Destination: North Korea

Specifics are always outlined in your tour itinerary. The tour group will meet in Beijing and you will fly as a group to Pyongyang at the start and returning together by train at the end. During the tour, Odyssey travels with a small vehicle, suited for comfortable travel for the group size.

Odyssey stays in a centrally located 3-4 star hotel in Pyongyang.

Odyssey always engages local guides with regional knowledge to ensure an authentic experience during which you can learn as much as possible about the history and culture of places you visit.

North Korea is located in East Asia on the Northern half of the Korean Peninsula. North Korea shares a border with China, Russia , and South Korea. The Yellow Sea and the Korea Bay are off the west coast and the Sea of Japan is off the east coast.

North Korea has 2 UNESCO World Heritage Sites. You can view them here: https://whc.unesco.org/en/statesparties/kp

The Complex of Koguryo Tombsincludes – about 30 individual tombs from the later period of the Koguryo Kingdom, one of the strongest kingdoms in nowadays northeast China and between the 3rd century BC to 7th century AD. The tombs, many with beautiful wall paintings, are almost the only remains of this culture.

Historic Monuments and Sites in Kaesong – Situated in Kaesong city, the site consists of 12 separate components, which together testify to the history and culture of the Koryo Dynasty from the 10th to 14th centuries.

There are only two major festivals in North Korea which visitors are allowed to attend – the Spring Dragon Boat Festival and the Mass Games. Other celebrations are held on the supreme leader Kim Jung-un’s birthday (15th April).

Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea
by Barbara Demick

North Korea’s Hidden Revolution: How the Information Underground Is Transforming a
Closed Society by Jieun Baek

My Holiday in North Korea: The Funniest/Worst Place on Earth by Wendy E. Simmons

North Korea Confidential: Private Markets, Fashion Trends, Prison Camps, Dissenters and Defectors by Daniel Tudor

Dear Leader: My Escape from North Korea
by Jang Jin-sung

Without You, There Is No Us: Undercover Among the Sons of North Korea’s Elite
by Suki Kim

The cuisine in North Korea similar to South Korea – most meals include cold noodles (Naung-myon), tofu, short-grain rice and porridge. Meats such as poultry, duck and beef are also North Korean staples, as are seafood and veggies. Full North Korean meals typically include a side dish, or banchan. Most banchan are characterized by their tangy, salty or spicy flavor and are often fermented to add taste. There is a surprisingly huge range of alcoholic beverages on the market, from traditional Korean alcohols such as Makkoli and Soju, foreign alcohols like beer and grape wine to medicinal alcohols that contain ingredients such as tiger bone, ground starfish and of course, ginseng. The most popular alcohols in North Korea are soju and beer.

Altoghy North Korea is considered a safe country to travel to, it is important to know that this is a communist state; it’s safe to assume that you will be under surveillance at all times. North Korean government security personnel closely monitor the activities and conversations of foreigners. Hotel rooms, telephones, and fax machines may be monitored, and personal possessions in hotel rooms may be searched.

Travel throughout the country is only possible as part of a guided tour. Independent travel is not permitted, you must not leave your hotel without a guide, you will not be allowed to travel on the public transport system at all, and both you and your guide will be punished if you infringe the rules. Any unauthorized activities can and will be seen as an attempt at espionage. If you travel unescorted without explicit official authorization, or any attempt to talk to a North Korean citizen authorities will see these actions as attempted espionage. Always stay with a guide and never do anything to draw attention to yourself from local authorities.

Whenever you travel overseas, it’s always wise to take an appropriate travel adaptor. The electricity supply runs at 230V, 50Hz. North Korean plugs, types A and C. A is mainly used in North and Central America, China and Japan and the C is the common plug with two round pins.