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 [...]

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 [...]

You are always under the watchful eyes of the “Dear Leader” and “Great Leader” wherever you go in North Korea, including the metro. These portraits of Kim Il-Sung and Kim Jong-Il were spotted in a Pyongyang Metro car in September 2009. While we were only allowed in one metro car (seperate, of course, from the [...]

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.

Kim Il-Sung and Kim Jong-il (The “Great Leader” and “Dear Leader”, respectively) watch over the departure lounge at Pyongyang’s Sunan International Airport.

This is part of the giant mural that is displayed at the entrance to the Victorious Fatherland Liberation War Museum in Pyongyang. At the center is Kim Il-sung, who is known in North Korea as the saviour of the nation who led the DPRK to victory in the Korean War. That, of course, couldn’t be [...]

No posts in the last few weeks due to a trip out to the West Coast, but I now have plenty more photos to post and write about from Big Sur, San Francisco, Redwood National Park, Oregon, Seattle, and Vancouver. And back to the Photo of the Day, which shows a group of North Korean [...]

Taken near Kim Il-Sung Square in Pyongyang, North Korea.

Since I took over 1,300 photos in North Korea, they will show up quite frequently here. This is a group of North Koreans outside Kumsusan Memorial Palace, a bizarre mausoleum where, among other things, you bow before Kim Il-Sung’s embalmed corpse.