At Home In The Wasteland Travel Blog

This portrait of “Great Leader” Kim Il-sung and “Dear Leader” Kim Jong-il was hanging in a Pyongyang souvenir shop when I visited North Korea in September 2009. The pervasive cult of personality that surrounded the Kims ensured that every building you set foot in prominently displayed portraits of the two leaders. Now that Kim Jong-il [...]

The Arch of Reunification (or, Monument to the Three Charters for National Reunification as I’ve also seen it called) is your typical North Korean monument: large, not particularly beautiful, and glorifying some event that either didn’t happen, or will likely never happen (according to the plan North Korea has devised, anyway). And, of course, there [...]

And finally, here is the last of the footage I shot in North Korea. This was taken at Moranbong Park during North Korea’s national independence holiday. With plenty of beer and meat on the grill, it’s not that far off from an American 4th of July celebration (except for, you know, that whole notion of [...]

Here is the last of the footage shot while we were driving around Pyongyang. Not many recognizable landmarks in this video, but there are some large portraits of Kim Il-Sung and other propaganda.

Here is some footage taken on our drive south from Pyongyang to Kaesong and the DMZ. There were hardly any cars on the expansive six lane Reunification Highway, and as you can see from the video, the road itself was in very poor condition. The next video was taken at a rest stop that straddles [...]

I’ve finally finished uploading the last of my North Korea footage to YouTube. Why has it taken me over two years? No idea. Pure laziness, I suppose. Anyway, here is the footage of our drive through Kaesong, the southernmost city in North Korea. And yes, our bus driver really, really liked using the horn.

Since returning from a trip to North Korea (DPRK) in September 2009, I’ve received a substantial amount of e-mail from people who are interested in traveling there themselves. Since many of the questions posed by these travelers are quite similar, and this information might be useful to those planning a trip, I’m putting together a [...]

Here are two videos I filmed featuring North Korean school children dancing and playing musical instruments at the Mangyongdae Children’s Palace in Pyongyang:

“The dexterity of these 8-year old kids is breathtaking. But behind their strained faces, you sense all the concentration that goes into playing the music and, especially, into trying to keep up those Miss World smiles. You can just imagine the training needed to achieve such robotic results…it’s all so cold…and sad. I could cry.” [...]

Kim Il-Sung, sporting the red scarf of the Young Pioneer organization, watches over the youth of North Korea in this large roadside propaganda painting.