DPRK - Part 4

22 Mar 2016 . category: Travel . Comments
#DPRK

Day 3: A Day of Contrasts

Kumsusan Palace of the Sun

We began the day at the mausoleum for Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il, a massive complex built for Kim Il Sung during his life, and then converted into a resting place for first him and then his son. It was hands-down the strangest place we visited all week.

Before going, we had been given strict guidelines about this day, mostly about “looking smart,” e.g. no jeans, hoodies, etc. The guides ended up being a bit laxer than I expected, so I wore just a sweater over a collared shirt. All the North Koreans we saw visiting wore complete suits though, with many women wearing the traditional Korean dress.

Upon entering the complex, everyone was subjected to a security search, and then we were sent along a long set of moving walkways and escalators with patriotic music playing and smiling pictures of the leaders. In this area, we were asked to keep our hands at our sides and not talk or laugh. It seems that this part of the complex was specifically designed to create feelings of solemnity and grandeur. We then stepped into the mausoleum area itself, a beautifully palatial building with floor to ceiling marble. I’ve read that the renovations to this building cost at least $100 million and perhaps several times more, occurring around the same time as the North Korean Famine.

We also walked through several rooms that contained medals, awards, and honorary doctorates given to the Kims by other nations. We even saw a medal from the United States! In actuality, it seemed to be a commemorative medallion from Bill Clinton’s inagauration that I imagine you can pick up on eBay…

Then came the main event, visiting the leaders. Kim Il Sun and Kim Jong Il each have their own rooms where their bodies lie in state: a central glass coffin in a darkened room with reddish lighting. We’re asked to make rows of four, with each row entering the room and bowing thrice: at his feet, left, and right sides. As you might imagine, this was quite surreal.

Before exiting the complex, we also saw the ships and train carriages used by the Kims, which evidently were surrounded by marble at great expense. We even saw a MacBook on the desk of Kim Jong Il! We weren’t able to take pictures within the building, but some can be found on the internet if you search around.

Revolutionary Martyrs’ Cemetery and Mansu Grand Hill Monument

Next was the Martyrs’ Cemetery, which memorializes certain Koreans who lost their lives resisting the Japanese. It’s clear that some of these martyrs have entered the national mythos, with one of our guides telling us a story about a martyr cutting out his own tongue while a POW to avoid spilling any secrets.

Finally before lunch we stopped at the great statues of the dear leaders on Mansudae, two 22 meter bronze works (in comparison, the statue at the Lincoln Memorial is roughly 6 meters tall). Here again, our group arranged ourselves and bowed to the leaders. We were also cautioned to include the whole bodies of both leaders in our pictures of the monuments out of respect. Here’s a photo of a wedding party that came through while we were there, one of around twenty (no one seemed to know why there were so many)!

Pub Crawl

After a solemn morning came the St. Patrick’s Day pub crawl: a day of contrasts indeed. The details of the pubs themselves aren’t too important, but many brewed their own (very cheap) beer which was quite good.

We were also able to stop by a department store, where nearly all the goods seemed to come from China. Albert and I did pick up some “Capri Sonne” which tasted pretty good, as well as a Korean knock-off of White Rabbit candy:

Also, a trip to a shooting range was added to the itinerary…after we had already had our first pub crawl stop. Thankfully, no one was injured, and I actually hit some of the targets! My first time ever shooting a gun, I’ll take it:

And someone else on the tour even paid extra to shoot at a pheasant which I think was given to our driver in the end.

Dinner and Haircut

At dinner, our guides and the local waitresses treated us to karaoke performances, with some of the more inebriated members of the party getting up to dance. I snuck in a couple of videos, they’re fantastic.

Back at the hotel, I was able to get my haircut in North Korea! Sadly they didn’t have the infamous approved haircuts sign or anything, so I just got my hair cut generically shorter. He’s a picture taken by our guide Mr. Pang who helpfully stuck around to translate:

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