Day 7 - e) Kaeson Fun Park

Friday September 10, 2010

Friday evening was to be spent at the Kaeson fun park in Pyongyang. This park hadn't been open for long, with the rides and facilities looking very modern and new.

"Kaeson Youth Park"

Before entry we were given a choice to stay with the group and enjoy some of the rides or break away from the group (and the guides!) to wander freely - within the boundaries of the park, of course. I and a couple of others chose the latter option to see if we could get some interaction going with the locals.

The park was filled with local visitors - many families but also large school/university groups and lots of military uniforms were seen in the crowd. It was apparent that the fun park is an absolute luxury affordable only for the Workers' Party elite, with many local patrons possessing digital cameras and camcorders.

We managed some interaction with locals wanting photos with the Caucasian tourists, although it was nothing close to the chaotic scenes at the Moran Hill Park the previous day.

One of the food outlets even accepted Euros so some of the others tasted North Korean ice cream and waffles. But the shop did not have any small change in Euros so the tourists were given some croquettes in lieu!

Peter and I attempted a brief chat with a group of students, who seemed keen to try their English once we spoke to them. Although we did embarrass ourselves by asking if they were a middle school group, but being told they were in fact first year university students!

Like Moran Hill park it was wonderful to see North Koreans having genuine fun, not participating in a staged and forced activity. However it was also painfully obvious that the crowd there was part of the privileged set, with the rest of the population never being able to enjoy such facilities.