Interesting blog/observations on North Korea from the daughter of Google's Eric Schmidt
Top Level Take-aways:
Go to North Korea if you can. It is very, very strange.
If it is January, disregard the above. It is very, very cold.
Nothing I'd read or heard beforehand really prepared me for what we saw.
I can't express how cold it was. Maybe 10-15 degrees F in the sunshine, not including wind chill. The cold was compounded by the fact that none of the buildings we visited were heated, which meant hour-long tours in cavernous, 30-degree indoor environments. It is quite extraordinary to have the Honored Guest Experience in such conditions: they're proudly showing you their latest technology or best library, and you can see your breath. A clue to how much is really in their control.
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Pre-trip cartoon from South China Morning Post
We were treated very well throughout the visit, even though official relations between the US and DPRK are "very tense." Ours was the first American delegation in over a year, and the North Koreans we met were unfailingly polite and engaging, even excited to meet with us (particularly Eric). How that squares with official NK agitprop that Americans are super-evil imperialist bastards is beyond me.
We stayed at a guesthouse a few kilometers from Pyongyang that was really like a private hotel, in that we were the only guests. Food overall? Solidly decent. Like Korean food, only with less pizzazz and more corn (?).
https://sites.google.com/site/sophieinnorthkorea/
