North Korea Travel Guide

North Korea is a pleasant enough country to travel to if you don’t mind adhering to loads of restricting rules and regulations.

You cannot travel independently in the country. That is the reason that the number of tourists is only in the few hundreds here. Your freedom of movement will be hampered here, not to mention your freedom of expression. You can neither hire a car nor take a taxi. You can only move around with authorised guides. 

The country, however, has beautiful coastal views and mountain scenes to savor. It is the northern part of the Korean Peninsula. South of it is South Korea. The East Sea & the Korean bay are on both sides of the Korean landmass. It shares the northern border with China. On the northeast, there is Russia.

There are very few places on earth where you can find a homogenous culture. Because of the development and the efficient communication facilities, you would think that North Korea has modern vibes. But it is closed off.

You can visit the country in the summer season, as winters can be very harsh.

The eastern coast on the end of the East Sea is called Donghae Coast. The Western coast on the end of Korea Bay is called Pyongan. The capital city is Pyongyang. Other cities are Nampho, Wonsan, Kaesong, Chongjin, and Rason. Natural attractions include the seven mountains Chilbosan, the diamond mountains Kumgangsan and the Fragrant Mountain Myohyangsan.

You need to book a trip with a travel agency, which will help you move around the destinations, because you cannot get around on your own in the country. The tour buses will take you to the assigned location.

Korean is the official language, but your guides will speak English. Communicating with the locals will be easy.

The currency used here is the North Korean won. One hundred won is equal to one USD. You need to use cash because most places do not accept credit cards. Most of your trip’s expense will be on lodging. The tourist’s hotels will charge you from USD 100- USD 200 depending on the type of accommodation you choose. The food and alcohol prices are pretty reasonable. One beer bottle can cost you $2.

As for electricity, North Korea uses types A and C sockets. You need to find out, which one your facility has and whether you need to bring a travel adapter to fit the proper socket type. Check out the above-linked page to see the photos and other useful information. The standard voltage can also be 110V or 220 V.  Many of your devices may need a step-up transformer to match the electrical voltage.

A journey here will be interesting if you do not mind being told what to do.

August 15, 2016 12:00 am Published by Neha Rizal Leave your thoughts