Photos from my brother's trip to North Korea, May 2013

My brother recently took a trip to North Korea. A Chinese company offers aviation tours in the country and you get to fly on very old and rare Soviet era planes. He spent about a week in the country. Here are the photos with captions (above).

He got there by flying Montreal-Toronto-Tokyo-Beijing-Pyongyang

AC001 YYZ (Montreal) - NRT (Tokyo)


Olympic pool in Beijing


Bird's nest stadium for the 2008 Olympics


Korean show the night before the trip to Pyongyang


Chinese Aviation museum north of Beijing


Chinese Aviation museum north of Beijing


Beijing traffic


At Beijing


Air Koryo Tu-204 PEK-FNJ


Pyongyang


Library in Pyongyang


Mural in Pyongyang


Kim Il Sung, left, and Kim Jung Il overlooking Pyongyang


Monument at Mansu Hill in Pyongyang


The view across Pyongyang


The incredible Ryugyong Hotel stands out from anywhere in Pyongyang


Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang


Juche Tower and the Taedong River in Pyongyang


Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang


Opera House at Pyongyang


Pyongyang from our hotel window


The road to the DMZ


A talk at the DMZ office near Kaesong south of Pyongyang.


At the DMZ


At the DMZ


At Kaesong


There are few cars on the road


Reunification monument heading into Pyongyang


Pyongyang


Tramway in Pyongyang

At Pyongyang Airport - a lineup of Tu-204, IL-76, Tu-154, IL-62 jets.


Our plane to Samjiyon in the north, an IL-18.


View at FNJ (Pyongyang Airport)


Our guides on the IL-18 to YJS, Samjiyon.


IL-18 propellers


IL-18 cockpit


Mt Paekdu in the background


Samjiyon


Rimyongsu Waterfall


Our trusty bus at Samjiyon


Visiting the birthplace of Kim Jung Il


Monument at Samjiyon


Back in Pyongyang


Pyongyang at night


Boarding a Tu-134 to Sondok


Tupolev 134 at Sondok


Tu-134 at Sondok


At Sondok


At Hamhung garden


Lunch in Hamhung


Pyongyang metro station


Pyongyang metro station


Arc de Triomphe at Pyongyang


Il-76 at Pyongyang


Inflight onboard the Il-76


Tupolev 154 at Sondok


Tupolev 154 at Sondok


Buddhist temple at Mount Myohyang


Songam Cave


Heading back to Pyongyang on the last day


Pyongyang


At Beijing before heading home

Great pics thanks for sharing.
This pic is creepy, seems like something out of I Am Legend.

c'est beau pareil, j'en reviens pas comment c'est propre!

cool!! etonnant de voir comment il n'y a personne sur les photos!

Il n'ont pas beaucoup de voiture la bas? Sa semble tres propre, mais c'est encore drole, il semble avoir seulment vu les spots touristique. Dans leur ghetto sois doit pas etre pareille?

wow nice ! is it me or they allow much more people now than like not even 5 years ago and Pyonyang with lights at night ?

He visited lately? It's a risky time to visit DPRK. But kudos for the report!

NB. That guide in front of Kim Jung IL house is the same guide that was in the VICE documentary, when they visit the US ship Pueblo (i think)

Can't see any of the pics at work.

Dictatorships suck big time for those living under them, but they do leave great moments and landmarks behind - look at Paris, Rome etc...

That must have been one interesting trip. Of course everybody knows they are shown only the good bits, but still, it must be quite strange...

Amazing pictures! Thank for sharing Danny.

ces batiments sont construits sur la frontiere entre la coree du nord et la coree du sud
ils servent a de lieu de rencontres entre les gens des 2 pays , chacun assis du cote de son pays

Wow @ les momuments et l'architecture.

Best MR off-topic thread of the year so far. Always great to see pics from real travellers. If you don't mind me asking, what does your brother do for a living and what was is his overall impression of NK?

C`est à cella que ressemble "l`enfer dictatorial" ? Sa n`a pas l'aire si pire
Comme WinterBeat dit; Dans leur ghetto sois doit pas être pareille...

Quoi qu`il en soit, très intéressent les photos!!
Les photos d`avions aussi {Tupolev 154=old fliying shit... :eek1: 2 pilotes, 2 techniciens, 1 ingénieur de bord.... on est très loin des Boeings/Airbus qui atterrissent seul}.

la dictature coreene laisse seulement voir le beau cote de la medaille

This is truly amazing and let me tell you (coming from a Candian-Korean who's spent his youth in Korea) this was impossible when I was growing up.
Seeing the other side like this has an emotional impact on me on a personal level.

Thank you for sharing these!

nice pics, montréal fait dure a coté de ca.

Best photo set I've seen from NK. I find people always end up (probably intentionally) making it look drab and run down. Thanks for posting.

Alain95i4 said:

ces batiments sont construits sur la frontiere entre la coree du nord et la coree du sud
ils servent a de lieu de rencontres entre les gens des 2 pays , chacun assis du cote de son pays

Click to expand...

D'après moi ils font ça dans la petite bâtisse bleu du milieu, y'ont l'air climatisé.