the part of the trip that wasn't fun: we had three hours to kill before boarding the buses to start the trip back. We found a coffee shop with comfortable chairs, and found ways to occupy our time: journal writing, addressing postcards, reading, etc…
Then we did everything backwards. We went through North Korean emigration, drove through the DMZ, and went through South Korean immigration. We switched buses (for the last time, yippee) and headed back to Seoul. Note: we did not get entry and exit stamps in our passports from North Korea, even though we'd all crossed an internationally recognized international border.

The trip was awesome. Sure, there were a lot of restrictions, which was frustrating, simply because we all wanted to see the real North Korea. In talking with the South Koreans on the tour, we found out that most of them wanted to do the tour for the hiking opportunities, not because of any political or personal interest in North Korea itself.
Only the roads the buses were driving on were paved, but North Koreans don't have cars, so they don't need paved roads.
Some of them have bikes, but that's about it.

We were told what we were allowed to take pictures of, and what we weren't. It goes without saying that we still took pictures of some of the things we were supposed to avoid.
The rules boiled down to this: we were allowed to take pictures of nature, but not of human made things, or of North Koreans. No pictures were to be taken while we were on the bus.
We found out at the end of the trip that the North Korean government had told the villagers the times the buses would be passing by. They are supposed to stay inside during those times.

But as many restrictions as we felt we had, the North Koreans live under a much more repressive government. In order to build the area where we stayed, at least one village was moved. North Koreans aren’t allowed to just pick up and move, the government dictates where they are allowed to live. If the government says the village needs to move, then the village moves.
We didn't get to see the real North Korea, but since that won't be an opportunity for a while, I'll take what I can, while I can.
Anyone who has a chance to get there: do it!!!