Ryugyong Hotel, September 2009. Older photos (pre-glass paneling) can be found here.
In the center of Pyongyang stands the Ryugyong Hotel, a bizarre, incomplete pyramidal structure that has often been deemed the “hotel of doom” and “ugliest building on earth.”
Construction on the 105 story hotel first began in 1987. Because everything [...]

Our next stop on the “the Eternal Sun of Mankind” tour was the Mangyongdae Native House, where Kim Il-Sung was supposedly born and raised. While this small, simple cottage was of little interest to the majority of our tour group, the North Koreans who flock to it consider it a holy site. It [...]

More random shots.

Kim Il-Sung Stadium. Capacity 50,000. Used mainly for soccer games.

“Monument of Triumphal Speech” mural near the Arch of Triumph.

Rush hour in Pyongyang

Kaeson “Triumphant Return” Metro station

Another shot of the Ryugyong Hotel (just couldn’t get enough of it).

Kaeson Cinema

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A few random shots here and there.

Ubiquitous propaganda

Pyongyang Traffic Girl

Another Pyongyang Traffic Girl

Building on Kim Il-Sung Square

Kim Il-Sung Square. Tower of Juche Idea in the background.

Building on Kim Il-Sung Square

School children

Flags and decorations

Pyongyang TV Tower

Near the Arch of Triumph. The weird building in the background is the Ryugyong Hotel.

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In case my explanation was insufficient, below is the footage of our trip to the Revolutionary Martyrs’ Cemetery from the North Korean tourism DVD. It includes the usual laying of flowers, bowing, etc.

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Located on Mt. Taesong, just a short drive from the Kumsusan Memorial Palace, is the Revolutionary Martyrs’ Cemetery, the final resting place of Koreans who died fighting the Japanese during their occupation of the Korean peninsula.
As with our visit to Mansudae, our group was asked to purchase several bouquets of flowers to lay at the [...]

Imagine you’re a high-ranking North Korean bureaucrat living in Pyongyang, have a few thousand euros burning a hole in your pocket, and need to purchase a 36” flat screen TV, leather couch, cigarettes, and tortilla chips. Where do you go? The Paradise Department Store, obviously. Stocked full of electronics, clothing, and groceries, [...]

After visiting the Tower of Juche Idea, we headed over to another monument commemorating the foundation of the Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK). The WPK is the ruling party of North Korea and is headed by its General Secretary, Kim Jong-il. This particular monument was erected in 1995 to commemorate the WPK’s iron-fisted [...]

Below is some footage I shot of the Puhung station of the Pyongyang Metro.
Entrance to the station:

The incredibly long escalator ride with awesome music to soothe you as you descend into the metro:

Station platform:

Train arriving at the station:

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When I returned home from my first trip abroad to Russia in 2002 I arrived at LAX loaded down with a duffel bag full of souvenirs. With my subsequent travels to Russia and other European countries, I began accumulating massive amounts of stuff. Much to the dismay of my mother, my room back [...]