Young Pioneer Tours
Winter Ultra Budget Tour and Sinuiju Extension
Come join us as we show you an insight on how Pyongyangites cope during the early winter season, but more importantly this is not the “high-season” and gives you the chance to be one of the very few tourists in the country.
During our Group A stay in Pyongyang we’ll explore the Korean War Museum, visit the iconic grand statues of the leaders, ride the deep mysterious Pyongyang Metro and much more.
Stay longer with us on our must see Group B option for the Sinuiju extension as we spend a night in the DPRK border town city opposite Dandong in China. This city is way off the beaten track and gives you an in-depth look into this busy little city. We’ll visit a Kindergarten, explore the central square and even walk along the river that divides China and North Korea.
Our Group C option gives you the opportunity to fully explore Dandong city which offers many interesting glimpses into the inner workings of the Sino-DPRK Friendship. We’ll make our way north of the city and walk to the very end of the Great Wall of China, take a boat cruise down along the river and step onto the broken friendship bridge. We’ll also give you the chance to explore the opening of an abandoned underground bunker used during the Korean War.
Please note: All travellers must have a re-entry visa into China as there isn’t enough time to apply for a Chinese visa in Pyongyang and the 144 hour transfer visa doesn’t permit rail use.
Monday 8th November
Morning
- Meet your YPT guide at 7:30am inside the entrance of the Dandong Railway Station to collect train ticket, DPRK visa and go through DPRK procedure.
- Board the 10:00am train from Dandong.
- Arrive in Sinuiju to go through DPRK entry procedure.
- Continue the train ride onto Pyongyang and enjoy the beautiful countryside along the way.
Afternoon
- Optional lunch on the train (50RMB extra).
- 6:45pm arrival in Pyongyang to be met by your guides.
- Evening city tour of Pyongyang, including us stopping at Kim Il Sung Square for a walk and pictures.
- Dinner at a local Korean restaurant on Ryomyong Street
- Check in and overnight at the Sosan Hotel.
Tuesday 9th November
Morning
- Walk through Mansudae Fountain Park and see the mosaic pictures of President Kim Il Sung and the leader Kim Jong Il.
- Visit Mansudae Grand Monument – the two large bronze statues of President Kim Il Sung and Leader Kim Jong Il overlooking the city. (Optional extra- you can present flowers if you wish: small bunches are 2 euro, larger ones 4 euro.)
- Grand People’s Study House – library and academic centre for adult learners. This grand building is built in the Korean style and affords a great view over the central square.
- Foreign Language Bookshop – shopping central for books, pins, DVD’s, CD’s and periodicals in English and other foreign Languages, followed by a brisk walk to:
- Kim Il Sung Square – the central square of Pyongyang City.
Afternoon
- Lunch in the KITC restaurant to try the famous Pyongyang Cold Noodles or Korean Bibimap.
- Pyongyang Metro – ride 5 stops on the famous Pyongyang Underground!
- Exiting at the Arch of Triumph – the largest Victory Arch in the world, built to celebrate the triumphant return of Kim Il Sung after the anti-Japanese war.
- Visit the recently renovated Korean War Museum. Let the expert local guide show you around the enormous museum featuring dioramas, locally used weapons, tanks, etc., and captured American equipment!
- USS Pueblo – the only US Naval Ship still held captive by another nation.
- Juche Tower – monument to the everlasting Juche Ideology (optional 5 euros to go to the top).
- Visit Kwangbok department store – here we can buy locally made items and exchange our foreign currency into local DPRK Won!
- Taedonggan Beer Bar No.3 – three different microbrews on tap, 2 euros each.
- Dinner at the National Restaurant with performance!
- Overnight at the Sosan Hotel.
Wednesday 10th November
Morning
- Check out of Sosan Hotel.
- Slow drive to Pyongyang train station stopping at a few interesting places in the city for last photos.
- Depart Pyongyang by train at 10:25am
- Optional lunch on the train (50RMB extra).
Afternoon
- Group A – arrive in Sinuiju at 3:30pm, go through immigration and exit to Dandong at 5:00pm where your tour concludes
- Group B & C – Arrive in the remote village of Dongrim at 2:30pm – Dongrim is the nearest town outside of Sinuiju, located south amongst the valleys of the east coast of the peninsula.
- Your local Korean guides will meet you as you step onto the platform
- Drive to Dongrim Hotel to check-in and prepare for afternoon hiking
- Hike to Dongrim Waterfall and explore surrounding valley of the mountain range, during warmer weather you can take a dip beneath the waterfall
- Dinner and overnight at the Dongrim Hotel – a brand new swanky hotel with a swimming pool. sauna, table tennis, massage, bars, karaoke, tennis, basketball and volleyball courts.
Thursday 11th November
Morning
- 1 hour drive to Sinuiju city on the way stopping at:
- Sinamri Co-operative farm – we’ll look out to where the locals grow rice, cabbage, chilli and cucumbers
- Tour the Pomhayanggi Cosmetics Factory and meet some of the local workers that produce some of DPRKorea’s most famous cosmetics
- Visit the mosaic images of the “Three Tigers of Mt. Paektu” Kim Il Sung, Kim Jong Il and Kim Jong Suk.
- Explore the large central square of Sinuiju and see the statue of President Kim Il Sung and General Kim Jong Il
- Visit the North Phyongan Province Revolutionary History Museum – This will go into detail about the history of the local province.
Afternoon
- Lunch at Myohyangsan Travel Company Restaurant which also features a great souvenir shop.
- Head to the local Folklore Park where there may be chances to engage in traditional Korean activities and some more modern activities too (extra charges apply for partaking in the local games, these will vary from game to game) or you can simply walk around and enjoy the scenery and watch the locals
- Visit the Art Studio which holds over 250 pieces of DPRK fine arts in six large halls – some very cool and eye opening art pieces here!
- Bonbu Kindergarten and performance – Famous for training the Children who perform in the skipping scene of the Arirang Mass games as well as its long history of training artistic performers. The performance here is the best of any Kindergarten in the country.
- Explore Amnok park and walk down to the Amnok River (Yalu River) and see the original Korean/Chinese Friendship Bridge bombed by the Americans during the Korean War. Very few tourist are able to view the bridge from the DPRK side!
- Board the 4:30pm bus and go through Korean customs to Dandong
- Group B – tour concludes – if you need to make any accommodation or a way out of Dandong please let us know!
- Group C – Dine and experience Dandong’s famous BBQ scene
- Overnight in Dandong
Friday 12th November
Morning
- Visit the most eastern part of the Great Wall at Tiger Mountain – This is famous for the ‘one-meter hop’ as it is the narrowest point between China and the DPRK.
- Head back into Dandong city and we’ll go for a gentle hike up to Mt. Jinjiang to overlook Dandong city with Sinuiju in the near distance. Here we can explore the opening of an abandoned underground bunker Mao Zedong constructed to help store ammunition for the Chinese during the Korean War. There’s also an old soviet style theme park opened in the early 1980s.
Afternoon
- Lunch at local Dandong restaurant to experience true North East (Dongbei) food – whole hearty dishes of meat, vegetables and tofu.
- Jump aboard a boat and travel down the Yalu River, the river that separates China and the DPRK. This will give you fantastic photo opportunities to take of North Korea and the destroyed original Friendship Bridge that was built by the Japanese and then destroyed by the Americans during the Korean War.
- After disembarking the boat, now is your chance to walk along the destroyed Friendship Bridge and see the Chinese propaganda.
- End of tour
Tour Extensions
Want to extend your YPT adventure? Join one of our great tour extensions
