Kaesong

Kaesong is the only major city to have swapped countries at the end of the Korean War. Formerly part of South Korea, it fell just north of the armistice line. The drive down south from Pyongyang to Kaesong is quite pretty. Last year we had guides that refused to let us photograph anything from the bus; this year we had guides that said we could take whatever pictures we wanted as long as we didn't photograph military checkpoints, of which there were many. That was a deal we all could live with! :)

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Our previous agreement with the guides to let us photograph the drive south did not mean that the bus driver actually had to make things easy. He almost never slowed lower than freeway speeds, so getting good pictures proved to be quite a challenge since we were always moving so quickly. Also added to the equation was the North Korean government's deliberate policy of planting tall trees along the sides of major highways to make unauthorized picture taking impossible (check out images from Google Earth to see more of that). As we got farther south and closer to more cities, taking pictures became much harder. For example, this village had some really pretty buildings but was only visible for a few seconds in a break between trees.

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So we had to just snap pictures at high speed and hope for the best. Sometimes trees got in the way. Sometimes they were too blurry to be salvageable. Luck played a crucial part as well. Often we had to wait for bridges or overpasses to be clear of the tree barricades so we could snap a bunch of pictures in succession before falling back behind the visual obstacles.

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Anti-invasion concrete towers. You find these on both sides of the DMZ, in higher concentration and greater frequency the closer you get to the actual border. They can be easily detonated to collapse across the road to block the path of invading tanks..

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More anti-tank barriers, the one on the left with the word unity written on it.

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More random roadside shots as we get close to and finally enter Kaesong...

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Korea International Travel Company was written in big Korean letters on the side of our bus, so we were very much a rolling billboard advertising the fact that foreigners were on board. We often were waved at.

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August was steamy hot in North Korea, and we frequently saw kids playing in the rivers next to the road.

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Kaesong Restaurant. We were told we were going to a newly-discovered restaurant so we were excited. They don't get very many repeat visitors to North Korea, so perhaps they weren't expecting anyone to realize that this was the exact same place they took us to last year. Oh well.

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At least the interior decor was still nice.

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Trying to find something interesting to photograph while waiting for our food to arrive, in this case our guide's pin.

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In an effort to make the experience of eating at the same restaurant something new, we took the plunge, swallowed our inhibitions, gulped, and then ordered the specialty of the region, dog stew (right). It comes with a flavorful variety of spices (left) that can be added to the broth to suit each individual taste.

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Closer shot of the dog meat. Yes, I ate it. At first I was horrified at the thought but have to say it tasted much better than I was expecting. It has the same consistency of chicken, but more chewy. This was by far the spiciest thing we ate in North Korea, and it was actually quite nice to have some real hot food after eating pretty bland stuff for a while.

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A couple shots from the sidewalk in front of the restaurant. We saw a lot more of these little outdoor kiosks than before. It was nice to see these little efforts at private enterprise sprouting up all over North Korea. They come and go at the whim of the government, but for now, at least, it looks like people (certain people, anyway) are once again free to set up little lemonade stand types of "businesses".

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Another important change from last year was the fact that we were able to see more of Kaesong. Last year they seemed very uncomfortable with the idea of Americans being there, and we were kept on very tight leashes. This year we got to see a bit more of the city before being whisked away, including the requisite stop at the Kim Il Sung statue to pay our respects. There he is, commanding a view from the top of the hill at the end of the street. Kaesong is so close to the border that this statue is actually visible from South Korea, so it was a thrill to actually see it again after so many years up close.

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View of Kaesong looking down the hill from the statue. Always amazed at the complete lack of vehicular traffic in major North Korean cities.

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Great panorama views of old Kaesong from Jannamsan Park.

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Pomanri Fish Farm. "Long live the Great Leader Comrade Kim Jong Il" is written in large letters on the hillside behind it, no doubt because he has personally visited here in the past to give on-the-spot guidance, and may do so again in the future.

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Trout and carp are bred in the 70 fish ponds that make up the farm.