When Luca Pferdmenges finally made it to North Korea five years after it locked down, he knew to expect a lot of surprises. What he didn’t expect was having to buy a bunch of flowers for its dictator.
Along with his fellow tourists, the 23-year-old headed to the shops on their guards’ orders and bought a bouquet. Respectively, they approached a towering statue of Kim Jong-un and placed them at his feet.
“You put the flowers down, you bow, and you show respect,” Luca explained.
Nothing about a holiday to North Korea is normal. To start with, getting into the country is perplexing and surprisingly chaotic.
“They (border guards) were, in the beginning, quite overwhelmed. We had to wait for a few hours at the border,” Luca told the Mirror, adding that tourists crossing into the country from Yanji, in China, wasn’t exactly a rehearsed process. “It is a bit intense… Because in theory, they can search for anything, like they can search your phone.
“You get a slip of paper and you kind of have to collect stamps. I didn’t know what they were all for, but you have different checkpoints. For example, at one you have to disinfect all your bags and they check your temperature — essentially like a hygiene check.”
North Korea has not been open to tourists since early 2020, its leader deciding to lock citizens in and foreigners out as the Covid-19 pandemic began. When other countries reopened, North Korea stayed shut. Until now.
Luca travelled with Beijing-based operator Koryo Tours on an itinerary focused on the northern city of Rason. They were the first to enter the country in more than five years.
Once inside, the group of 13 travellers found themselves under the constant watch of a team of tour guides, unable to wander freely or leave their hotel. To him, it felt like a bureaucratic labyrinth, with a constant stream of rules and regulations.
“You can’t do very simple things, like you can’t take any religious materials into the country — you can’t bring a bible even. When you take a photo of one of the great leaders, you have to include the whole image. You cannot crop it, zoom in on them or cover them. They have to be as straight as possible, and fully in the picture with nothing blocking them,” he added.
The German content creator explained that any photograph attempt that looked like it might break the rules was swiftly stopped by the guides.
The likenesses of the hermit kingdom’s leaders – Kim Il-sung, Kim Jong-Il and Kim Jong-un – aren’t limited to statues and propaganda posters, they even find their way into hotel rooms. There they watch over guests like Big Brother’s telescreens in 1984, making sure they don’t get up to no good when finally away from the guards.
The danger to Western tourists is very real. In 2017 American college student Otto Warmbier died, having fallen into a vegetative state while in North Korean prison. His crime? Stealing a propaganda poster.
Luca, who is on track to become the youngest person to travel to all 195 countries this year, said tourists are safe enough, so long as they stick to the rules. “As long as you don’t disrespect the Government and you don’t disrespect the leaders, you’ll pretty much be fine,” he said.
Most of the trip was highly curated, with locals often being warned in advance of tourists’ arrival. “I think it would be a lot more authentic to see the imperfections and not so much of the staged stuff,” he explained. “It was a little uncomfortable, but it is kind of part of the experience, and that’s what you get when you decide to travel to North Korea.”
Another big difference is the internet. North Koreans don’t have access to the web like those in the West do, but they have their own version. It does many of the same things, albeit it is made by state IT technicians rather than trillion-dollar Silicon Valley tech firms.
“We were on the bus with our guides and the camera lady and were just chatting — they showed us all the apps and we exchanged phones and played each other’s games. They have like a North Korean version of Clash of Clans, for example,” said Luca.
A holiday to North Korea was never likely to offer your typical sun, sea and sand. But Luca wasn’t expecting to be taken to a pharmacy for a tour – the healthcare system being a great point of national pride since the coronavirus pandemic. Later they stopped off at a shopping centre where locals mistook them for Russian businessmen, who are among the few groups of people who’ve been let into North Korea since Covid saw the borders slammed shut.
“The shop owners weren’t warned individually, so you got some real interaction with them,” Luca said, recalling how he opened a bank account while there in order to get a debit card as a souvenir.
The German also saw a different side to the country — one that North Korea’s dictators didn’t want visitors to record. The rural areas, with their dilapidated homes and deep poverty, were stark contrasts to the Government’s carefully curated image. “You do get exposed to the poverty, but they don’t want you to take pictures of it,” Luca revealed. “That’s one really sensitive thing.”
Luca also got a taste of life inside a North Korean hotel, where he noted the vintage charm of the rooms, including carpets that wouldn’t be out of home in a Wetherspoons. “The rooms felt like something from my grandmother’s living room,” Luca laughed. “There were plants, cute furniture, and even quirky clocks that controlled the lights. We struggled to figure them out at first.”
He also loved the food, which was served by the heap and was rich and flavourful. Alcohol prices were also shockingly low with a beer costing around £1, and stronger alcohol just a few quid for a decent bottle.
The biggest surprise for Luca wasn’t the cheap grog or how controlled the country is, but how welcoming and kind the locals are. “You connect so well with the people and the guides really open up,” he remarked. “It was obviously very special and unique”.