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Sign in with FacebookLatest P'yongyang hotel reviews
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A city with a lot of sights
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unique, impressive, separate, breathtaking
In a nutshell
Give it a try. Make the world a more peaceful place.
Orchid Says: On our visit to P'yongyang, the grand plaza at Mansudae Hill, where stood the 'modest' 20m tall bronze statue of Great Leader Kim il Sung, was off limits because of the festivities of Party Founding Day. So we just saw it from afar, up on Moran Hill.The next year, after his...
A War. As Seen by the Victorious Fatherland
Orchid Says: It is instructive to hear the view of the DPRK about the war which divided the Korean Peninsula, and has sundered two families and friends for over 60 years. To this end, one can visit, with ones guides, the Victorious Fatherland Liberation War Museum, and hear the 'truth'...
Orchid Says: One of the more loopy items on our itinerary was a visit to the P'yongyang Flower Show, a seemingly permanent exhibition devoted to the display of just two flowers, the kimilsungia (purple orchid) and kimiljongia (red begonia). In this incarnation it was to celebrate the...
Orchid Says: The central Public Library of P'yongyang is located on Kim il Sung Square, on it's eastern side, overlooking the Taedong River. Our guided tour took us through the grand marble entrance hall, to experience the various services available to residents of P'yongyang. There are...
Celebrating the Eternal Leader
Orchid Says: One of the experiences/duties you have as a visitor to the DPRK is to attend the Kumususan Memorial Palace, to view and pay your respects to the founder of the republic. This is an extremely serious and solemn event, and a fascinating insight into the personality cult which...
Orchid Says: The Mass Games, when they are on, is THE highlight of a trip to the DPRK. They are usually held to celebrate major national holidays. The games were held in October 2010, coinciding with our visit. The games are a massed synchronized gymnastic, dancing acrobatic and marching...
Orchid Says: This activity will horrify some folk. But eating dog is a Korean tradition, and the opportunity arose to try it instead of the standard fare at the Yanggakdo Hotel on the October 10 holiday celebrating the Foundation of the Worker's party of Korea.From our group, half of us...
32 Opinions
8 Reviews and 122 Opinions We were in P'yongyang during the week of the 65th anniversary of the foundation of the Korean...
Revolving Restaurant (Yanggakdo Hotel): Food with a View
DSwede Says: Most of the restaurants that tourists will be able to eat at have the same basic menus and quality of food. The revolving restaurant on the top of the Yanggakdo Hotel offers a basic breakfast for guests, but also offers a room with a view while having either a dinner or a...
any restaurant: North Korea's famous Cold Noodle Soup
DSwede Says: I've had Korean Cold Noodle Soup many times, but only once in North Korea. All the other times were south of the border.But in all the Koreans I've spoken to, they all said North Korean's "Nang Myeung" (Cold Noodle) is the most famous food of North Korea, other than...
Pyongyang at night: Not much in the way of nightlife!
Willettsworld Says: This is a shot I took of a view over Pyongyang at about 8pm from my hotel room on the 39th floor of the Yanggakdo Hotel. I think most people have seen a night satellite image of the whole of North Korea where there is hardly any lights to be seen. Well a few lights are on...
Orchid Says: The DPRK has excellent tunneling technology, and in P'yongyang it is visible to us when we make our guided visit to the local metro. The tour is between 2 stations only, Puhung, near the Mansudae Art Studios, and Yonggwang, close to the Pyongyang Railway Station. The...
Willettsworld Says: Apart from Air China, the only other way in to North Korea by air is with their national carrier - Air Koryo - infamous for being the only airline to be rated 1 star currently by Skytrax. As part of my trip itinerary, I flew in from Beijing with Air Koryo on an old looking...
On the train to China: Can't buy one here
Orchid Says: In the dining car of the chinese train, en route back to Beijing There are quite a few things you can't buy in the DPRK. The prime example is of course, the Kim il Sung badge, proudly worn by all members of the Korean Worker's Party. Which is, practically everyone you...
Stamp Shop: Postcard and Philatelists' Dream
Vamanosxx Says: Willettsworld already wrote about the stamp shop but I just wanted to add that it's THE place to buy postcards. They have a lot of run of the mill postcards but if you want to fill your friends' mailboxes with socialist propaganda, this is your place. Twenty of my friends'...
Willettsworld Says: Dotted around the city are small stalls that sell fruit juices and, I think, cider etc. I went up to one that was on the corner of the foreign language bookshop we visited and tried to buy something with the North Korean Won that I obtained from my hotel only to get a...
Being asked to delete pictures you have taken
Orchid Says: Your guide may ask you to delete certain photos you have taken at any time during your stay in the DPRK. This need not be a problem, so long as you are prepared.You will need.1) Spare memory cards2) Data retrieval software (e.g PC Inspector Smart Recovery)So go ahead and...
5th Floor Weirdness at the Yanggakdo
Vamanosxx Says: VT member scilist from Paris piqued my interest in visiting the 5th floor of the Yanggakdo Hotel. He called it scary. What could be so scary in a hotel?My first night in Pyongyang, I asked my guides if they knew what was on the 5th floor but they said they didn't. Later that...
Mini-golf at the Yanggakdo Hotel
Willettsworld Says: This was another surreal moment whilst in Pyongyang - playing mini-golf at our hotel - the Yanggakdo. Even though I don't play golf, a few of my fellow tour members did and were itching to play a round on a lovely summer's evening. Don't ask me how much things were but they...
Willettsworld Says: This large stadium overlooks the Arch of Triumph and was built on the site of a Japanese baseball field during their occupation of Korea. It was then rebuilt in 1969 when it was renamed the Moranbong Stadium, but its name was changed, in 1982, to its current name in honour...
DSwede Says: It is hard to imagine that in a city of its size, most life stops at sunset. Electricity is a premium that most locals cannot afford, so the skyline at night is void of many lights. The only lights you are guaranteed to see are those illuminating important monuments or more...
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Pyongyang - Kim Il Sung's blank canvas
Pyongyang is the capital city of North Korea and will be your arrival and departure point if you're ever thinking of planning a trip here. It is believed that between 2-2.5 million people live here......
From the 39th floor the Skyline of Pyongyang looks just like every other capital in the world. But with a closer look you will miss cars, you will see unpaved roads, no lights at night and no...
There aren't many ways to enter the country. Flight from Beijing is one option and making this photo is only time in North Korea that you'll make photo without control. Great Leader welcomes you (and...
For more comments in general, please visit my North Korea (DPRK) page. P'yongyang is the capital of North Korea, with a population of ~2.3 million people, it is 1/6 the size of S Korea's capital of...
Shakespeare was big on the pathetic fallacy, the idea that somehow nature is in tune with portentous human events. In Shakespeare's plays the thunder rolls and the lightning flashes whenever some...
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