This is what our tour participants had to say ...
GENERAL TOURS
"The trip takes you out of the armchair and forces you to critically appraise historical accounts (if you read up before the trip). Personally, I have never appreciated Orwell's two most famous works as much as now." (June 2012)
"Being a Korean by ethnicity but American by lifestyle, visiting the DPRK was like visiting a long-lost grandparent in the South Korean countryside (as all non-Seoul regions of South Korea are called): both familiar and new. Explore the DPRK with as much of an open mind as possible, and you will find yourself with a permanent bond and a more nuanced perspective on the land and its people." (June 2012)
HIKING TOURS
"Thank you so much for everything that you did to make our trip to DPRK so memorable. Everything went so smoothly which means that there must have been a lot of background work carried out behind the scenes, much of which I am sure was done by you. We all enjoyed ourselves immensely.
Our train trip was also excellent and we could recommend it to anyone. The carriage was clean and comfortable and the fellow passengers were friendly and shared food and drinks with us. We didn't think too much of the Korean restaurant car, but when we went into China they added a very good Chinese restaurant car to the train where we had an excellent 5 course dinner, plus beer and 2 bottles of red wine, all for under 10 euros. Great value and all in all a great way to end a truly special trip. Already I have had many people talking to me who are very curious about the
DPRK and they are fascinated about our stories. Many many thanks for everything. If anyone wants to go to DPRK I will have no hesitation in giving them your contact details." (June 2013)
"Just to say many thanks for arranging such a memorable trip and also for handling a potentially difficult group with such flair and humour !" (June 2013)
"I just wanted to thank you very much for all you did to ensure we had the most interesting and varied experience in North Korea. You put a lot of effort into preparing for the trip which really paid off and you had a good rapport with the guides which meant they were keen to accommodate the extra sights we wanted to see. Your efforts were much appreciated by us all. The hiking part certainly lived up to our expectations. As I mentioned we are already hoping to organize a reunion walk !" (June 2013)
SCHOOL TOURS
"Before going to North Korea, I had many questions in my mind which I was keen to find the answers to when going to the country. I realised how fortunate I was to go to such an isolated, different and interesting country which only 2,500 Western tourists get the privilege of visiting each year, so I wanted to take as much in as possible with lots of photos and good souvenirs - particularly propaganda posters which I was most keen to get my hands on.
While in North Korea, I learnt to look at things in a positive way. There were a lot of things - being a Western person having lived in a very developed and modern city for all my life and having been spoiled by all our modern-day conveniences we simply take for granted - that I and all other students and teachers on the trip were not used to. For a start - I have never experienced such cold temperatures in my life and I find cold temperatures uncomfortable.
The hotel we stayed in was quite basic - there was no in-room heating, no hot water and the beds were hard and cold, like sleeping on a wooden floor. The breakfast was very minimal and I didn’t have much of an appetite. It didn’t take me long to realise how spoiled we are coming from such a nice city and rather than get annoyed at all the inconveniences - such as the extreme cold and the poor breakfasts - I learnt to just laugh at the hardships we faced and imagine how the local people live and how much more different their lives are.
Although I would say we didn’t get much of a chance to truly see the local people, we learnt a lot - our guides and the guides we encountered at the various sights during the trip told us some great stories behind the things we were seeing and we all had conversations with the guides about their personal lives and compared their lives with ours in simple things like what happens after a baby is born to what their accommodation arrangements are.
All in all, the trip to North Korea was a fantastic, weird, interesting, fun, amazing and truly unique experience that I will never forget and I feel incredibly fortunate and lucky to have had the chance to visit such an unknown and mysterious place which people all over the world are hugely curious about." (November 2012)
Hong Kong students return from eight-day trip to North Korea. (article from a newspaper, April 2013)
While Kim Jong-un was threatening America, a Hong Kong school party on an eight-day trip to North Korea saw smiling faces … and lots of statues.
A group of Hong Kong high school students who returned on Saturday from an eight-day tour of North Korea will have holiday stories better than anything their friends will have managed in Phuket or Singapore. Twenty-two students from an international school watched teenagers practise military drills in Pyongyang, took photos with "friendly" soldiers in the demilitarised zone and stayed two days in the region of Kaesong. The returning travellers said they noticed little unease among the North Koreans they encountered.
"Of course, we saw only what they wanted us to see. But the locals were all so warm and relaxed," said one 14-year-old student, who is half Korean and half Filipino. "Everyone seemed used to the constant threat of war and were interested in talking to us about other things."
The students went on orderly tours of "countless" monuments and museums. Guides watched over them constantly, and they were not allowed to leave their hotels at night. The trip was organised by the British-run and Beijing-based Koryo Tours, which has been taking tourists to
North Korea since 1993.
"Seeing so many statues of Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il did get repetitive after a while," said a 15-year-old participant. "But it was interesting to hear official perspectives on the Korean war, the US government and the South Korean 'puppet government'. For this student, the highlight of the trip was the visit to the DMZ, where he climbed the observation towers and looked through binoculars to see South Korean soldiers patrolling the other side of the border.
The school has organised trips to developing countries since the mid-1990s.
"Many of our students are from well-to-do families who wouldn't have otherwise vacationed in North Korea. It really helps open their eyes … We would consider bringing more students to the country if there is enough interest." One pupil, who has mainland parents, said that he is eager to learn more about the country. "I feel lucky to have been one of the only people in the world to have had the chance to see the closed-off country first-hand."
"The trip takes you out of the armchair and forces you to critically appraise historical accounts (if you read up before the trip). Personally, I have never appreciated Orwell's two most famous works as much as now." (June 2012)
"Being a Korean by ethnicity but American by lifestyle, visiting the DPRK was like visiting a long-lost grandparent in the South Korean countryside (as all non-Seoul regions of South Korea are called): both familiar and new. Explore the DPRK with as much of an open mind as possible, and you will find yourself with a permanent bond and a more nuanced perspective on the land and its people." (June 2012)
HIKING TOURS
"Thank you so much for everything that you did to make our trip to DPRK so memorable. Everything went so smoothly which means that there must have been a lot of background work carried out behind the scenes, much of which I am sure was done by you. We all enjoyed ourselves immensely.
Our train trip was also excellent and we could recommend it to anyone. The carriage was clean and comfortable and the fellow passengers were friendly and shared food and drinks with us. We didn't think too much of the Korean restaurant car, but when we went into China they added a very good Chinese restaurant car to the train where we had an excellent 5 course dinner, plus beer and 2 bottles of red wine, all for under 10 euros. Great value and all in all a great way to end a truly special trip. Already I have had many people talking to me who are very curious about the
DPRK and they are fascinated about our stories. Many many thanks for everything. If anyone wants to go to DPRK I will have no hesitation in giving them your contact details." (June 2013)
"Just to say many thanks for arranging such a memorable trip and also for handling a potentially difficult group with such flair and humour !" (June 2013)
"I just wanted to thank you very much for all you did to ensure we had the most interesting and varied experience in North Korea. You put a lot of effort into preparing for the trip which really paid off and you had a good rapport with the guides which meant they were keen to accommodate the extra sights we wanted to see. Your efforts were much appreciated by us all. The hiking part certainly lived up to our expectations. As I mentioned we are already hoping to organize a reunion walk !" (June 2013)
SCHOOL TOURS
"Before going to North Korea, I had many questions in my mind which I was keen to find the answers to when going to the country. I realised how fortunate I was to go to such an isolated, different and interesting country which only 2,500 Western tourists get the privilege of visiting each year, so I wanted to take as much in as possible with lots of photos and good souvenirs - particularly propaganda posters which I was most keen to get my hands on.
While in North Korea, I learnt to look at things in a positive way. There were a lot of things - being a Western person having lived in a very developed and modern city for all my life and having been spoiled by all our modern-day conveniences we simply take for granted - that I and all other students and teachers on the trip were not used to. For a start - I have never experienced such cold temperatures in my life and I find cold temperatures uncomfortable.
The hotel we stayed in was quite basic - there was no in-room heating, no hot water and the beds were hard and cold, like sleeping on a wooden floor. The breakfast was very minimal and I didn’t have much of an appetite. It didn’t take me long to realise how spoiled we are coming from such a nice city and rather than get annoyed at all the inconveniences - such as the extreme cold and the poor breakfasts - I learnt to just laugh at the hardships we faced and imagine how the local people live and how much more different their lives are.
Although I would say we didn’t get much of a chance to truly see the local people, we learnt a lot - our guides and the guides we encountered at the various sights during the trip told us some great stories behind the things we were seeing and we all had conversations with the guides about their personal lives and compared their lives with ours in simple things like what happens after a baby is born to what their accommodation arrangements are.
All in all, the trip to North Korea was a fantastic, weird, interesting, fun, amazing and truly unique experience that I will never forget and I feel incredibly fortunate and lucky to have had the chance to visit such an unknown and mysterious place which people all over the world are hugely curious about." (November 2012)
Hong Kong students return from eight-day trip to North Korea. (article from a newspaper, April 2013)
While Kim Jong-un was threatening America, a Hong Kong school party on an eight-day trip to North Korea saw smiling faces … and lots of statues.
A group of Hong Kong high school students who returned on Saturday from an eight-day tour of North Korea will have holiday stories better than anything their friends will have managed in Phuket or Singapore. Twenty-two students from an international school watched teenagers practise military drills in Pyongyang, took photos with "friendly" soldiers in the demilitarised zone and stayed two days in the region of Kaesong. The returning travellers said they noticed little unease among the North Koreans they encountered.
"Of course, we saw only what they wanted us to see. But the locals were all so warm and relaxed," said one 14-year-old student, who is half Korean and half Filipino. "Everyone seemed used to the constant threat of war and were interested in talking to us about other things."
The students went on orderly tours of "countless" monuments and museums. Guides watched over them constantly, and they were not allowed to leave their hotels at night. The trip was organised by the British-run and Beijing-based Koryo Tours, which has been taking tourists to
North Korea since 1993.
"Seeing so many statues of Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il did get repetitive after a while," said a 15-year-old participant. "But it was interesting to hear official perspectives on the Korean war, the US government and the South Korean 'puppet government'. For this student, the highlight of the trip was the visit to the DMZ, where he climbed the observation towers and looked through binoculars to see South Korean soldiers patrolling the other side of the border.
The school has organised trips to developing countries since the mid-1990s.
"Many of our students are from well-to-do families who wouldn't have otherwise vacationed in North Korea. It really helps open their eyes … We would consider bringing more students to the country if there is enough interest." One pupil, who has mainland parents, said that he is eager to learn more about the country. "I feel lucky to have been one of the only people in the world to have had the chance to see the closed-off country first-hand."