Air Koryo, the national airline of North Korea

We flew on North Korea’s national airline, Air Koryo. Flying with Air Koryo was a surreal experience. The Air Koryo fleet is vintage 1960s-1970s Soviet passenger planes. Even though they have a perfect safety record and are well maintained, I was nervous traveling on old machines from the Soviet era. But any North Koreans leaving the country on official business, as well as the Western, Chinese, and Russian diplomatic staff in Pyongyang use Air Koryo, so that was something to take comfort in.

The plane’s interior was rather creepy as Socialist Realist music wafted through the fuselage. The décor was from the 1970s Soviet Union, with green carpets and green seats with tacky flowery designs. That being said, I soon discovered that North Korea was very much Soviet-retro. Air Koryo's seats aren’t comfortable because it is very cramped. Although new Western planes do not have much leg room, they have far more leg room than old Soviet planes. The flight attendants were all young North Korean women dressed in sharp red uniforms. The flight attendants were very friendly. They handed out English versions of The Pyongyang Times. They served a small lunch on our flight from Beijing to Pyongyang, which was a ham sandwich in thick bread. I don’t know if it was because I was so hungry, but the sandwich was tasty. Interestingly, during the lunch service the flight attendants changed their uniforms into a lunch uniform. It was a white blouse with purple apron and purple apron.

Every seat on our flight from Beijing was taken. It was packed with North Korean officials and our tour group’s eclectic mix of foreigners, mainly all intrigued and curious about this secretive state. Once landing at the creepy airport with a giant portrait of Kim Il Sung smiling over the rainy runway, all our passports and mobile phones were impounded. DPRK has tight immigration policies. No one complained because we all understood that North Korean isolation is part of this unique experience.

I had the unique opportunity to sit beside two North Korean men. I was in the window seat and therefore chatted more with the man in the middle, to my left. They were both very friendly. The man’s name was Ri, he was a heart surgeon in Pyongyang. We compared our cameras, he had a new digital camera from China. We chatted about our families. Ri is married with two teenage sons, his spouse is a housewife. We also chatted a bit about traveling in Asia.

I was shocked when Ri mentioned some of the places he’s traveled, including China, Russia, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Switzerland. He travels for medical conferences. North Koreans have severely restricted movement within their own country, so I was surprised at how much he’s traveled. But it is only because of his profession and for legitimate reasons of conferences. Moreover, for a North Korean of any stripe to leave the country means that they have been vetted and proven their deep commitment to DPRK. Regardless, Ri was a nice man whom I enjoyed talking with. I even had my picture taken with him, and then he had his picture taken with me on his camera.

We had a charter flight from Pyongyang to Samji Airport in the deep north of the country. The charter flight was, again, a 1970s Soviet-era passenger plane, but a smaller one than the one used from Beijing. It was a small Antonov 12. The flight attendants were dressed in the same smart red uniforms and, although we didn’t get anything to eat on either flight, they gave out the English-translations of The Pyongyang Times.

The following is a picture of me on our chartered return flight from north North Korea (a serious area of the country where few are allowed). After our previous night of our bus running out of gas along the snow and ice covered mountain roadways, and walking 5k back to our hotel in the dark surrounded by North Korean soldiers, I look a little worse for wear. At any rate, here I am settling back with a copy of the English-translation of The Pyongyang Times. Notice the main headline glorifying Kim Il Sung, the father of Socialist Korea.