Not only have we reached the last day of the trip, but also the last post about it. As before, we started the day waking up before sunrise, eating dinner for breakfast and heading to our buses. We also had the normal little stop in “town” before heading off to our chosen activities.
On the way to “town”, we were asked if we would like to go up the seriously steep mountain, or if we would like to take the easy trip to the yesterday’s lake with a trip to the beach included. Because I had already been to the lake, and the climb sounded more exiting and challenging than a sub zero winders day at the beach, I chose the difficult option.
When we stopped in “town”, people were shuffled to make sure everyone went to their chosen locations. It seemed like most of the Westerners preferred the easier day out. Everything was set to go and we were getting ready for some action. Just before the buses started moving, our guide asked us to fasten our seatbelts. This was the first time she had asked us to do this, and we should have known something rough was coming our way.
After the normal morning send-off by the staff, the busses headed in to the mountains. This time we reeeally headed in to the mountains. We kept on winding up a little road with cliffs on the one side. It had obviously snowed the evening before, because the roads we freshly scraped. These people do this every day, so I sat back and started staring at the beauty, and odd cute statues of bears, passing us. There is nothing to worry about here.
At the top we all boiled out of the busses, just to be greeted by the coldest temperatures I have ever felt in my life. Luckily we had all our baggage with us, we weren’t going back to the hotel, so everyone scrambled to get extra clothing, scarves, hats or anything warm. It is too bad I did not have anything to keep the snow out of my eyes. At this point the Koreans with all their hiking kit stopped being funny and started being objects of envy.
The trip to the summit was not as beautiful as the previous day, but it had its moments. For me it was more about the challenge of getting up the obviously steep climb. From the get go we were on an incline and just to make everything a little bit more fun everything was covered in snow.
It is not easy to describe the feeling when you stand with everyone for a breather, wondering how far you have to go, just to look up and see that way op there in the distance is a yellow clothed guide checking the paths. You hart just sink to the bottom of the climb. We were all swearing profusely, as freezing as it was, but it was to cold to remove hoods or scarves, just in case skin is exposed.
To make along story short, we soldiered on because were not going to look bad in front of all the eager Korean. We reached the top, put up with all the photo taking and people getting in your way when you want to take a photo, then headed down.
Heading down was great fun. Just after we started down, we hit a part that was so snowed over that the guides had to shovel steps for us. One part was straight enough that they just clear all debris and had us slide down on our arses. This was to be technique I would use a few times going whilst down. I include a photo of someone sliding. If you look closely, you will see the red railing on the side. That is supposed to be about hip height.
Because I did not have hooks on my shoes, I was able to hunch down a few times and just push myself down the snow-covered path. It was either that or break my neck, so I chose the fun way.
Because of the need to keep moving and the snow falling, I was unable to take many photographs. You would be surprised by how fast your battery registers empty at such low temperatures. I have never had to worry about that before, so I was caught a bit off guard.
After we slip sided out way to the bottom, we went back to “town” for a quick lunch before heading back over the border. My lunch was just a pot of instant noodles and a view of the people scrambling to buy things from duty free.
When the shopping and eating had finished, we hoped on our busses, did a head count and started making our way back to the border. Needless to say, the staff from all the shops and restaurants came out in the freezing cold to wave us in our way. It was so sweet of them!
The trip back seemed a lot quicker than when we came in. In addition, when we arrived in the North side, there was a person in a bear costume waving at us. There was nothing like that this time. I wonder why? We went past immigration where I managed to get a smile from my guide, but not from the Oh-So-Friendly North Koreans. We passed through both North and South border controls with no incidents and were on our way back to Seoul.
There were only two things of note on the way back home. The first wes the rows and rows of fish drying in the cold winter air. We were driving along the coast at that time, so we can only assume that it was all sea fish. If it came from the river then there would be nothing left.
The second thing was the huge man-made ice cliff where people were busy climbing. That people are climbing it is not that surprising, but that someone had made that by continuously pouring water over it astounded me.
Despite the traffic, we managed to get to Seoul in time to catch out busses to wherever we all came from. It was an exulting three days, but I am considering doing it again, maybe during autumn. I include photos in a slide show format of this, the last day.
Before I log off I will leave you with a few links to documentaries on North Korea that you might find interesting:
Welcome to North Korea
North Korea - A Day in the Life
Undercover In North Korea
On the way to “town”, we were asked if we would like to go up the seriously steep mountain, or if we would like to take the easy trip to the yesterday’s lake with a trip to the beach included. Because I had already been to the lake, and the climb sounded more exiting and challenging than a sub zero winders day at the beach, I chose the difficult option.
When we stopped in “town”, people were shuffled to make sure everyone went to their chosen locations. It seemed like most of the Westerners preferred the easier day out. Everything was set to go and we were getting ready for some action. Just before the buses started moving, our guide asked us to fasten our seatbelts. This was the first time she had asked us to do this, and we should have known something rough was coming our way.
After the normal morning send-off by the staff, the busses headed in to the mountains. This time we reeeally headed in to the mountains. We kept on winding up a little road with cliffs on the one side. It had obviously snowed the evening before, because the roads we freshly scraped. These people do this every day, so I sat back and started staring at the beauty, and odd cute statues of bears, passing us. There is nothing to worry about here.
At the top we all boiled out of the busses, just to be greeted by the coldest temperatures I have ever felt in my life. Luckily we had all our baggage with us, we weren’t going back to the hotel, so everyone scrambled to get extra clothing, scarves, hats or anything warm. It is too bad I did not have anything to keep the snow out of my eyes. At this point the Koreans with all their hiking kit stopped being funny and started being objects of envy.
The trip to the summit was not as beautiful as the previous day, but it had its moments. For me it was more about the challenge of getting up the obviously steep climb. From the get go we were on an incline and just to make everything a little bit more fun everything was covered in snow.
It is not easy to describe the feeling when you stand with everyone for a breather, wondering how far you have to go, just to look up and see that way op there in the distance is a yellow clothed guide checking the paths. You hart just sink to the bottom of the climb. We were all swearing profusely, as freezing as it was, but it was to cold to remove hoods or scarves, just in case skin is exposed.
To make along story short, we soldiered on because were not going to look bad in front of all the eager Korean. We reached the top, put up with all the photo taking and people getting in your way when you want to take a photo, then headed down.
Heading down was great fun. Just after we started down, we hit a part that was so snowed over that the guides had to shovel steps for us. One part was straight enough that they just clear all debris and had us slide down on our arses. This was to be technique I would use a few times going whilst down. I include a photo of someone sliding. If you look closely, you will see the red railing on the side. That is supposed to be about hip height.
Because I did not have hooks on my shoes, I was able to hunch down a few times and just push myself down the snow-covered path. It was either that or break my neck, so I chose the fun way.
Because of the need to keep moving and the snow falling, I was unable to take many photographs. You would be surprised by how fast your battery registers empty at such low temperatures. I have never had to worry about that before, so I was caught a bit off guard.
After we slip sided out way to the bottom, we went back to “town” for a quick lunch before heading back over the border. My lunch was just a pot of instant noodles and a view of the people scrambling to buy things from duty free.
When the shopping and eating had finished, we hoped on our busses, did a head count and started making our way back to the border. Needless to say, the staff from all the shops and restaurants came out in the freezing cold to wave us in our way. It was so sweet of them!
The trip back seemed a lot quicker than when we came in. In addition, when we arrived in the North side, there was a person in a bear costume waving at us. There was nothing like that this time. I wonder why? We went past immigration where I managed to get a smile from my guide, but not from the Oh-So-Friendly North Koreans. We passed through both North and South border controls with no incidents and were on our way back to Seoul.
There were only two things of note on the way back home. The first wes the rows and rows of fish drying in the cold winter air. We were driving along the coast at that time, so we can only assume that it was all sea fish. If it came from the river then there would be nothing left.
The second thing was the huge man-made ice cliff where people were busy climbing. That people are climbing it is not that surprising, but that someone had made that by continuously pouring water over it astounded me.
Despite the traffic, we managed to get to Seoul in time to catch out busses to wherever we all came from. It was an exulting three days, but I am considering doing it again, maybe during autumn. I include photos in a slide show format of this, the last day.
Before I log off I will leave you with a few links to documentaries on North Korea that you might find interesting:
Welcome to North Korea
North Korea - A Day in the Life
Undercover In North Korea
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