Fun things to do in North Korea

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Panmunjom is the general name for the area where buildings are located on both sides of the 38th parallel or DMZ which splits the Korean peninsula into two following World War 2. In fact, Panmunjom was actually a small village on the northern side of the border but nothing of it remains today except for a few buildings where the Korean War ceasefire Armistice agreement was signed on 27th July 1953. You'll get to see the Korean and UN copies of the agreement in one of the buildings before visiting the JSA (Joint Security Area) and the MAC (Military Armistice Commission) building, where talks now take place. This area is full of tension between the two sides and you can still sense the stand-off between the North Korea soldiers and the South Korean soldiers who stand in a provocative taekwondo stance. Throughout your trip here, you'll be accompanied by a member of the Korean People's Army (we had a lieutenant colonel, no less!).

It's best not to step out of line or say anything that can undermine yourself or anyone else within your tour group as things are taken very seriously here and there's good reasons why as there's been many conflicts and shootings within this area between the two sides over the years. For me, it was another highlight of my time in North Korea. In fact I actually came back here one week later as part of a South Korean tour which was very different to the North Korean one. For example, on the South Korean tour we had to sign agreements so that the UN will take no responsibility in any actions that may arise whilst visiting. We didn't sign anything or were told nothing as part of our North Korean tour. We were told not to take any bags, point, run and to walk in single file as part of the South Korean tour. We could take bags and virtually 'fool' around on the North Korean tour. So, the differences are even there to be seen on the tours yet alone the places themselves.

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This tomb is located about 13km (8 miles) west of Kaesong. King Kongmin (1330 - 1374) was the 31st king of Koryo dynasty and he is buried his alongside his wife. The tombs are guarded by 12 guardian gods, sheep and tigers. There is a stone offertory table with a 7-ton stone slab in front each tomb.

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Kaesong lies right in the south of the country, just a few miles from Panmunjom and the demilitarised zone. We came here down the empty 4-lane Reunification Highway from Pyongyang and stayed overnight in the old part of the city that survived the bombings of the Korean War because of its importance and historical value to the country. It was here that the Koryo Dynasty made Kaesong there capital and relics from this era still survive. When Korea was partitioned at the 38th parallel after World War Two, Kaesong was on the southern side of the line (within the Republic of Korea). Thus Kaesong is (depending on perspective) either the only occupied South Korean City at the end of the 'Korean Police Action', or the only city liberated by the North Korean People's Army in the 'Great Fatherland Liberation War'.

The main photo is probably one of the most famous street scenes in North Korea and one that I remember seeing on the net a few years ago that got me wanting to visit the country (who needs tour agency's!). This 4-lane street, known as Tongil Street, runs from the Kim Il Sung statue down the hill and then up again until it meets the Reunification Highway.

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The Pohyon Temple was founded in the Sangwon Valley, not far from the International Friendship Exhibition, in 1042 during the Koryo period. It is named after the Buddhist saint Pohyon who was in charge of the “morals of Buddha.” Originally it had 24 buildings and pagodas and was a major centre for propagating Buddhism in this area of Korea.

The temple complex was almost completely destroyed by bombings during the Korean War. Several of the main structures have been rebuilt, including a new Archive Hall to house the third printing of the Buddhist scriptures to have been printed between 1236 and 1251 AD on 80,000 wood blocks (now in the Haeinsa Temple near Daegu in South Korea.)

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The International Friendship Exhibition are two huge partly underground palaces filled with over 100,000 gifts from over 150 countries to both Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il. We visited the larger of the two first, that was opened in 1978, which had gifts presented to Kim Il Sung. We first had to hand in our cameras and were then told to put on dust covers over our shoes. This is due to the fact that marble is everywhere - on the floors, walls, balconies and staircases. We were led into many rooms were the gifts were very impressive. Some of the stand out ones include a limousine sent to him by Josef Stalin and an armoured train carriage presented to him by Mao Zedong. Most of the gifts are vases, glassware, pictures etc which are fairly boring but some really stand out like a stuffed crocodile holding a wooden plate and cups from the Nicaraguan Sandinist National Liberation Front. Most of the gifts come from extreme left-wing African countries or Communist parties based in the west. Some halls feature large photo's of Kim Il Sung meeting foreign heads of state.

After visiting just some of the 120 rooms (otherwise we would be there for a lifetime), we were led into a room where two large groups of North Koreans were. All the women were sitting down whilst the men were standing in neat rows. We went in before them, into a room with a grinning life-sized waxwork of the Great Leader stood. Our guide bowed his head but we just looked on. He's not very tall but still manages to look down on people as he's standing on raised ground.

After visiting the first palace, we were led down the road to a small building that contains all the gifts presented to Kim Jong Il. Gifts here include those from Hyundai, CNN, a good luck note from Jimmy Carter and a basketball from Madeleine Albright. Some gifts come in the form of old electrical items such as TV's, record players and other stereo equipment as Kim Jong Il is a big 'techy' fan.

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Mangyongdae is a suburb about 12km south-west of Pyongyang and is famous for being the place where Kim Il Sung was born on April 15th 1912 in a simply straw thatched house. The jury's out whether or not he was actually born here at all and our guides really emphasised on his humble origins. When I was in China, I visited Mae Zedong's birthplace and that house is very similar. Mangyongdae also has a Kim Il Sung theme park but we didn't visit it.

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This was originally not on our tour itinerary and having read about it on the new, 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 done by. The following day, one of guides mentioned that it would actually be possible for us to visit the Pueblo and when we arrived, some steps did look like they had been worked on and were actually cordoned off. I thanked the guide for his work in getting us the chance to visit.

Basically the boat is here because it entered into North Korean waters in 1968 and was captured by them and her crew (of which were numbered 83) were kept imprisoned for nearly a year until Major General Gilbert H Woodward signed an apology on behalf of the American government. The crew were then released over the Bridge of no Return into South Korea at the DMZ. As part of the deal, the North Koreans also got to keep the boat as a trophy even though the Americans wanted it back. We got to see the whole boat, which still includes all of the spy equipment, and were treated to a 15 minute long film about the boats capture.

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The Arch of Triumph was built to commemorate the Korean resistance to Japan from 1925 to 1945 and the triumphal return home of Kim Il Sung after hiding in exile during the 2nd World War. It was unveiled in April 1982 to mark his 70th birthday and was built out of 25,500 blocks of finely-dressed white granite - one for each day of his life up until that point. The structure is modelled on the Arc de Triomphe in Paris and was deliberately built to be slightly larger. It is the world's tallest triumphal arch, standing 60 metres high and 50 metres wide over a 4 lane road that we could stand in the middle without fear of getting run-over. Inscribed on the Arch is the "Song of General Kim Il-sung", a revolutionary hymn, the year 1925, when North Korean history states that Kim set out on the journey for national liberation and the year 1945, the end of World War II, which ended the Japanese occupation.