The North Korean government heavily restricts what you can do there. Here is a short list of the main restrictions I remember facing.<\/p>\n
You may not take pictures without permission. On the other hand, if you treat your category_ides well and tip people, you get a lot more leeway.<\/p>\n
You may only visit sites from the list of places the government allows you to see. You can only get there by the bus they take you in. I understand Koryo<\/a>, the Beijing-based company that brought us, pushes to expand that list and gets new places on the list sometimes. I bet if you worked with them you could get to be one of only a few non-North Koreans to visit some places.<\/p>\n You may only go places escorted by your category_ides. You must listen to the official history and description of each place. Some sites had extensive mandatory parts, especially the mausoleum containing the embalmed body of Kim Il Sung. I hope I get to describe that place, though I won’t be able to do it justice. It was another world, even in a country that was another world.<\/p>\n You may only eat in approved restaurants. You may only stay in approved hotels. The category_ides ate separately from us.<\/p>\n You may not talk to any North Koreans besides the category_ides and staff at the approved sites, restaurants, and hotels. We had a few occasions to get around this rule, specifically playing ultimate<\/a>, at the Mass Dance<\/a>, and at the amusement park. The amusement park featured a North Korean guy hitting on Ingrid, which probably happens rarely, but counts as communication in my book.<\/p>\n At one point I walked from our group to throw away a piece of trash in a trash can by a bus stop. On my way back one of our category_ides got very incensed at me, asking what I did and why and looking very cross at me. When I looked back at where he was pointing, a young kid was sitting at the bus stop. I hadn’t even seen her. I think he was worried I had spoken or interacted with her.<\/p>\n You may not spend North Korean currency. You can buy it as a souvenir but you may not spend it. That makes sense because the North Korean government needs foreign currency to buy things overseas. I doubt anyone outside of North Korea would accept North Korean currency for anything.<\/p>\n Continued tomorrow<\/a>…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The North Korean government heavily restricts what you can do there. 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