Pyongyang

Arriving by train in the city was a strange experience in itself. Because of the energy crisis in the country, many parts of Pyongyang don't have electricity on parts of the day. There's also no streetlights in most parts of the city. So we travelled by train along huge rows of commie blocks, which we could only vaguely see in the moonlight. Creepy. After arriving on Pyongyang's main station (military music blasting through the speakers...), we were waited for by our guides, who immidiately brought us to our hotel. This hotel (160 meter high) is only meant for foreign tourists and is situated on an island in the river (so tourists can easily be seperated from North-Koreans). This means that they can allow things for the tourists that are not allowed outside. We had BBC World on our TV and there's even a casino in the basement! Pyongyang is North-Korea's elite city: only "good", "representative" citizens are allowed to live here. The city looks relatively modern and well-maintained. Therefore, tourists are allowed to take pics anywhere, in contrast to other cities. The city is not beautiful though, except when you like huge amounts of commie blocks and giant communist momuments.