In the Beginning

After the debacle that almost was with the cancellation of my flights and the mad scramble to get me to Beijing in time for my tour safety briefing, I managed to find myself there a whole day earlier than what I originally planned. I was in China a couple of years ago, so had seen most of the Beijing sites that I have wanted to and I naturally gravitated to the Dashilan Street W area near Tiananmen Square where it almost felt like I was coming home as I know it quite well.

I arrived at Beijing Airport after a brief stopover in Hong Kong and somehow made my way via public transport (bus) into the city. Unfortunately, where the airport shuttle bus dropped me off was about 2klms from where I was headed. Not keen on making that trek through the busy and somewhat smelly streets of Beijing with my entire luggage, I sprung for a taxi. I’m pretty chuffed it only cost me less than $A16 to get myself to my hostel. Go me!

I had booked myself a bed in a 5 person mixed dorm at the Leo hostel. It’s just for 1 night, right? And set out to try to catch up with some of my fellow travellers before we officially met at the briefing.

When I checked in, I was handed my sheets and a towel and pointed to my room where to my dismay, I discovered that I had been allocated a top bunk. I’m too old for this!!!! But in my true intrepid style, I went about climbing up to make my bed, ready for what I was hoping would be a restful night. Ha!
Through the Facebook page set up by our Young Pioneer guides, I connected with Paul from London, who was staying a couple of metro stops down from where I was staying and agreed to come over to the Leo Hostel in a while for a couple of pre-tour beers.

Meanwhile, I decided to take advantage of the foot massages being offered 2 doors up from the hostel whilst I waited.

At the time Paul and I were to meet, I made my way back into the hostel bar area and saw a guy sitting at a table smiling at me. Now, the pic on Paul’s Facebook is a cartoon caricature so I really wasn’t sure who it was I was meeting. I went over to him and said ‘Are you Paul?’ He gave me a puzzled look, shook his head and some guy standing right behind me goes ‘No, I’m Paul’. I’m sure I laughed, thinking it was some other traveller having a lend of me. Nope, this big burly Brit with the shaggy hair was my new travel mate.

We enjoyed a few beers and we soon joined by the lovely and fun Lucy, another Brit, who would now make up our awesome trio! Very quickly we became friends and before we knew it we were enjoying a Peking Duck meal together.

Paul the Thatcher and Lucy the Pharmacist

So this is Peking Duck

I loved meeting these guys! So to really kick off our awesome trip, we had a most fantastic night at the Leo Hostel bar. We met loads of new people, including a German guy who Lucy had gone to a nightclub the night before with and another of our fantastic travel companions, Kalman, from Bulgaria.

Whilst we were sitting drinking at Kalman's table a funny thing happened. The guy from earlier who I asked if he was Paul was now sitting there with some friends. We got chatting and the guy says 'My friends and I were taking bets as to why you two were meeting. I reckoned that this was a tinder hook-up' What!!!! Seriously, guys? We all laughed so hard. However, I can't imagine that they would ever have correctly guess the real reason we were meeting. Part of the fun of getting ready to go into North Korea was seeing people's reactions to us telling them where we were going, I must say that Paul is an absolute sweetheart, but seriously I can't imagine in any universe that I would be seeking out a Tinder date at a backpacker hostel in China...

It was at least 2am before Paul, Lucy, our new friends and I decided to call it a night. I was most pleased that I just needed to wobble out the back to find my room and the (urgghh) top bunk that I had thoughtfully pre-made earlier for myself.

Now, when I had been in my dorm room earlier to dump my bags and make my bunk, I did not encounter any of my room-mates. However, as I so delicately made my way into that room in the wee hours of the morning, I could feel that each of the other 5 beds were well and truly occupied. As quietly as humanly possible, I did a quick change and made my way up onto my bunk. Keep in mind that probably about 20 year ago I would have relished in this adventure. As a woman of some maturity, I tried to keep my movement groans to a minimal as I pretzelled myself between the sheets spread over a piece of 2 inches of foam masquerading as my mattress.

Crap!!!! Just as I had got myself somewhat settled I realised that I had in fact left my mobile phone down on the table next to my luggage. And being in a room full of strangers necessitated me having to retrieve it should I want to still have my phone in the morning light.

This is the bit where a middle aged lady, half cut from a boozy meetup with new friends, in a dank hostel room in China, ever so inelegantly slid down the bunk ladder and landed quite loudly on my butt in the dark amidst a room full of strangers. I'm not totally sure what happened but I had this fantastic idea that rather than turn myself around and climb face first down the ladder like a normal person, in my fuzzy headed wisdom, it felt like a great idea to face outwards as I went down, using my heels to catch each rung. It didn't actually work out like that and I managed to slide downwards with my butt catching each rung until I was sprawled on my back in the middle of the dark room whispering 'sorry, sorry, sorry' to my erstwhile sleeping room-mates. No-one stirred in the room, so I sheepishly grabbed my phone and retreated back to my mezzanine of slumber to nurse my significant bruising until the morning. At least I was somewhat anaesthetised so I didn't actually realise the extent of my injuries until the  morning.

This is the bit where I drifted into a peaceful slumber, with visions of tomorrow's adventures dancing in my soon to be slightly sore head....

Time to share

Often after any significant travel, it can be very difficult to settle back into 'real life'. Although nothing has changed with our work, our homes and our family and friends, we, the traveller, have been changed and it can take quite an effort to marry who we are now evolving to be with that who we are known to be in our everyday life. This has been doubly hard for me this time, after my latest trip to North Korea. My crazy bucket list trip has come hot on the heels of a massive life change only at the beginning of this year with a move from my home of 27 years in Cairns. I had still yet to establish completely my place here in my new world here in Toowoomba.

I must admit that I have struggled since I have returned. This has been to the magnitude of questioning what exactly I am doing with my life, what is next for me and most importantly, how can I keep travelling.  I also picked up a nasty head cold on, what I believe to be, my return flights. This was delightfully compounded by a particularly awful tummy bug which I'm not completely certain wasn't just a continuation of the 'DPRK belly' I had been experiencing for what was pretty much the duration of the whole trip.

When I did get back to work I found myself on a part of my work roster that saw me working 2x12hr day shifts followed by what was almost always a 12 hour 'afternoon shift' from 1015-2215 with 3 days off before starting the rotation all over again. I know that the usual is a 2 day weekend but 12 hour shifts take it out of you and the 3 days just never seemed enough before I had to go back. I had already done the 6 weeks of afternoon shifts prior to my trip, and found myself back at the top of this part of the roster when I came back...3 months!!! I know many people prefer no night shifts and only 3 shifts, but I love my night shifts! I am also studying so I was struggling to find the time to fit all my responsibilities in.

I have muddled through the last 2 months since returning home. Only now have I begun feeling as though I have caught up with myself. I am also very pleased also to share with you all that I am now over 24 days cigarette free. It has not been an easy journey giving up but not nearly as terrible as I thought it might be. I've been quite busy since I've returned.

It has been great also having a bit of extra time to process what amounted to be an incredible trip that exceeding any and all expectations. I have made some lifelong friends, seen places that not many outsiders have, and gained an acute appreciation for a misunderstood people who are largely just like you and me, with families and friends and work and homes who must fit into the society to which they have been born....just like you and I.

I'm excited to be sharing my stories and my photos with you and appreciate the patience that has been extended to me by my friends and family. Please do note that there are elements and incidents of the trip that I will be omitting from my online writings. I would love to be able to share every moment with you but there are things that, although this is a private blog, could create some issues with those who are in country and who regularly travel and do business there. The only reason that we as visitors and guests were afforded the freedoms we were whilst in country is due to the behaviour and conduct of those who have gone before us. I have no desire to make any issues for those who follow me.

Please feel free to bookmark my blog here, follow my Travelescence Facebook Page at  https://www.facebook.com/Travelescence-1392728370988049/ or just follow along from my private FB page. I welcome any questions and observations as I chronicle my journey. I would also like to thank all my travelling companions who joined me on the Young Pioneer Tours Unseen DPRK and Complete Pyongyang Metro Tour 2018. Some people I have got to know better than others and I hopefully will do justice to recreating our experience together from my own perspective. I mean absolutely no offence whatsoever to anyone I do not mention or refer to in my stories. Each and every person on our trip was fantastic and helped make it the amazing time it has been, but for ease of narration I am writing purely from my own experience and may not be able to include anecdotes of all the amazing people I have met. I also would like to add a disclaimer...I am a story teller! I will try to remain true to all that I recollect, but I have been known from time to time to slightly embellish a story in the name of poetic license. Just saying and I do not apologise for it :)

To describe what it was like to be there....

I was quite surprised with how quickly it became 'normal' for us to be there, in North Korea, to be walking the streets of Pyongyang, smiling at locals wandering to and from work, playing with their children, making their way through their daily life. But then something would happen and suddenly we became acutely aware of exactly where we were and what was potentially was as stake should we push boundaries that should never be pushed....

A small hiccup

Well, here I sit on the eve of my trip...gifts all sorted, bags all packed. However I’m a tad excited in a different way to how I was anticipating.

Last night, as I snuggled in my bed with dreams of trains, planes...and dare I say it....parading rockets dancing through my head, I decided to take a look at if and when I would be able to check in online for my flight. Alas, it is 36-2hours prior to takeoff. My eyes scanned the e-ticket sent to my by BestJet for what I thought was the hundredth time and to my absolute horror I noticed something that had my bouncing straight out of my bed in an awkward but I’m sure hilarious start (I may have skinned a peripheral or two)...

There, right there in black and white LCD on my phone was:

TAYLOR/ANGIE
MAGDELENE

We can talk about my middle name later guys...

Anyhow, WTAF?????

To the non-traveller, this looks about right. However, unfortunately my full name, as written in actual black and white ink on my passport, is ANGIELA MAGDELENE TAYLOR.

Just 2 little letters 😞

Now I am sitting here until 10:30am waiting for the Air China hotline to open so that I can desperately plead my case and praying like nothing else that this isn’t going to cost me a stupid amount of money to fix. Needless to say, I’m running in minimal sleep right now, which is probably a good thing. I just don’t have the energy to be freaking out as much as I probs need to be...well not on the outside anyway. I am absolutely going to North Korea. Not sure if I am going to, dare I say it, have to buy a completely new excessively expensive day before flying ticket, but like any tricky mistake of my own doing (how on Earth did I manage not to notice in all this time???? - I bought my flights back in April!!!!) I’ll just work out what I need to do and just find a way to do it.

I haven’t even left Toowoomba yet and the fun and excitement has started 😳

In the meantime, let me share with you my past week.

I’m very grateful that I’ve been on leave since last Sunday so I’ve been able to get everything nicely in order for my time away. Earlier in the week, I spent my time racing around making sure I have all the gifts finalised for the 2 Korean guides and bus driver, as well as all the bits and pieces I know I’ll appreciate having during my 24 hour train journey from Beijing to Pyongyang and then again back, as well as my time in country which will have me cut off from any communication with rest of the world and very limited access to anything that I might need that I do not have with me.

After pretty much 9 years with the Ambulance Service, a big focus was my first aid kit:

  

I ended up getting a whole collection of mess together also with a letter from the doc stating these are for personal use only. A girl can never be too safe!

I also spent some time putting delicious vegetarian freezer meals together for my boy whilst I’m away

Just because today has been a day...I’m having some issues with posting photos on my blog 😬

*

*

*

Well, here I am now standing outside my gate at Brisbane International Terminal, all checked in and passed through customs.

So let me tell you what happened regarding my air tickets...

At 1030, I called Air China to ask about having my name amended. No, sorry, that can only be done via the agency you booked with. I booked my flights back in April through BestJet via SkyScanner.. 

So I got in the phone to BestJet. Who informed me that it was now too late to change the name and I would have to deal directly with the airline. The helpful consultant then advised me to just show up at the Air China check-in desk and they ‘should’ be able to just change the name then.

Uh no. There is no way I was going to wait until the last minute to know whether I would be able to board my flight, which was scheduled for 1930 Sunday night.

So with a mad dash to make sure I had everything with me, I jumped in the car with Pheonix and headed straight down to Brisbane Airport with the intent of appealing with the Air China staff in person. 

Alas, the Air China admin office was all but boarded up. A helpful Virgin Australia usher took pity on me and assured me that most flights have a bunch of people with misspelled names on the ticket and it can easily be changed at checkin up to 2 letters without penalty with most airlines.

I headed back to Sequoia’s place at Kangaroo Point. We decided to take a look at whether there was any other Air China flights scheduled to fly in the next 2 days so I could go back in and try to catch someone. Uh oh! No flight, including my own on Sunday night, could be found on any of the Brisbane Airport departure schedules. Yep, now I was getting really worried.

So with due diligence, I called Air China again. After about 20 minutes on hold, I was informed that yes, my flight had been cancelled. No mention of when this had occurred, but what they could do was offer my other flights via Melbourne and Hong Kong. At this stage, I thought, ah ha! You guys have messed up so maybe now you can help me with the name misspelling!!! But no, still had to go back to the booking agency. 

Meanwhile, Sequoia is on the phone with Best Jet, who are adamant the flight has not been cancelled, even though I was standing next to her on the phone to Air China confirming that the flight was cancelled. Another 30 minutes on hold with BestJet finally had then concede my flight had been cancelled. They are now just offering a refund - which I just decided was a best outcome with the name issue and all. Full refund will be issued within 12 weeks, but now the misspelled name is no longer an issue.

Now to find a reasonably priced flight the day before I was due to fly 😳 I’m definitely being looked after, as I managed to find return flights with Cathay Pacific Airlines, leaving just after midnight that night which would put me in Beijing the day before my tour safety meeting and give me the opportunity to catch up with all my tour mates before we all officially meet. A brief stopover in Kong Kong and voila....here I am sitting on a bus I fervently hope will take me to my hostel for the night....

37 sleeps to go

37 more sleeps to go...

To say I am getting excited is an understatement! I now have my Chinese Visa in my passport and I am now in the fun process of putting together my gifts for the North Korean guides and driver. I’ve bought some little Australian branded cooler bags from the cheap shop and am filling them with lots of treats from home.

They have just released the pricing for the Mass Games tickets and it is disappointing that the regime has truly jacked up the prices for this year in a drive to raise foreign currency. The basic tickets start at $A150 so that doesn’t exclude me from attending but they’ve doubled and tripled the costs for the higher level tickets with Tier 2 being $A500, Tier 1 $A800 and the VIP tickets now coming in at a whopping $A1300!!! If they weren’t making such a cash grab, I believe that I would have happily sprung for a better grade seat. Let’s face it, I most likely will only be able to attend this but once in my lifetime. It’s not like any of the 100,000 performers will get to see any of the dosh anyway. Straight into KJU’s Swiss cheese fund or something, I bet.

For those of you who have not heard of the Mass Games before, it is a bit of a misnomer. Not really games as such. It is a performance of up to 100,000 people in a dance, music and marching extravaganza. Head over to YouTube to take a look - look up Pyongyang Mass Games. It’s been a number of years since it’s been held, so I’m very lucky they happen to be on during the time I will be there.

For those of you playing along at home, here is a loose itinerary:
Fly out of Brisbane Sunday 2nd Sept
Arrive Beijing Mon 3rd September where I will meet with my tour group and get the low down on the trip, including what to do and, most importantly, not to do whilst in country.
That afternoon, we board the train where we will spend the next 24 hours or so as we head in. There will be border checks as we leave China and head into NK.
Arrive in Pyongyang where we will spend our first night at the Koryo Hotel.
The next morning, we head off for a couple of nights on the East Coast at Hamhung and Wonsan eating local delicacies like kerosene-cooked oysters (mmm...btw I detest seafood at the best of times, but like the snails in Paris, I will give it a go just because I can).
We then return to Pyongyang for a few nights to take in the grand sights. This will include visiting a local fun fair, a trip through the grand Pyongyang Metro, bowing before large gold statues and the Mass Games.
We then head down to the border with South Korea (DMZ) to knock elbows with some local soldiers.
Finally, we return to Pyongyang to board our train back to Beijing.

I had the option to fly in or out, or both, on the antiquated Koryo Air service but I have opted to do the train both ways. Firstly, it will be a great opportunity to get to know and bond with my travel mates before we are actually there. And the trip out will give me an opportunity to process and start my writing. Hard as it will be, I expect to be incommunicado whilst in country. However, I do hope that I get the chance to check in (on Facebook) at the DMZ by connecting in to the South Korean network. I will try to keep some general notes to use as prompts during my time there but it’s probably not such a great idea to write my actual thoughts and musings before I’m safely back in China. (Did I just write that?)

Well, I’ve got a bit of packing to do and i must admit I am still sitting with several thousand dollars in cash ready to do the exchange in Euro.

So excited!!!!

Another Adventure Begins

My poor Mum! In the same month, I sat her down and told her of my plans to apply for a summer working as a Communications Operator in Antarctica as well as travel to North Korea. Although I have submitted my application to the Australian Antarctic Division this year, at the behest of the program’s contact person, I will be unable to effectively progress my application until after my son, Pheonix, has completed high school at the end of next year. However, I have just now bought my flights and travel insurance to Beijing for my trip to North Korea in September of this year. Mum really is great. As a parent myself, I can understand her angst in hearing me talking about visiting such a place shrouded in secrecy as well as being still technically at war (no armistice has been signed since the Korean War in the 1950s). No, I don’t have a death wish. Mum understands and supports my desire to really get out there and see the world, to have the confidence to take calculated risks and to venture to places not on the usual travellers’ bucket list.

My long-suffering parents...where will she be off to next?

I’ve been fascinated with North Korea for many years. To me, it represents some of the last vestiges of the Iron curtain. A country that has been deigned part of ‘The Axis of Evil’, a communist hold-out. Western media has a blatant political agenda. But what about the everyday men and women, the families who are just like you and me, who are living their lives as best as they can with the roll of the dice that has been played for them? The lies we have all been told to perpetuate the ‘us and them’ of this world? I don’t pretend to understand the macro-politics of world politics but there is a very earnest part of me that wants to go and see for myself, to experience the anachronism that is very much a 20th century country existing in a 21st century world.

Things are changing and only yesterday we saw the President of South Korea and Kim Jong Un cross the DMZ and have a few chats over some cold noodles. I’m not sure what will be the end game of these current events and I am certainly hoping that Trump doesn’t have his visit whilst I’m there in the first 2 weeks of September.

One of the things I am most excited about with my visit is the Mass Games. Only held once since 2011, this will be a sight to behold - 100000 people performing a 90 minute show of acrobatics, dancing, singing and all sorts of entertainment. 30000 schoolchildren are enlisted to provide the synchronised backdrop made with cards that are flipped in unison. When I chose the tour I am participating in, this wasn’t even a possibility, but I’m happy that this has now been added to the itinerary. For those who are not familiar with the Arirang Mass Games, jump over to You Tube and be amazed!

For those of you who wish to play along at home, I leave Australia for Beijing on Sunday September 2nd, from Brisbane Airport and return to Brisbane in the wee hours of Friday September 14th. I will be entering North Korea with Young Pioneer Tours on the 3rd September after a thorough debriefing of how to stay safe and get the most out of the trip. I’ve selected the Unseen DPRK and Entire Pyongyang Metro Tour, which will go for 9 days and 8 nights. We will be doing the ‘usual’ tour highlights  around Pyongyang and DMZ, but will also take a trip through 11 of the 13 Pyongyang metro stops and also visiting some of the towns/cities on the East Coast.

I look forward to chronicalling my preparations and sharing my upcoming travels here. It’s been a long time since our last adventures....