Young Pioneer Tours
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Welcome to the Young Pioneer Tours Blog, the place where we we keep you informed about everything YPT, from current tours, to future tours and a whole lot of eclectic stuff in between.
YPT first started blogging in 2008 and are considered the best North Korean Travel blog that there is.
But, as Young Pioneer Tours have expanded our locations, so have we expanded our blog. Now we have one of the best travel blogs in the world!
And while most of our content is about the numerous destinations we go, including travel guides and what to pack, we also delve into more serious subjects such as the safety of certain destinations, as well as how LGTBQ+ friendly the places we visit are.
While the vast majority of our content is produced in-house, we are always on the look-out for guest bloggers and writers. Want to write for us? Then simply get in touch.
You can also check out our sister publication YPT Life.
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VDNKh: the Soviet Disneyland
31 August 2019 / by Gareth Johnson
On our recent Moscow-Pyongyang tour, we had the opportunity of first spending the better part of two days in the Russian capital before embarking upon our mammoth (and event-filled) journey across Siberia and into North Korea. But that’s another story …
Listvyanka: the village on the shores of Baikal
30 August 2019 / by Gareth Johnson
Listvyanka – On YPT’s recent trip to Lake Baikal, we not only visited the capital of the Buryat Republic and sampled their fine cuisine, as well as learnt the history behind Irkutsk’s bizarre mascot, but we also got to, y’know, visit the lake itself. O …
5 of the best: Buryat food and drink
29 August 2019 / by Gareth Johnson
The Republic of Buryatia is perhaps most famous for bordering Siberia’s world-famous Lake Baikal (the deepest in the world), but it should also be pretty famous for the eponymous Buryats, the Mongol people who call the region home. The Buryats have a l …
The Babr: how a weird beaver-tiger thing became the mascot of Irkutsk
29 August 2019 / by Gareth Johnson
Irkutsk is, much like Ulan-Ude on the other side of Lake Baikal, a charming departure from the more European vibe of Moscow. And much like Ulan-Ude, it oozes an idiosyncratic Siberian vibe that you just don’t get on the other side of the Urals – quirky …
Ulan-Ude: a day out in the Buryat capital
28 August 2019 / by Gareth Johnson
Russia’s a big country. Like reaaaaalllly big. Everybody knows that on an abstract level, but it may well be that you have to experience it to really understand that vastness and to see just how different Moscow is from, say, Eastern Siberia. I recentl …
Made in DPRK – The Naenara Browser
28 August 2019 / by Gareth Johnson
What is Naenara? At Young Pioneer Tours we have more than a casual interest in the technology and software of the DPRK. We’ve previously written about Red Star OS, the Arirang smartphone, and the Samjiyon tablet. Today on our ‘made in the DPRK’ series, …
North Korean celebrities: making it big in the DPRK
27 August 2019 / by Gareth Johnson
When people write – or talk – about North Korea, it would be easy to assume that the country is merely comprised of the first three leaders of the country: President Kim Il Sung, General Kim Jong Il and current leader Chairman Kim Jong Un. But believe …
Samjiyon County – DPRK Guide
27 August 2019 / by YPT Team
Samjiyon County is one of the most important places for tourists and locals alike in the DPRK. Here is the YPT Samjiyon County Guide. Why visit Samjiyon County? The main draw of Samjiyon county is of course the famous Mt Paektu. The highest mountain in …
Abatao Island & village
27 August 2019 / by Gareth Johnson
One of the best (or worst) things about our Least Visited Countries Tour is the sheer unpredictability of Pacific Island life – a level of unpredictability that necessitates a lot of itinerary changes. On our 2017 trip to Kiribati we decided to leave t …
