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!!!!