Naked in North Korea Part 1

Oh yeah that’s right. This past weekend I took a very guided tour to the Mount Kumgang area near a town called Onjeonggak in North Korea. This is a place just a few miles north passed the DMZ that they have opened to foreigners. Now I must say I went on the trip expecting to see amazing thing and was simple excited about the idea of being in North Korea and getting to go the Hot Spring Spa there (yes that is where the Naked in North Korea comes in – traditional Korean public baths are completely nude – gender separate but nude – I had no problem with this but watching some of the young western girls get so squeamish was a hoot). However, I spent the weekend amazed, speechless, wanting to cry, wanting to scream, and laughing at how ludicrous the whole thing is, and I only got myself reprimanded twice – for me I think this is a pretty good figure.

I apologize now for the lack of pictures. I did get a few; however, what and where you can take pictures is VERY, VERY, VERY controlled. You are not allowed to take any photos while traveling in the bus after you leave South Korea. You can only take pictures in the tourist village and hiking area. In fact as you go along in the bus you look out the window and about every 20 meters you will see a North Korean soldier standing at stone like attention with a red flag in his hand. They are there to watch the buses as they go from place to place. If they see anyone taking pictures or what they think looks like someone taking a picture, they stop the caravan of buses – they will board the bus the one soldier saw – they will then go through everyone’s camera – the offender will get at least a very heavy fines and can be removed from the tour and detained by the military. Sounds fun huh – so please forgive me for the minimal pics. So let me start at the beginning of this whole adventure.

I met with a group called Adventure Korea. It is a company that caters to English speaking foreigners. They do various types of trips every month. Most are outdoor activity based. For example, over December they are doing a skiing trip, an ice fishing trip, and a DMZ trip. Two of my co-workers had gone on the North Korean trip and were both very impressed and awed – so I decided it was my turn. Now to go on the trip I had to turn in copy of my passport and employment info so that they could get clearance and the special papers needed for passing into NK. I met up with the tour group at 11:30 PM on Friday night. We drove until about 5 AM when we reached the last rest stop before the South Korean immigration. We rested there for about an hour waiting for your time to head to immigration. This was a very easy process, and they have a very nice, new and shinny building that kind of looks like a jet engine. From there we changed to the tour bus that would take us in to NK. No, the SK bus we came over with was not allowed passed immigration. This is where life turned very surreal for two days. As we left immigration, we entered the DMZ. The difference from South and North was night and day. First, the simple things like uniform and physical behavior of the military. As you drive passed the SK soldier they are in very western looking camos – scary yet relaxed posture and they waved as the buses passed by ------ Then you cross over to NK. The soldier are in very tailored German/Soviet uniforms, with scowls on their faces, and at a stone like attention. From this point forward you are not allowed to take any pictures except in the designated areas. And how I wish I could as we crossed the DMZ into NK. The thing that struck me most was the hills. now if you have seen any of my other pictures, you have seen that Korea is very mountainous. And what every bit of land that is not city or farm is covered in trees. It is wonderful to look up from this concrete ugliness that is Seoul (it really is not that attractive of a city) and see the tree covered mountains that surround me. However, this drastically changed as we entered NK. The mountains very abruptly changed to barren piles of brown and white rock. Every once in a while there was a tree or a clump of three trees, but I am serious when I say there was nothing – simply rock. It looked more like a desert country than a place that should be covered in forests. I really wish I had pictures to show you. Later that day someone else who had noticed the changed asked one of our SK guides why this was so. He said that according to NK, the land was cleared on purpose to make it easier to watch for SK spies who might try to cross over – yet as you might be already down this road as well – he then commented that this also makes it very hard for any North Korean who might try to escape NK. Holy Crap!! And I am telling you – anyone crossing this area is am easy target.

So we get off the bus at the North Korea Immigration Station. They stop the line of buses and tell you to take all of your belongings with you to be scanned. You must walk from your bus to the immigration building, and for those of us eat the end of this line, it is a little strange to walk down the road of this desolate land looking up at the frozen soldiers scattered around you. And then you hear it – a sound that makes you think you have just stepped into some movie about Wiemar German or a propaganda film from the USSR – Music. Over the PA system they are playing this overly sentimental, ultra- traditional Korean music that sound like it is coming from a victrola AND they are playing it over and over and over and over. Same song ! Over and over and over and over. You really wanted to laugh, but did not know if you should. I laughed on the inside.

Now along with your passport, you are to present a special NK Tourist visa that you have been given earlier by the tour guides. Although South Korea will stamp your passport that you have left the country – North Korea will not stamp your passport as this may cause a problem for some people who later travel to other countries such as oh let’s say the USA. Instead you are given a separate paper that has your picture and other information on it (I took a picture of mine and it in the “Life in Korea” section) – this is what they stamp. Also you are given an ID tag that looks almost like the visa. You must wear this around you neck at all times – you can be fined or possible taken in for questions if you do not. We are warned that the immigration officers like to try and trip people up so make sure you know everything that is on your visa. Those of us that were American (Especially Korean-American) were told to be on guard. But no worries all when well. They stamped my papers, scanned my bags, and I was on my way. Now let me take a moment to describe this “building”. It basically was a long box like building (kind of like what you would see on a construction site) with a large tent on either side. The tent reminder me of the one used at the waiting area for the ferry to the Statue of Liberty. So as I passed through security and entered the other tent, I looked crossed to see this Big Brown Bear waving at me. Oh yea, there was someone in a bear costume waving at all the smiling faces – wishing one and all a happy fun time in the great mother land. Please I am not making this up. And still we were not allowed to take a picture. It was like some redneck trailer park white trash version of a communist Disneyland. Anyway we all then headed onto our bus – which has just been searched by the military.

Next comes the Onjeonggak Village. This village is located in the Kumgang Mountains that straddle South and North Korea. They have allowed a tourist village to be built there.