Day 0 - pre-tour

Friday September 3, 2010

I flew into Beijing early in the morning and the heat and the overwhelming humidity struck me with surprise. I was expecting the weather to be mild as September is meant to be autumn... But it is evident we have a stifling two weeks in front of us.

I meet my travel mate Tim at our hostel in the hutongs just south of Tianamen Square. Tim had flown into Beijing the night before.

We discuss what we need to prepare before beginning our North Korean tour (e.g. Tim needed to buy a tie*, I needed to buy toilet paper**), and how intense the trip will be. We were staying at a $25 a night hostel but after this chat (and thinking about the humidity) I decide it might be better to splash out and stay in a nice hotel for the post-Korean stay in Beijing. We then head to the shops and the Park Plaza.

The pretour meeting at the Koryo Tours office is set for 4pm but Tim and I are running late. We wanted to make a good first impression but that idea went out the window with our walking in seven minutes late - the briefing is well under way.

Among other topics our western guides Hannah and Amanda discussed some of the protocols we would need to adhere to in the country (e.g. avoid discussing politics, always ask before taking pictures).

The demographics at the pretour meeting surprised Tim and me - we were expecting a scruffy young group but Tim and I were definitely at the younger end of the spectrum. But upon reflection it made sense as trips to North Korea are expensive... There are many young adventurous types who would probably love to visit but it takes a lot of dish washing and bar tending to pay for one of these NK long tours. Already the irony has begun with only wealthy foreigners able to visit a country persistently criticising capitalism/consumerism and sticking to a strict socialist system.

Knowing that we have a packed schedule for the next eleven days Tim and I try to sleep as much as possible by going to bed at 9:30pm. The plan fails miserably as hostel air conditioning was clearly losing the battle against the stifling Beijing humidity.

* - We needed to wear a collared shirt and tie for our visit to the mausoleum of Kim Il Sung.
** - The hostel in Beijing didn't even have toilet paper, so I didn't want to be left short in North Korea! I bought an economic 15-pack.