North Korea travel blog

TrixiBuG · 16 Oct 2012 at 14:37

MickeyFinns said:
Well due to the seeming popularity of this blog (200 visitors today so far!) I've made a push in my lunch break to write the next part of the blog. I should have it up tomorrow!

The russian classes are jsut for some upcoming trips I'd like to make where English isn't spoken so much (Siberia/Central Asia) .

Glad to hear it Finns!

What was Chernobyl like? My other half doesn't like the mainstream holiday/trip destinations and has always wanted to go on a Chernobyl tour

MickeyFinns · 16 Oct 2012 at 14:43

Chernobyl was fantastic, if you can I recommend going for two days and staying over night. The hotel in the exclusion was half the experience! As above checkout Lupine Travel, used them numerous times (including Chernobyl) and they've been great for anything that I can't organise myself. I'll make a post about Chernobyl soon as I want to try and keep all my content in one place

.

MickeyFinns · 17 Oct 2012 at 12:36

Just as a bump to the people who were interested I've out the second part of my trip to North Korea;

http://www.jamesfinnerty.co.uk

There will be more parts in the comings weeks as long as a few posts about Chernobyl, Palestine and Svalbard.

Cheers for any feedback!

RoboCod · 17 Oct 2012 at 12:42

PHOTOS! MOAR!

TrixiBuG · 17 Oct 2012 at 13:07

Just read it

I do agree with this:

Captain Planet said:
PHOTOS! MOAR!

But from the pictures on there at the moment it does seem like some sort of concrete, bleak city alla Russia or similar - how very interesting and strange! Although it could be the weather

I have always thought North Korea would be similar to other Far Eastern cities

PondPikey · 17 Oct 2012 at 13:12

Great read! Look forward to the next instalment.

MickeyFinns · 17 Oct 2012 at 13:54

Captain Planet said:
PHOTOS! MOAR!

There will be more with each post

!

Want to keep them with the relevant text or they may not make as much sense.

MickeyFinns · 21 Oct 2012 at 15:48

Just as bump to those who seemed interested I've posted the 3rd instalment along with a good set of pictures;

http://jamesftravel.wordpress.com/

Thanks for reading!

Dava · 21 Oct 2012 at 23:29

nice one!, it is a interesting read!

platypus · 22 Oct 2012 at 07:37

Really interesting read, thanks James.

Cosimo · 22 Oct 2012 at 08:38

What an interesting read. Thanks.

RoboCod · 22 Oct 2012 at 09:43

Great. Keep it up!

Narj · 22 Oct 2012 at 10:04

Just looked at Lupine travel... specifically for Chernobyl... Apparently no access to inside of buildings anymore... WHAT!?

MickeyFinns · 22 Oct 2012 at 10:07

Narj said:
Just looked at Lupine travel... specifically for Chernobyl... Apparently no access to inside of buildings anymore... WHAT!?

Yeah my trip in April was the first to be denied access.

About two weeks before we went a group of tourists in a building fell through the floor and suffered severe injuries. People have actually not been officially allowed inside the buildings for 2 years. So when the higher ups found out what happened, and the fact that it was so prevalent that people were in the buildings, they sacked all of the tour guides and hired new ones on much stricter terms.

Narj · 22 Oct 2012 at 10:10

MickeyFinns said:
Yeah my trip in April was the first to be denied access.

About two weeks before we went a group of tourists in a building fell through the floor and suffered severe injuries. People have actually not been officially allowed inside the buildings for 2 years. So when the higher ups found out what happened, and the fact that it was so prevalent that people were in the buildings, they sacked all of the tour guides and hired new ones on much stricter terms.

Ouch, that blows. So the only way to get access for photos would be to go by yourself? Is entering the buildings actually illegal now? I wanted to go to get photos and stuff - it just seems a bit pointless now.

The Iran tour Lupine runs sounds interesting. I think having that stamp in your passport might make the US authorities suspicious if you wanted to get into America at some point in the near future though. Hrmm.

[FnG]magnolia · 22 Oct 2012 at 10:11

This is a very good read. Thanks for sharing, sir.

thewanted · 22 Oct 2012 at 10:15

[FnG]magnolia;23007110 said:
This is a very good read. Thanks for sharing, sir.

Agreed! I've just subscribed

Looking forward to reading what you post about next.

MickeyFinns · 22 Oct 2012 at 10:21

Narj said:
Ouch, that blows. So the only way to get access for photos would be to go by yourself? Is entering the buildings actually illegal now? I wanted to go to get photos and stuff - it just seems a bit pointless now.

The Iran tour Lupine runs sounds interesting. I think having that stamp in your passport might make the US authorities suspicious if you wanted to get into America at some point in the near future though. Hrmm.

You can't go entirely by yourself, you'd till have guide. You can still take a lot of good photos but just not what you probably want. Other things that make it difficult is nothing except shoes are to touch the flow, this includes tripods, much to the annoyance of the two semi-pro photographers in my group.

I've gotten to know the owner of Lupine through the trips and yeah he says getting into the US with several Iran stamps causes issues. He's entitled to having two passports so I think he's looking into that. Alternatively you can just get a replacement to remove the stamp, I'm having to replace mine as my Israel stamp won't let me do my Iraq trip next year.

TrixiBuG · 22 Oct 2012 at 10:52

Just read part 3 and loved it

Did you guys notice the 'special' tour that Lupine have next year in Chernobyl?

*checks the web site* Oh they must have sold it out now. They were giving permission to tour the Duga 3 (in Prypiat) and a reactor tour too but only for 2 days in February I think. I looked really really interesting

MickeyFinns · 22 Oct 2012 at 10:59

trixilux said:
Just read part 3 and loved it

Did you guys notice the 'special' tour that Lupine have next year in Chernobyl?

*checks the web site* Oh they must have sold it out now. They were giving permission to tour the Duga 3 (in Prypiat) and a reactor tour too but only for 2 days in February I think. I looked really really interesting

I'm booked on that trip

. Well sort of. It was originally for 10 people, but then when the company applied for the permits the government rejected it at the last minute and said only 2 people can go. Those 2 slots went to the first people to sign up. Currently trying to get the authorities to reduce the cost of the permit so 2 of us can go the next day instead.