Pyongyang, North Korea

P’yngyang' (Pyeongyang), with about 2,750,000 inhabitants, is the capital city of North Korea. It is situated on the Taedong River in the northwest of the country. Nearly all visitors arrive either by plane or train. Sunan International Airport (IATA: FNJ) is 24 km north of Pyongyang and, as of 2009, has scheduled services only to Beijing. There is a (supposedly) weekly flight to Vladivostok, but in fact it's hardly more than a glorified charter, as it goes only if there's enough passengers to fill the elderly Tu-134. The Air China Beijing flights depart/arrive on Monday and Friday afternoons, with an additional service on Wednesday afternoons in summer (from April 1st). Note that Pyongyang airport does not have ILS, so if the weather is bad, flights are sometimes cancelled, or even turned back. If you are in a position to be able to, the tickets to Bejing are almost half price from Pyongyang. They are on sale in the Youth Hotel, in the Air China office, which is situated about 10km north-east of the city. Furthermore, they give a 30kg baggage allowance for free. Trains from China arrive at Pyongyang's main central train station. Foreigners have to exit via the side door at the far end of the station from the gates. Don't join the scrum with the Koreans, as you won't be allowed to leave via the same door. If you have transported anything via freight on the train, you'll have to go back the next day to pick it up. The customs office is around the back of the building, and is shut from 12 to 2PM. At other times, it's not very busy. At all. There are no charges for collecting customs-cleared goods, and the bureaucracy is fairly simple, especially after the chaos at Beijing railway station.

Channel: www.CheckMyCity.com Video Length: 1m 21s Date Found: Sun, Mar 07 2010 11:16 PM Category: Travel Date Produced: Sun, Mar 07 2010 11:11 PM View Count: 0