1385
North Korea on the eve of the war
According to the official, Kim Jong Il was born on the sacred Mount Baekdu. At birth, the leader of the sky, a new shining star. (In fact, he was born in the village of Vyatskoe Khabarovsk Krai and his real name is Yuri).
Everything he touched the leader in Korea, is now a shrine. Each statue is required to bow down to the floor. If we sometimes come across in the homes of the icon, then in Korea without fail in every home (class waiting room, subway, etc.) there are portraits of the leaders: a father and son (Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il). Chronology of the country is carried out by Kim Il Sung Christmas (now there is 102-th year). When the leader died, the sun began to shine a much dimmer, and the orbit of the Earth has shifted a bit, which was recorded by scientists around the world.
Most of all, North Korea's modern life resembles the activity of a religious sect.
In North Korea, you can not come yourself. It can only be visited as part of an organized group. Immediately upon arrival in the country have taken into custody two guides and a driver. For the next week we spent under their scrutiny. And not only them, periodically, we noticed different people who obviously watched us and even photographed. Leave the hotel unaccompanied by a guide are strictly prohibited. The hotel itself is located on an island in a river in Pyongyang. Control is truly total: guides know what you eat, where to go to a hotel that photograph. All rooms at the hotel are monitored (but more on that in the tour operator has warned Moscow).
View from hotel
The country has big problems with electricity. Even in the capital city lights give only from 8 pm to midnight. But even in our hotel the tension was so weak that a liter of water in the kettle to boil for 20 minutes of light is not even on public transport. Trams run from the unlit interior, even in the dark. Almost all of the country's electricity is available is spent on the rotation of centrifuges at a uranium enrichment plant and recharge voltage barbed wire around the perimeter girded the country. The apartments are for the most part light bulbs Ilyich.
Evening Pyongyang resembles a ghost town
With all transport problems. No private cars and bicycles mandatory are registered. The car in a private property may only be the case if the person you gave it to the leader, ie almost never. People have only bicycles. Each bike is mandatory shall be registered.
In Pyongyang, the standard of living is much higher than abroad. But even Phenyanu bus took us only for strictly defined streets, even if it was not on the road. Photograph of the bus is impossible. In general, you can take pictures only where the guide and allows only the direction in which it resolves. Out of the situation as best they could: in modern cameras have a silent shooting mode, but it is silent nominally, but in reality it is little heard. Our guide immediately noticed that we take pictures of the bus and even began to view my photos, removing some of it was not pleasant. The next time the camera had to be wrapped in a jacket to completely remove the shutter sound. So sorry for the curvature of the photos.
And take pictures of the windows was that.
City streets
The queue at the trolley
Almost everyone in the country is done by hand
Repair pavement
Road repair
Even railways repaired bare hands. The labor force are almost free.
The country has almost no oil, and this has two main consequences: the almost complete absence in the country and asphalt trucks with wood. The road is just awful: naked, dispersed between a concrete slab instead of asphalt. 200 kilometers of road in the country in the absence of vehicles taken from us 4:00 time.
A truck with a wood rod really exist, although very slow ride.
In the country there are two seas: the West Korea (Yellow) and East Korea (Japan). All approaches to the sea tight barbed wire under tension. The official version, voiced by a guide, it's made for the Japanese and other imperialists have not landed on Korean soil with water. In reality, people are deprived of the last possibility to escape from the country.
Every day, tourists in Korea is painted to the minute. Deviations from the program are inadmissible. If we go to a restaurant or shop, the only one that is provided by the program. Restaurant opened specially for us, so that intersect with the local community there is no way.
You ate too selective eating habits, it can become a problem for you: the restaurant has no menu - it brought, then eat. All meals on schedule. Is Korean food is very difficult. All the food is awful sharp. Once eaten, even the dog. Carry only exemplary places where the guide proudly allowed to take pictures, but even they look monstrous. For example, exemplary kindergarten. Children sing a patriotic song.
Children prepared for the arrival of foreign guests and they happily waved us handles
Required attributes exemplary kindergarten: swing
Carousel
Exemplary School. Physical education classes for children associated with one foot: and Sports, and build at the same time learn how to run.
Wedding
In any exemplary institution all do, pretend that nothing is happening, and they have worked before your arrival. Although it is clear that all people are cruelly vydresirovany. Exemplary farm, for a visit to which we drove halfway across the country. There's even a tractor.
But even in this farm we look like "outsiders»
Outside exemplary state farm plow for the most part on cows. Tractor - is a wonder for the Korean market. When I see a cow and pulled by a man standing knee-deep in mud, I remember the look on the other side of the field 38 parallel, in South Korea the field are processed without any human intervention using a completely automated harvesting are guided by GPS. But for the most part work only with your bare hands.
Cow's craving used even in the suburbs of Pyongyang and just in small towns.
When cows no harness children
Exemplary hairdresser
It is a sacred persimmon. Once the leader looked at the tree and since then it bears fruit for three. This story is particularly interesting is that it does not just believe - tell it to tourists. People do not doubt creeps in divine power of their leaders.
The guides always ask the same questions: who are working (although it is so well aware of our profiles from the embassy), what you do, not a journalist you, whether you have the GPS-receiver on the phone. After each conversation guide all records. To tell each other something quiet is almost impossible: a guide just puts his head and listens to you - the feeling that they take an exam at the hearing before becoming guides. Phones did not take the way, but rewrote and declared them to the airport - the use of them is still not there, neither one mobile operator roaming there. Forced to declare not only all the electronic devices, but also all printed materials. Any books must be declared when entering the country. In general your suitcase at the airport had to wait half an hour - probably for a long time carried from the plane :)
All maps depict a unified Korea. The southern part is considered to be occupied by the Americans.
Worship leaders truly fantastic. The mausoleum consists of a huge double temple complex, one of which is assigned to the father, the other - the son. Even tourist visits mavzoleniya is a long chain of rituals. Tourists are allowed only in a strict dress. At the entrance to the mausoleum is necessary to clean the soles of their shoes, and then hand over all the things in a locker. This is followed by an escalator length of 1 kilometer (so said the guide, but there are suspicions that the escalator is actually somewhat shorter), which travels at a speed of 2 kilometers per hour. Walk the escalator can not stand can not be leaning, hands in his pockets stuff too - as long as you go on the escalator only soldier to stand and listen to patriotic music playing from everywhere. And it only halfway up the corpse. The body lay in a huge hall. Going to the body, is one bow at the feet of the front and three on the other sides of the bow.
Then, the whole story is repeated with another leader.
Mausoleum outside. Inside is strictly forbidden to photograph or even a coin from his pocket asked to surrender.
On the streets full of soldiers. Military addition to the main purpose of doing all that you want, for example, repairing streets.
In Korea, there are almost no traffic lights. But a lot of controllers. Almost all regulators - women.
Advocacy and distortion of history has a fantastic scale. I think that if you give these people a history textbook, they simply will not believe what it says - so clearly the facts from the textbook will contrast with their view of the world.
The guide follows closely to your photos or in case something does not crop the image of the leader, even if it is an icon in the subway - God forbid, take a picture of a statue without a head.
Generally subway in Pyongyang monumental - all modeled on the Soviet Union. We even rode one station. Metro ticket costs 1 ruble of our money (according to the guide)
I do not know where the Communists such love to gray. It seems that there are no colored buildings.
I did many times in "banana" republics and always firmly believed that there people are to blame for their laziness and their poverty. But here the situation is fundamentally different. People in Korea are working from dawn to dusk and have one day off every 10 days (in the cities of once every 7 days), but all the work of these people is to maintain the power of the existing regime, on its service. In contrast to the "banana" republics, these people are not to blame for their poverty. These people often have nothing to eat, but they have the atomic bomb. This is very clearly characterizes the regime. The guide did not hesitate to say that those who are not hard wept at the funeral of the leader, was sentenced to one year of corrective labor.
Generally in Korea is not terrible. There's complete isolation and no information gets outside. Cause for concern, we were given only once. When entering the country we have passports, and then on the fifth day suddenly returned, even though the flight we only had 2 days. And returned them to us on the Day of the Sun (the birthday of the leader), ie, on the day when many expected the rocket launch and generally almost the beginning of the war. All anything, but in passports means that we have left the country on April 17, although the court was only 15 numbers. Those. Stamp was a future date. But nothing terrible happened.
Front view of the Pyongyang top
And finally a few more photos
Source: boyarinoff.livejournal.com
Everything he touched the leader in Korea, is now a shrine. Each statue is required to bow down to the floor. If we sometimes come across in the homes of the icon, then in Korea without fail in every home (class waiting room, subway, etc.) there are portraits of the leaders: a father and son (Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il). Chronology of the country is carried out by Kim Il Sung Christmas (now there is 102-th year). When the leader died, the sun began to shine a much dimmer, and the orbit of the Earth has shifted a bit, which was recorded by scientists around the world.
Most of all, North Korea's modern life resembles the activity of a religious sect.
In North Korea, you can not come yourself. It can only be visited as part of an organized group. Immediately upon arrival in the country have taken into custody two guides and a driver. For the next week we spent under their scrutiny. And not only them, periodically, we noticed different people who obviously watched us and even photographed. Leave the hotel unaccompanied by a guide are strictly prohibited. The hotel itself is located on an island in a river in Pyongyang. Control is truly total: guides know what you eat, where to go to a hotel that photograph. All rooms at the hotel are monitored (but more on that in the tour operator has warned Moscow).
View from hotel
The country has big problems with electricity. Even in the capital city lights give only from 8 pm to midnight. But even in our hotel the tension was so weak that a liter of water in the kettle to boil for 20 minutes of light is not even on public transport. Trams run from the unlit interior, even in the dark. Almost all of the country's electricity is available is spent on the rotation of centrifuges at a uranium enrichment plant and recharge voltage barbed wire around the perimeter girded the country. The apartments are for the most part light bulbs Ilyich.
Evening Pyongyang resembles a ghost town
With all transport problems. No private cars and bicycles mandatory are registered. The car in a private property may only be the case if the person you gave it to the leader, ie almost never. People have only bicycles. Each bike is mandatory shall be registered.
In Pyongyang, the standard of living is much higher than abroad. But even Phenyanu bus took us only for strictly defined streets, even if it was not on the road. Photograph of the bus is impossible. In general, you can take pictures only where the guide and allows only the direction in which it resolves. Out of the situation as best they could: in modern cameras have a silent shooting mode, but it is silent nominally, but in reality it is little heard. Our guide immediately noticed that we take pictures of the bus and even began to view my photos, removing some of it was not pleasant. The next time the camera had to be wrapped in a jacket to completely remove the shutter sound. So sorry for the curvature of the photos.
And take pictures of the windows was that.
City streets
The queue at the trolley
Almost everyone in the country is done by hand
Repair pavement
Road repair
Even railways repaired bare hands. The labor force are almost free.
The country has almost no oil, and this has two main consequences: the almost complete absence in the country and asphalt trucks with wood. The road is just awful: naked, dispersed between a concrete slab instead of asphalt. 200 kilometers of road in the country in the absence of vehicles taken from us 4:00 time.
A truck with a wood rod really exist, although very slow ride.
In the country there are two seas: the West Korea (Yellow) and East Korea (Japan). All approaches to the sea tight barbed wire under tension. The official version, voiced by a guide, it's made for the Japanese and other imperialists have not landed on Korean soil with water. In reality, people are deprived of the last possibility to escape from the country.
Every day, tourists in Korea is painted to the minute. Deviations from the program are inadmissible. If we go to a restaurant or shop, the only one that is provided by the program. Restaurant opened specially for us, so that intersect with the local community there is no way.
You ate too selective eating habits, it can become a problem for you: the restaurant has no menu - it brought, then eat. All meals on schedule. Is Korean food is very difficult. All the food is awful sharp. Once eaten, even the dog. Carry only exemplary places where the guide proudly allowed to take pictures, but even they look monstrous. For example, exemplary kindergarten. Children sing a patriotic song.
Children prepared for the arrival of foreign guests and they happily waved us handles
Required attributes exemplary kindergarten: swing
Carousel
Exemplary School. Physical education classes for children associated with one foot: and Sports, and build at the same time learn how to run.
Wedding
In any exemplary institution all do, pretend that nothing is happening, and they have worked before your arrival. Although it is clear that all people are cruelly vydresirovany. Exemplary farm, for a visit to which we drove halfway across the country. There's even a tractor.
But even in this farm we look like "outsiders»
Outside exemplary state farm plow for the most part on cows. Tractor - is a wonder for the Korean market. When I see a cow and pulled by a man standing knee-deep in mud, I remember the look on the other side of the field 38 parallel, in South Korea the field are processed without any human intervention using a completely automated harvesting are guided by GPS. But for the most part work only with your bare hands.
Cow's craving used even in the suburbs of Pyongyang and just in small towns.
When cows no harness children
Exemplary hairdresser
It is a sacred persimmon. Once the leader looked at the tree and since then it bears fruit for three. This story is particularly interesting is that it does not just believe - tell it to tourists. People do not doubt creeps in divine power of their leaders.
The guides always ask the same questions: who are working (although it is so well aware of our profiles from the embassy), what you do, not a journalist you, whether you have the GPS-receiver on the phone. After each conversation guide all records. To tell each other something quiet is almost impossible: a guide just puts his head and listens to you - the feeling that they take an exam at the hearing before becoming guides. Phones did not take the way, but rewrote and declared them to the airport - the use of them is still not there, neither one mobile operator roaming there. Forced to declare not only all the electronic devices, but also all printed materials. Any books must be declared when entering the country. In general your suitcase at the airport had to wait half an hour - probably for a long time carried from the plane :)
All maps depict a unified Korea. The southern part is considered to be occupied by the Americans.
Worship leaders truly fantastic. The mausoleum consists of a huge double temple complex, one of which is assigned to the father, the other - the son. Even tourist visits mavzoleniya is a long chain of rituals. Tourists are allowed only in a strict dress. At the entrance to the mausoleum is necessary to clean the soles of their shoes, and then hand over all the things in a locker. This is followed by an escalator length of 1 kilometer (so said the guide, but there are suspicions that the escalator is actually somewhat shorter), which travels at a speed of 2 kilometers per hour. Walk the escalator can not stand can not be leaning, hands in his pockets stuff too - as long as you go on the escalator only soldier to stand and listen to patriotic music playing from everywhere. And it only halfway up the corpse. The body lay in a huge hall. Going to the body, is one bow at the feet of the front and three on the other sides of the bow.
Then, the whole story is repeated with another leader.
Mausoleum outside. Inside is strictly forbidden to photograph or even a coin from his pocket asked to surrender.
On the streets full of soldiers. Military addition to the main purpose of doing all that you want, for example, repairing streets.
In Korea, there are almost no traffic lights. But a lot of controllers. Almost all regulators - women.
Advocacy and distortion of history has a fantastic scale. I think that if you give these people a history textbook, they simply will not believe what it says - so clearly the facts from the textbook will contrast with their view of the world.
The guide follows closely to your photos or in case something does not crop the image of the leader, even if it is an icon in the subway - God forbid, take a picture of a statue without a head.
Generally subway in Pyongyang monumental - all modeled on the Soviet Union. We even rode one station. Metro ticket costs 1 ruble of our money (according to the guide)
I do not know where the Communists such love to gray. It seems that there are no colored buildings.
I did many times in "banana" republics and always firmly believed that there people are to blame for their laziness and their poverty. But here the situation is fundamentally different. People in Korea are working from dawn to dusk and have one day off every 10 days (in the cities of once every 7 days), but all the work of these people is to maintain the power of the existing regime, on its service. In contrast to the "banana" republics, these people are not to blame for their poverty. These people often have nothing to eat, but they have the atomic bomb. This is very clearly characterizes the regime. The guide did not hesitate to say that those who are not hard wept at the funeral of the leader, was sentenced to one year of corrective labor.
Generally in Korea is not terrible. There's complete isolation and no information gets outside. Cause for concern, we were given only once. When entering the country we have passports, and then on the fifth day suddenly returned, even though the flight we only had 2 days. And returned them to us on the Day of the Sun (the birthday of the leader), ie, on the day when many expected the rocket launch and generally almost the beginning of the war. All anything, but in passports means that we have left the country on April 17, although the court was only 15 numbers. Those. Stamp was a future date. But nothing terrible happened.
Front view of the Pyongyang top
And finally a few more photos
Source: boyarinoff.livejournal.com
