North Korea Travel Diary, recording what you see and hear during your trip to North Korea

On the way from Sinuiju to Pyongyang, the scenery outside the window was lackluster. The on-board tour guide kindly reminded you not to take pictures of soldiers on the road. Along the way we saw many train stations, residential buildings and passers-by on bicycles. We occasionally saw farmers raising chickens in the fields, which was very novel. When the train entered Pyongyang, my calm heart finally became a little excited.

The Ryugyong Building, which I had seen many times on the Internet, truly appeared in front of me, and tall buildings came into view. The train slowly stopped at Pyongyang Station, and two North Korean tour guides had already greeted us on the platform. As I expected, it was two more North Korean beauties. I was secretly happy that I could appreciate beautiful women again during the trip.

During our few days in Pyongyang, we visited subway stations, schools, the People's Great Study Hall, etc., and guided by two beautiful tour guides, we visited the bustling Future Scientists Street in Pyongyang. If you ask me how I feel about North Korea, I think it has a prosperous side and a simple side. Sometimes I really want to walk freely on the streets of Pyongyang, but I can only think about it. Because two North Korean beauties will not let us run around in the streets.

On the streets of North Korea, I have seen such propaganda slogans many times, and we have nothing to envy. Because I understand some Korean, I can also understand some of North Korea’s propaganda slogans. I used to read travel notes written by others, saying that North Korean tour guides like to praise their own country without thinking. But when I spent time with the two tour guides, I felt that they were very sincere and objective in talking about the country's achievements and difficulties. On the tour bus, the tour guide mentioned the current economic situation in North Korea, talking about the rapid economic development in the 1960s and 1970s and the economic difficulties in the 1990s. On the way to Panmunjeom, the tour guide told many stories about the exchanges between North and South Korea.

According to the tour guide, the founder of modern Korea once drove a group of scalpers back to his hometown in North Korea. I have not checked whether the story is true. I just remember that when the North Korean tour guide told these stories, he was particularly moved. When talking about the Gyeongui Line, which has been closed for many years, the tour guide was also filled with emotion. North and South Korea are obviously connected by railways, but they are not open to traffic. You can hear the tone of the tour guide full of regret.