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Sign in with FacebookLatest P'yongyang hotel reviews
Pro
A city with a lot of sights
Con
unique, impressive, separate, breathtaking
In a nutshell
Give it a try. Make the world a more peaceful place.
DSwede Says: The USS Pueblo was captured by the North Koreans in January 1968, off of the east coast of Korea. That is also the date when modern history ends in North Korea.It is not difficult to imagine how an unarmed surveillance boat manned by ~80 men was easily captured by the North...
The Ryugyong Hotel, unfinished "Hotel of Doom"
DSwede Says: The tallest structure in P'yongyang has sat unfinished and dormant for nearly 20 years. The pyramid-shaped hotel, which would have rivaled any hotel in any major city, has been left as a shell for all to see. The 105 story building has sat dormant with rusting tower crane...
Willettsworld Says: This was originally not on our tour itinerary and having read about it on the net, I asked if we could visit it. I was told that it wasn't possible as some building works were being carried out on some steps nearby. I thought this was a pretty poor excuse and felt a bit hard...
Willettsworld Says: This was one of the main things I was looking forward to in Pyongyang - a ride on the city's metro. Firstly, we entered down some steps off a street into Yonggwang station which is located just to the north of the main overland railway station. We hung around by some ticket...
7 Reviews and 68 Opinions My first night in the hotel, we met our guides Mr. Lee and Che in the hotel lounge. I asked them if...
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 I: Lunch on the River by Juche Tower
DSwede Says: Like most things in Pyongyang, your guides are in control of what you do and where you go. If this restaurant is not in your agenda, you may politely ask and they might make it happen. After all, it never hurts to ask... While the food is nothing different from the other...
Ryonggak Mountain picnic lunch: Eating al-fresco
Willettsworld Says: After we had visited Kim Il Sung's birth place at Mangyongdae, we had an outside barbeque picnic lunch at a place called Ryonggak Mountain. Again the food was excellent and a food way to cook and eat. We had, what we hoped were, beef and duck on skewers which we cooked on a...
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...
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...
jEnbiannce Says: When your in Busan and you want to travel to P'yongyang you should take a train using the metro system. The Korea Railroad (KORAIL) operates three types of trains ― high-speed (KTX), express (Saemaeul), and local (Mugunhwa) ― along an extensive nationwide...
Willettsworld Says: This was one of the main things I was looking forward to in Pyongyang - a ride on the city's metro. Firstly, we entered down some steps off a street into Yonggwang station which is located just to the north of the main overland railway station. We hung around by some ticket...
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'...
Rakwon Department Store: Day to day goods
DSwede Says: The typical store in North Korea is very barren, with little choices or stocks of goods on the shelves. During your tours, if you watch the stores you pass, you will see that a large store may only sell a few random goods, with most of the shelves and wall space being...
Department Store: TV's, lap-tops, beds & furniture - want more?!
Willettsworld Says: You'll get the chance to do some shopping whilst in Pyongyang and we stopped by this small department store which had selections of food items on the ground floor that included some western chocolate products. The next floor up had some electrical and furniture items that...
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...
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...
Plan a P'yongyang vacation with reviews, tips and photos posted by real travelers and P'yongyang locals
copythat's new Pyongyang Page -
3 members live in P'yongyang
Q: Hi, I may want to go to North Korea from Beijing when I'm travelling Asia this spring. I am far from sure yet, but would like...
A: You can't just up and go to the DPRK on a whim for 3 days and leave when you feel like it. They are very picky (anal) about that. Also, your ROK visa is going to give...
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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......
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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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