New train tour promises to reveal unseen side of North Korea
Rare train tours —
Koryo Tours says it took several years of repeated requests before the North Korean government would grant it permission to run train tours within the country. Previously, foreigners were only allowed to ride the international train service between China and Pyongyang.
courtesy Koryo Tours (A State of Mind)
"More unseen places" —
This is the second cross-country train tour being offered by Koryo Tours. "We did one last year but this year's tour will include more unseen places," says Simon Cockerell, general manager of Koryo Tours.
courtesy Koryo Tours
Vintage ride —
"The journey will be taken on a 1970s vintage diesel locomotive," says Cockerell. "There is a dining car and there are beds in the passengers car, too."
courtesy Koryo Tours
View from the window seat —
During Koryo's first train tour, last year, the group rode past this narrow gauge train. Its carriages were once used in the Pyongyang Metro.
courtesy Koryo Tours
Nothing like Pyongyang —
With stops in remote parts of North Korea, the tour offers travelers a chance to see what life outside the developing capital of Pyongyang is like.
courtesy Koryo Tours
Remote destinations —
The trip starts in Pyongyang, then heads northeast to Mt. Myohyang -- the Mountain of Mysterious Fragrance -- before stopping in Hamhung, Chongjin and the coastal city of Wonsan.
courtesy Koryo Tours
Chongjin —
Chongjin's Kimchaek Iron and Steelworks. Chongjin is an industrial city in the country's northeast. Unlike Pyongyang, this city is not seeing an influx of shiny new buildings.
courtesy Koryo Tours
Local transportation —
A local bus outside the Pyongyang railway station. Koryo Tours has been taking tourists on public transportation for two years now. But the upcoming rail tour will be the first time they're allowed to ride public trams in Chongjin, a city in the northeast.