The balcony of our beautiful nipa hut overlooking the beach at the Kookoo's Nest
After spending a couple of relaxing days down at the Kookoo's Nest in Dumaguete, Jacky, Lulu & I headed north to the province of Ilocos Sur to spend Christmas with my good friend Chris Herring and his family.
Their house is situated in the middle of a huge plot containing several other dwellings occupied by various members of his wife Rowena's extended family. It was fascinating to experience the closeness of such a vast array of generations as they gathered together during the festive season.
In the days preceding Christmas, we explored the local coastline and visited the nearby town of Vigan, renowned for its Spanish colonial architecture.
On December 24th a family pig was slaughtered at the local abattoir and then roasted on a spit in the garden.
On Christmas Day there was an enormous family celebratory BBQ at the beach complete with karaoke machine.
Needless to say a wonderful time was had by all.
Many thanks again Chris to you, Rowena and the kids for making it a holiday to remember.
Last month Jacky and I visited the beautiful island of Siquijor in the southern Philippines.
Due to the fact that all Filipinos associate it with Black Magic (and therefore mostly refuse to go there) it has remained very uncommercialized. Consequently exploring the island interior on a motorbike, where tarmac roads lead you up into the hills populated by remote communities, is an absolute joy.
Likewise, travelling the scenic coastal road enables you to stop off at some wonderful beachfront eateries and restaurants, such as Eric the Viking. The island as a whole has such a laid-back vibe to it that it almost feels as if time has stood still.
Hot food for sale at the roadside
Local fruits and vegetables available at the market place
A bamboo and tin hut among the palm trees in the hills
At the Butterfly Sanctuary in the middle of the island
A carabao (water buffalo) relaxing by the roadside
Swinging on the famous Tarzan Rope at Cambugahay Falls
A local about to get wet
Jacky with Eric the Viking
The CR (Comfort Room) out back
Washing clothes in the local river
The original wooden floor in one of Siquijor's oldest churches
To get there, after flying in to Dumaguete, you first have to undergo a 90-minute ferry crossing on a boat well and truly manned by a skeleton crew. Their own personnel list gives no indication that anyone more highly skilled than a quartermaster is in charge of the vessel your are sailing on!
No Master, Chief Officer, Chief Steward, Steward, Chef Cook, Chief Engineer, Second Engineer or Electrician on board our ferry the Reina Magdalena.
I certainly got the surprise of my life while I was reading my friend Chris Herring's blog last week.
For many years Chris was a friend and colleague of mine in Brussels. When he recently moved to Shanghai, it was therefore only natural that I should look him up on the internet to see how he's settling in. Little did I suspect that by doing so, I would inadvertently come face to face with my very own double.
Having never seriously suspected that elsewhere on the planet, there might actually be some poor sod who's unlucky enough to be almost the exact spitting image of me, I was amazed to discover that Chris recently saw such a specimen repairing a bicycle on mainland China.
All I can say is thank God I never exchanged bodily fluids with a local lady (or indeed man!) while visiting Flinty and Claire in the Land of the Dragon all those years ago; otherwise I'd have genuinely believed that I was now casting my eyes upon my very own illegitimate sprog.
The likeness is truly uncanny. When I placed this picture on my Facebook page, it immediately began a heated discussion about the poor fellow's proportions, with one comment even describing him as a homunculus. As I said, the physical likeness is truly uncanny!
Wherever we woke up in the DPRK, whether it was in Pyongyang, Nampo or Kaesong, the view from the hotel room was always somewhat eerie due to the mist that descends upon the surrounding area.
The final morning that we had breakfast in the revolving restaurant at the top of the Yanggakdo hotel, it was the 5th time that we had looked out across the skyline of Pyongyang, yet the very first time that we had a clear early morning view of the capital at all.
From there we made the 30-minute journey to the international airport where we cleared immigration extremely quickly before boarding the Air Koryo flight back to Beijing. The aircraft was completely full and the passengers on board were a combination of departing tourists and North Korean citizens, easily distinguished by their school uniforms and lapel pins which are worn on the left side of the chest.
One month after leaving the DPRK, I am still trying to process many of the things that I saw there. It was a utterly bizarre and yet truly fascinating experience on so many levels and I very much hope to return there.
Our final full day in the DPRK began with a visit to the Kim Jong-il Gift Museum, which houses ostentatious donations presented to the Dear Leader from Koreans all over the world. This was followed by a hike through the nearby low-lying hills where we subsequently had lunch.
The entire afternoon was taken up by our visit to the newly-reopened Fatherland Liberation War Museum, together with the captured American spy ship USS Pueblo moored on the waterfront close by. The approach to the museum is dominated by the imposing Monument to the Victorious Liberation War, a large white stone park of bronze sculptures depicting various battles of the war. It is dedicated to "the Korean People's Army and Korean people who defeated the US imperialists and its allies during the Fatherland Liberation War."
As in the Mausoleum and the Kim Jong-il Gift Museum, photography was strictly prohibited in the Fatherland Liberation War Museum. The tour begins with a film stating the Korean War was started by the US puppet imperialists in Seoul who invaded the DPRK without the slightest provocation on June 25, 1950. It continues by explaining that thanks to the unparalleled tactical expertise of Marshall Kim Il-sung and his order to change defence into offence, the puppet army was immediately stopped in its tracks. Merely 3 days later on June 28, Seoul had consequently been liberated by the Korean People's Army. (It is indeed true that Seoul was occupied 3 days after the commencement of the war.)
The continuing narrative about the escalation and subsequent conclusion of the conflict in 1953 makes little reference to the role and contribution of the 2.6 million soldiers of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, over 100,000 of whom perished on the battlefield. It completely omits that they effectively turned the tide of the war entirely in the North's favour after Mao's decision to intervene when UN forces were approaching the Yalu River, which forms the border between the DPRK and China. (The fact that the war began when the North invaded the South with a force four times greater in size than the South Korean army is likewise omitted.)
There was very little time for us to observe the numerous displays in details. However, where we were able to, it quickly became apparent that there were countless discrepancies in the accuracy of the exhibits on show. An obvious example would be the photograph reportedly showing US imperialists attacking the DPRK, which in actual fact was clearly an image of the Desert Rats from the British Army fighting Rommel in Africa during World War Two.
Following our tour of the museum, we were shown a selection of dilapidated US weaponry captured during the Korean conflict, but the real highlight proved to be a visit to the USS Pueblo, a ship which has been held by the DPRK since its capture in January 1968.
The ship was impounded off the East Coast of North Korea several days after the failed assassination attempt of South Korean president Park Chung-hee by an elite unit of the Korean People's Army. With tensions running particularly high on the peninsula, the crew of the Pueblo were taken prisoner and charged with spying, before they were eventually released 11 months later.
At the bottom of this page, you can hear about the incident as documented by the North Koreans in the film we were shown while touring the ship. It is fascinating to contrast this with the BBC World Servie Witness broadcast, which tells the story from a completely different perspective.
The museum, monument and ship all stand in the shadow of the infamous Ryugyong Hotel, a 330 metre (1,080 foot) high structure, which was originally scheduled to open in June 1989. The exterior was finally completed in July 2011 but interior work appears to have stalled yet again. No provisional date has as yet been announced when the hotel is officially scheduled to open.
The Kim Jong-il Gift Museum
A Buddhist monk in front of a small temple outside of Pyongyang
A Pyongyang apartment block
Monument to the Victorious Fatherland Liberation War
Monument to the Victorious Fatherland Liberation War
Our wonderful guide Song
Monument to the Victorious Fatherland Liberation War
Monument to the Victorious Fatherland Liberation War
Monument to the Victorious Fatherland Liberation War
Monument to the Victorious Fatherland Liberation War
A facade of the Fatherland Liberation War Museum
The top of the Ryugyong Hotel
US weaponry captured during the Fatherland Liberation War
A view of the Pothong riverfront where the USS Pueblo is now moored and displayed as a trophy
Recounting the history of the captured spy ship
On board
On board
Robert manning the ship's machine gun
Confessions of the crew on display
The USS Pueblo, 44 years after its capture
The actual North Korean film which we were shown on board the ship documenting its history from the perspective of the DPRK
For a contrasting BBC Witness documentary on the Pueblo, please click on this link:
It soon became apparent after breakfast at the Yanggakdo hotel that there were a number of Chinese war veterans in town, all of whom looked very colourful in their military uniforms. We ourselves had been asked to appear smartly attired, as our first visit of the day was to the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun. In life, the palace had served as the official residence of Kim Il-sung, and in death it became his final resting place. The huge edifice now serves as the Mausoleum for both Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il.
Visitors enter the palace through a subway and leave all belongings apart from their wallets at the entrance. Everywhere is absolutely spotless and the soles of your shoes are cleaned on a specially-designed machine as you enter the complex. Elsewhere on the prescribed route there is a chamber with powerful jets to blow dust off your body to prevent you from contaminating the area as you pass through. Photography of any kind is strictly forbidden in the entire complex and each of the huge rooms is guarded by a dour and completely stationary immaculately dressed soldier. They are accompanied by solemn-looking men in dark suits who show only slightly more animation whose job it is to usher the crowds along. All visitors bow in unison in rows of four at the foot of each of the embalmed bodies, as well as on the left and right sides of the sarcophagi, both of which are displayed in completely different rooms. Many of the North Koreans who completed the tour with us showed visible signs of distress.
The museum which we were subsequently led through contains awards, medals and honours that were bestowed upon the Great and Dear Leader, as well as Kim Jong-il's yacht, car and the train carriage where he reportedly died. There is also a MacBook Pro on view on his desk that he used while travelling. On the walls there are two maps showing all of the places in Korea and around the world that both leaders visited during their lifetimes, including statistics on the number of trips made and the distance travelled. There are even different coloured lights to distinguish between travel by air and by train.
Our next unscheduled stop, which was not on our original itinerary, was the Metro museum. What was especially surprising here was the absence of all other visitors the whole time we were there. Indeed, apart from the curator and her own customary chaperone, we saw nobody there at all.
We were shown another enormous map on the wall near the entrance of the Metro Museum documenting the number of times that Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il had personally visited each of the metro stations in Pyongyang. When activated, either a green or a red star lit up beneath the name of each station, with the number of stars being proportionate to the number of visits that each leader had made.
In addition, the main exhibits included the pen with which Kim Il-sung had signed the decree for the start of the metro's construction, a microphone into which he had spoken a few words about the metro and a special vehicle in which he had once travelled between 2 metro stations.
Here is an extract from the official Pyongyang Metro guidebook:
'One day in September 1968, respected President Kim Il Sung visited a pit face of the construction of the metro and gave guidance to the project for many hours. He looked at the stairs to the entrance of the pit and stepped on the steep stairs one by one to the end. In this way the happiness of the people was provided by the goodness of the President who took the trouble of the people into his 1st consideration.'
(http://www.pyongyang-metro.com/metrobook.html)
In the afternoon, we were taken to the Grand People's Study House, where we were able to see a lecture in progress, as well as greet the students in an English language seminar. The view from the balcony there afforded excellent views of Kim Il-sung Square directly below us.
Our final destination for the day was Pyongyang Schoolchildren's Palace, where we saw pupils showcasing their talents en masse in classrooms, before we all gathered in the auditorium to watch an hour-long spectacle of the children performing.
A Chinese veteran in jovial mood in the hotel lift
Robert joins the vets for a photo before we head off to the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun
The astroturf rollers on the machine clean your shoes when entering the Mausoleum
The exterior of the Mausoleum
We pose for a group photo in front of the Palace with our beautiful guide Song
Some of the statues in the grounds of the Palace
A view across the street from Pyongyang Metro Museum
Our guide in the entrance hall to the museum
Examples of further small-scale murals in the Metro Museum
Examples of further small-scale murals in the Metro Museum
Part of a mural of enormous proportions depicting Kim Il-sung's central role in the metro's construction
As with countless other projects, the mural portrays Kim Il-sung disseminating some invaluable 'on-the-spot guidance' during the construction phase
Other scenes from the same mural
Other scenes from the same mural
Schoolgirls on a Pyongyang street
Ian in light-hearted mood as we make our way around the city on foot
A Pyongyang street scene
A Pyongyang street scene
The shop windows of Department Store Number 1
A Pyongyang street scence
A distant view of Kim Il-sung Square from street level
The entrance hall to the Grand People's Study House
Students working in the Study House
A receptionist waiting to take a book order in what is effectively the DPRK's showcase national library. Robert requested Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith, but discovered that the library does not stock it.
More students conducting research
One of the lecture halls
A lecturer in full flow
An EFL seminar
Looking down over Kim Il-sung Square
Looking down over Kim Il-sung Square
Looking down over Kim Il-sung Square
Looking down over Kim Il-sung Square
An alternative view of the city
Juche Tower as seen from the Study House
The front exterior of Pyongyang Schoolchildren's Palace
The entrance hall to the palace
Our guide during the tour
Students performing in individual classrooms prior to the stage show
Students performing in individual classrooms prior to the stage show
Students performing in individual classrooms prior to the stage show
Students performing in individual classrooms prior to the stage show
The mural in front of the auditorium
Pupils performing on stage
Preparing to go back to the hotel at the end of the performance
Please click on the above link to see footage of the performance at the Schoolchildren's Palace
