Dates preface 26-08-2005 27-08-2005 28-08-2005 29-08-2005 30-08-2005 31-08-2005 01-09-2005 02-09-2005 03-09-2005 back home 4 Dutchies Koryo Tours At 10 am we go to the office of Koryo Tours, who arrange our trip to North Korea. Their office is in a small apartment in the Red House Hotel in Beijing. We're talking to Simon and Nick, who've been organizing trips to North Korea since 1993. It's great that they're British and not Chinese, it makes communication so much easier. Simon will take our passport photo's and visa forms to the Korean embassy this afternoon. We thought we'd have to go there ourselves, but that turns out not to be necessary at all. Tomorrow at the airport we'll get al the documents we need from Simon, because he'll be flying to Pyongyang too.   We take the subway to the Koryo Tours office We have to sign a statement for Koryo Tours that we're not journalists and are not going to publicize photo's and articles (a web log for friends and family is ok, I asked ;), That's because journalists are not allowed into NK. In the past is has happened that journalists entered the country, pretending to be tourists and later articles appeared in the press. Because of an incident like this Koryo Tours was banned from organizing trips for a whole year, so they have all reason to be careful. Another reason is that it's mainly the Korean guides who get into big trouble in these cases. Because it's them who should have kept a closer eye on the foreigners and preventing them from doing the wrong things. In addition to the information on paper that we received, Simon explains us the do's and don'ts. Only take pictures with the guides consent, no insulting remarks about the country and it's leaders, etc. We think we can live with that. ` It's being appreciated to give the guides a tip at the and of the trip. For local guides, like the ones who guide you in a museum, you can bring cigarettes for example (only for men, women don't smoke) or small jar of Nivea cream (for women). However, do not expect emotional thank yous when giving people tips, because they have there pride. It will be accepted with a nod, but it will surely be appreciated, Simon told us. We take these wise words to heart and decide to go to the super market this afternoon to shop for the right items. To our surprise we're told that many Dutch people, especially percentage wise, travel to North Korea. Unfortunately they do not have a very good reputation: they complain a lot and are lousy tippers. But the English seem to have their quirks as well: they want to be served English food everywhere they go. [skipped a part about Beijing] More Beijing subway shots