I went London-Shanghai (and ultimately Osaka) last year; one of the most affecting parts of that journey was going through the deserts of Kazakhstan and north-west China (e.g. <a href="https://www.cliché.net/photos/2012-04-02%20Trip/SDC16011.JPG" rel="nofollow">https://www.cliché.net/photos/2012-04-02%20Trip/SDC16011.JPG</a> and <a href="https://www.cliché.net/photos/2012-04-02%20Trip/SDC16084.JPG" rel="nofollow">https://www.cliché.net/photos/2012-04-02%20Trip/SDC16084.JPG</a> - hosted on my home connection so will be slow), which you miss by staying on the trans-siberian line. It's also a chance to see a really different side of China (as a European it's easy to imagine China will all be the same, being a single country, but of course it's as big and varied as, well, Europe) - and the route I took goes right past Baikonur, so there's always the chance of a rocket launch.<p>It's no good for going to North Korea (you finish in China, and as noted the line Beijing-Pyongyang is closed to tourists), but if you were just thinking of a big rail trip like the trans-siberian, have a look at the route via Kazakhstan too.
Wow that was really cool. It's too bad the pictures started breaking when he was documenting his time in North Korea, all of those would be really interesting to see.<p>Odd how easy it was for them to get in. Flash a couple passports, visas, and fake like you like the great leader and you're in.<p>He commented that the route he took is no longer an option for tourists - not that it really was in the beginning, but the travel agency where he bought his tickets was informed that that one was no longer available. He said that when asked who recommended the tickets and where he found them, he responded with "we found them and bought them". I wonder how the travel agency got involved. (After reading more - he contacted the travel agency late enough for them not to alter the travel plans, but soon enough to talk to the Koreans to set up a guide).<p>I never knew how isolated South Korea was because of North Korea (no road/rail transport to the rest of the world).<p>That was pretty cool, and ridiculously in depth.
I saw this posted in the comments on another thread and spent hours reading the whole thing -- epic journey, and I absolutely adored the photographs of North Korea.<p>It looks surprisingly beautiful, in its own way.
I really had no idea how horrible the humanitarian crisis in North Korea really was until I began reading about it yesterday after checking out the blog post that was on the front page here. I feel ashamed I have been ignorant for so long.<p>In summary of what I've learned, it's generally accepted that there are around 200,000 people kept in active concentration camps [1]. There are two types of camps: those for political prisoners (and those related to suspected defectors, because you're guilty by association with the convicted individual) held until they die, and re-education camps for "minor" offenses. Regardless of the prisoner classification, both are subject to a similarly deplorable fate.<p>Conditions are eerily reminiscent of concentration camps operated by Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan.<p>This includes:
1) Constant threat of public execution at the whims of guards. 2) Deplorable conditions including: lack of suitable sleeping areas, lack of general access to toilets except on a twice daily basis.
3) Malnutrition. Amnesty reports 40% of inmates die due to malnutrition. Highly rationed diet consisting of 100 grams of corn (if you're not being punished) and salt soup. Finding and eating rats raw is generally considered a blessing, but at the risk of punishment by guards.
4) Torturing prisoners is commonplace. Without going into the gory details, suffice it to say, it is horrible.
5) Human experimentation performed on prisoners a la Dr. Mengele.
6) Infanticide of babies born in captivity.<p>I remember when I first learned about the Holocaust in school and wondered how in the hell did the world stand by for so long while these atrocities were being committed? Now I understand.<p>When you are, by pure randomness, lucky enough to be living in a part of the world where these horrible acts are distant enough to barely register on the press radar, reading about these things do seem unfathomable, almost fake.<p>Most of what I've heard about North Korea in the past has focused on their bizarre cult of personality and generally bizarre culture. As comical as North Korea is made out to be in much of the internet, there is a serious humanitarian crisis ongoing. Given that the Korean War ended in 1953, the situation has perpetuated for sixty years now.<p>If the statistic of six million Jews murdered during the Holocaust shocks and disgusts you, I shudder to think about what we shall uncover after the North Korean dictatorship falls (if it ever does at this point if the situation continues) and their dark history finally becomes public knowledge. It really makes me feel nauseous to think that we always have to wait until after the atrocities end to learn from them.<p>Is there anything we can do? I'm sure there is, I just don't know what. Ugh.<p>[1] Amnesty International Media Briefing on North Korean Prison Camps <a href="http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/ASA24/001/2011/en/2671e54f-1cd1-46c1-96f1-6a463efa6f65/asa240012011en.pdf" rel="nofollow">http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/ASA24/001/2011/en/26...</a>
Awesome travel diary. I took Trans-Mongolian from Moscow to Beijing with my friends in 2002 and it was quite a trip. I can just imagine how did the OP feel when they crossed North Korean border. Based on the photos he took, country-side dwellings in North Korea are of better quality than my impression was.
If you are curious about North Korea, just look across the border from China. You can see plenty. Near the town of Changbaishan (and slightly west of there) is the best area. You're only a few meters across the river, and you can see everything, even a full scale city. If you're a train nut, you can even satisfy your curiosity by seeing a failed short-haul train the North Koreans took years to build. There's no need to go there and fund them.
It's great as long as you know you are not getting a full picture. You see what <i>they</i> want you to see, if you think any different you are delusional. If you approach anyone on the street, you will most likely get them in trouble and it's very unlikely for them to tell the truth (even "the veggies are kinda brownish" is subversion and by now they have seen what happens to their "subversive" neighbors and maybe family members).<p>Not to mention that almost all of them have been born and raised in that system, they know no better and are fed daily propaganda to make them believe that the outside world is much worst. I'd bet that most North Koreans would pass a lie detectors test with flying colors when saying that they love their current system.