Traveling To North Korea With Young Pioneers Tours

Destinations Your Mother Would Want You To Stay Away From

Curiosity and the thrill of venturing off into the unknown are more than enough for travelers to make the leap into booking a tour to the hermit kingdom. With several travel agencies cracking open the back door to North Korea, booking a tour to the DPRK is all too tempting.

The main organizations bringing wide-eyed, adventurous, yet fear stricken travelers to Korea are Koryo Tours (Used by no other than Mr. Michael Palin himself), Uri Tours, Lupine Travel, and the notorious Young Pioneers Tours. YPT bills itself as being a tour agency for backpackers that hate tours. This tagline is already more than enough to play to stubborn South East Asian travelers who are always looking to get off of the beaten path.

Young Pioneers was under fire from most news organizations following the detention and death of Otto Warmbier, a 22-year old American who stole a propaganda banner from the staff quarters at Yanggakdo Hotel. Many reporters branded YPT as a drunken mess of an organization which leads their naive backpackers into the clutches of the leader of the “Axis of Evil“. These click bate articles are unfortunately misleading and are a fine example of poor journalism which relies on Instagram posts and Trip Advisor reviews as sources.

You can read some of these articles on YPT here or here!

Touching Down In Pyongyang

For an organization which promotes so much uninhibited drunken behavior, you may be surprised that there are aspects of their job which they do take seriously. Even after several PDF documents detailing all of the risks and regulations when traveling to the DPRK, the staff has several debriefings in China prior to even boarding the train or plan to Pyongyang. Most of the rules are simple: don’t go off on your own, don’t talk negatively of the leaders, no pictures of military or construction, the leaders must be in full frame when photographed, and when in Pyongyang do as the Pyongyangese do.

After another rundown of the rules, each traveler is handed a blue booklet which serves as their visa. During this particular trip, half of the group took the train from Beijing, while the other half flew with the fabled Air Koryo.

Due to recent sanctions on the DPRK, the flight was canceled, thus forcing the passengers to fly a day earlier than scheduled. Since nearly half of the group was flying a day before the train passengers were supposed to leave, this group of tourists would be interacting directly with the North Korean guides without the supervision of a YPT representative.

Nervously, the unattended group of travelers boarded the plane for a direct flight into the heart of the most secretive nation on the planet.

You can read more on my experience in North Korea here!

The Tensest Place On The Planet

 After a short flight which consisted of each passenger digging their nails into the armrest in anticipation of touching down in Pyongyang, the most suspenseful part of the whole trip awaited the group of YPT tourists. Entering and exiting the country the only thing going through each travelers mind is if they will be detained or not. Will that magazine I bought in the airport in Beijing be enough to incriminate me and have me sentenced to 15 years of back-breaking labor in the Korean countryside?

Surprisingly, the immigration offers are all extremely lax, greeting each visitor with a smile as they take passports out of trembling hands. Going through the security check was also a breeze. Bags and suitcases passed through the x-ray while officers smiled and joked with each other at the screen. After taking your bags and passing the threshold into the eerily empty lobby, a wave of relief will wash over you.

Do We Need A Western Guide?

As soon as the travelers were waved through security, the Korean guides greeted the group and took their passports for registration with the government. The absence of a YPT representative was not even noticed as the Korean guides went through the very same rules which were described to us prior to even boarding the plane. No spreading religion, no photographing military personnel, no photography of construction sites, and so on.

With actual North Koreans who are well versed in the regulations, one truly feels that they have the foreign tourists best interests at heart. The whole day went on without any issues. The North Koreans dazzled tourists with all of the best things Pyongyang has to offer. Propaganda museums, zoos, tapestry museums, and even movie studios barely scratch the surface of all that was jam-packed into a day before the arrival of the rest of the pioneers. The tourists began to murmur amongst themselves, “why should we have and tip a foreign guide?”

With a group of roughly 16 travelers, each person at the end of the trip was expected to throw in 100 yuan (16 USD) for a tip that would be split amongst the guides and driver. With the initial absence of a YPT representative and the eventual lax attitude of the guide, many questioned the need for a foreign supervisor all together.

Like many Asian or communist countries, what you get to do depends on who you know. These foreign guides have established trust and friendships with the North Koreans that will prove to be vital when it comes down to going to some of the most astounding places in the DPRK, rather than a drab soda factory. The guides may seem bored on the surface when visiting yet another souvenir shop or postage stamp museum, but they represent the voice of the backpackers when it comes to creating itineraries and explaining things from a Western perspective.

The Tragedy of Otto Warmbier

The detention and sentencing of the 22-year-old American was news that shocked the entire world. North Korea has had its fair share of detentions of American tourists in the past, from crazed kids seeking asylum in the hermit kingdom to missionaries seeking to leave a Bible behind for curious Koreans to pick up.

The case of Otto Warmbier was the most shocking of all of the detainees due to it seeming like an instance of kids just being kids. Late one night Otto snuck into the staff quarters to steal one of the long propaganda banners. It wasn’t until Warmbier was about to board the plane that he was whisked away by officers in olive uniforms and large Soviet-style hats. When asked the reason for his detention, the Korean immigration gave the excuse that he was “sick”. It wasn’t until a few days later that the truth was revealed.

During the time of this trip to the DPRK, Warmbier was still alive and thought to be held in one of the hotel rooms around Pyongyang. The Korean guides spoke openly about Otto with a sense of sadness in their eyes and a shake of their head. The night prior to the incident, Otto apparently made an international call to a Methodist Church in Ohio that offered to pay a large sum of money if he would bring them a banner from North Korea.

Charlotte Guttridge who served as the guide for both this tour and that of Otto Warmbier gave her first-hand account of what happened the day of his detention. Literally seconds before boarding the plane Otto was dragged away, while the rest of the tourists and guide watched on, terrified. To this day the events that transpired have left this young 25-year-old tour guide scarred. While she may still like to down a good beer at the Yanggakdo Bar, Charlotte has learned to keep a more watchful eye on all of her tourists.

You can read more about Otto Warmbier’s detention here.

Party In The DPRK

It is no secret that Young Pioneers Tours is run by a bunch of adventurous frat kids that like to crush a brewski in some of the worlds most remote places. Their tours appeal to your typical South East Asian partygoers who are looking for a break from Full Moon Parties and Mekong booze cruises.

YPT’s guides want to show you a more candid side of North Korea, a part where not only the backpackers can let loose, but also they can witness the locals with their guard down. Zoos full of families and school groups, bars serving pints of cold beers, and even amusement parks where Koreans can be seen laughing and playing in full view of the rest of the world.

There is always a sense of doubt in the traveler’s mind that everything being witnessed maybe some kind of elaborate hoax performed by actors to give tourists the illusion that the DPRK is a paradise on earth. Despite what may cross your mind, the laughs, jokes, and games played between the Koreans and tourists show a sign of fraternity that just can’t be scripted.

You can read more about my take on the North Korean people here!

Remembering Where You Are

The guides quickly become warm friends rather than stoic handlers leading groups of picture-snapping tourists from monument to monument. When visiting any place on the itinerary there is sure to be a god-like statue of the former Kim leaders. The descriptions given of these two homely paunchy men are usually so outlandish that westerners can’t help but make sarcastic comments or snicker in the back. The guides recommended if they are ever questioned on their sincerity to simply fire back by saying, “You mean, he isn’t the greatest leader of all time?” This will usually leave the accuser blushing and scrambling to find a way to defend his love for the Kims.

With all the barbeque dinners and late night pub crawls it is easy to forget that you are in the most repressive country in the world. When joking with the guides you may be tempted to show that one Kim-jong Un GIF that is sure to get a laugh. The guides, despite their rather unorthodox lifestyle, are there to always keep a level head and keep you in check when you get a bit too comfortable in the DPRK.

The Young Pioneers

After the tragic death of Otto Warmbier, the Koreans were accused of wanting him as a bargaining chip while the Americans turned him into a martyr. The western media did not want to blame the hostage for his poor decisions and actions but wanted to make him out to be a young all-American kid who was killed for a bought of innocent mischievousness.

While YPT is run by a motley crew of young drunken backpackers who have made questionable decisions in the past. They often use lazy writing and shock articles in an attempt to attract more beer chugging clients. Regardless of how YPT promotes themselves, they can not be held accountable for the actions made by a naive college kid in the dead of night. The parents of Warmbier and the media blamed Young Pioneers of playing down the risks of traveling to North Korea, luring young backpackers into the very jaws of the Kim Regime.

When Young Pioneers says that the DPRK is one of the safest places on the planet, that is no exaggeration. Crime, terrorism, and even traffic accidents are nearly nonexistent in the hermit kingdom. The only risk is that you may have is that your toe is out of line. The guides are there so that you can explore that blank spot on the map while playing by the rules set by the Koreans.

For cheap tours, you can not go wrong with Young Pioneers. At the end of the day, your actions are your own, no matter what country you are in. If it is Sharia Law or no-nonsense Communist regulations, you need to learn the playbook before traveling off of the beaten path.

Get more news on the DPRK here!