The First Thing To Understand About North Korea Is...

Pyongyang, North Korea

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Posted: Thursday, September 21
Runner: David Franken

The first thing to understand about North Korea is that you won't be going anywhere by yourself, and you'll probably be in "walking the planet" mode, because it's certain that your official minders (in grey suits) will not let you out of their sight. Day or night. However, one suggestion for an astonishing walking experience is Mt Myohyang, reached by train from Pyongyang. It translates as "fragrant sinister mountain". An excerpt from my travel diary: "...we venture off to climb the mountain via Manpok Valley. It starts as a bush walk and ends up as suspension bridges, waterfalls and precipitous drops. The climb is arduous, and as I'm getting increasingly concerned about my fear of heights, Mr Kang stays with me while Bill and the others climb ahead. Here in this beautiful rocky mountain forest, by waterfalls and rushing streams, surrounded by maple trees exploding with many coloured leaves, there are Kim Il Sung quotes and revolutionary poems carved on rock faces all around us. Juche carved at the peak with red paint filling the indentations on the rockface. A July 8, 1994 memorial comment (the date of the Great leader's death) is carved by a suspension bridge, and this is as far as I will go - to a rock where My Kang tells me Kim Il Sung himself sat and rested. Far out."