North Korea Travel Forum

Hello,

I am thinking about doing a tour to North Korea sometime later this year (~ June/July) and would be looking for people interested in joining me.

I have been to North Korea last year and got the impression, that once you're in North Korea, all the tours seem to be operated by the KITC, which is the state-owned travel company. I contacted them and am told, that one can book individual tours with them directly. Prices depend on the number of participants. 2-5 pax is 135 EUR per person/night. They can also arrange the Visa and flights from Beijing (340 EUR return) and Vladivostok as well as train tickets from Beijing (240 EUR return).

This being my second tour, I would like to see a few places, that I haven't visited last year. At least Nampho and Wonsan. Other than that, I'm flexible regarding the tour dates and the itinerary. I have a few sample-itineraries from the KITC, that show, which places can be visited.

So, if anyone is interested, please drop me a line :)

cheers,

-Stephan (stephan@oscill8.com)

Just one word about the tickets. Here, you can tell them, you can arrange these by yourself. 240 Euro sounds a bit too much. Maybe you can tell me your contact? I have the MPT tariff table and I did calculate the NK multiplicators so who knows... maybe I can help you out.

I know an other way for you to travel there from Europe, you can buy tickets in Bratislava/Pressburg for 172 Euro round-trip till Tumangan. It was done and the more people travel the cheaper is the ticket part.

http://www.railfaneurope.net/pix/ne/North_Korea/pix.html
http://www.railfaneurope.net/pix/sk/ticket/20061020_CST_DevinskaNovaVes_Ussuriisk.jpg
http://www.railfaneurope.net/pix/ru/ticket%2Btimetable/20061225_Buchfahrk_Moskva_Tumangan.jpg
http://www.railfaneurope.net/pix/ru/ticket%2Btimetable/20061225_FK_Ussuriisk_Tumangan.jpg
http://www.railfaneurope.net/pix/ru/ticket%2Btimetable/20061225_RES_Moskva_Tumangan.jpg

More details about the NKoerean sleeper here:

http://www.railfaneurope.net/pix/ru/ticket%2Btimetable/pix.html

BTW: the CIV CITY-STAR/Sparpreis tickets are fully recognized by NKorean attendants until Tumangan, after Tumangan you will need supplement bought by TSI (www.tsi.ru) in Moscow.

BTW: over 6 people will have 40% discount on the r/t tickets, "Open" "Bettkarte" will be issued by TSI in Moscow with no problem.

http://www.mza.ru/content/view/99/31/

Individual (under 6 people) passengers will have 25% discount for r/t.

In July we are returning back to Europe (Hu) from the States, I am probably earlier than that.
BTW: even you can get (almost) everything you like from DB.
Use Sparpreis Rußland for Frankfurt(o)->Tumangan(GR), Sparpres Rußland is zero Problem with NKorean conductors.

Use KITC for tours inside NK, how to get there ask us :)

I just remember, there is now a RZD Verkaufstelle in Berlin, they probably can get you all the tickets you need for Korean/Chinese part, till Korean borderpoint Tumangan or Chinese borderpoint Manzhouli the best is Slovakrail, Bundesbahn, and ZS (Zeleznice Srbije), in that order.

GyuriFT,

thanks for all that information. I looked through the pictures on railfaneurope.net. Seems to have been an interesting trip :)

I will, however, be in Beijing already in June/July, so train travel from Europe is not an option for me. I'm not yet sure regarding the Beijing-Pyongyang route, though. I enjoyed flying Air Koryo the last time, but maybe I'll try flying in and taking the rain on he way out this time...

Again, thank you very much.

FYI: taking the train "out" is easier than "in". You should use the CST or Sparpreis from/to as far as Tumangan. That price is less than if you would buy the ticket in CN, RU or KP.

I mean, the price I mention is a r/t. It's OK if you use it only to go back. In that case KITC will issue you the supplement PyongYang-Khasan ticket and PyongYang-Moscow bed reservation. Same ticket will make you continue to Europe. If they refuse the PyongYang-Khasan (may happen), than ask for PyongYang-Shenyang-Zabaikalsk supplement for the Sparpreis Rußland and PY-Moscow bed reservation via Zabaikalsk. That will be certainly no problem. They will be of course surprised to see CITY-STAR or "Sparpreis Rußland" ticket in NK but that won't change the fact - see the pictures.

Gyuri

Get a life!

That's the life, jimmyjannsen. Not many know these tricks esp. if it is about such obscure destination.
Fortunately they are in SMPS agreement with MPT tariff and hold on it very strictly.

There is nothing unusual about it, I know the EMPT and MPT tariff and how it works since late 70-s, trust me. It's a very simple thing and even you can calculate most NKorean tickets on-line.

Here is the calculator (you have to know Russian very good or Ukrainian, it's in Ukrainian language):

http://www.gdo.kiev.ua/files/db.php?god=2004&st=2109

You need to know the Korean multipliers and they are as far as I remember 1.4, but can look again.
The price is indicated in Swiss Franc, not Euro. That's all.

Certainly good information, unfortunately you answered a question that wasn't asked... And from what I see in the NK forums that is a common occurance. Not everyone is interested in rail trips from Bratislava or wherever to Pyong-Yang, or staying with faux NK families for a week. That is all.

Please calculate the ticket and you will see: even going one direction with the CITY-STAR is less, than buying a one-way ticket. The CST ticket is an open-open end round-trip, you can use it for going "there" or for going "back" or for going round-trip. OP lives in Germany, hence buying CST or the similar Sparpreis Rußland at home is an option. Both better than the Chinese ticket mafia.

Call me crazy but the member said they would be in Beijing, and also from what I read, the question is if anyone would be interested in joining a trip, not train ticket prices. We have derailed the thread enough, I will disappear into the night.

No problem - here is the reason. CST/Sparpreis R. can be used for Russian portion via Zabaikalsk-Beijing either way and the more people go the cheaper. The saving is significant. As we see, OP considers to go back via rail.

GyuriFT,

I do indeed consider going back to Beijing via train, though I'm not yet decided. That also depends on the other travellers. I'd get back to you and ask for your help in arranging a ticket, in case we don't fly out. Anyway, thanks a lot for all the information you provided so far. If not for me, I'm sure it will be of interest to other, future readers of this forum.

cheers,

-Stephan

No prob - do you have KITC contact? They could be of good use for MPT tickets, by the way, just in case.

Yes, I have a KITC contact, but I'm not sure if I am supposed to pass it on. I will check with them and get back to you by e-mail.

Hi Stephan,

I am interested in joining the tour. We, my brother too, are thinking about to do it in June. We are looking for good prices as well. We will be in Beijing by then. Just get in touch. Cheers

Walter (waminger@hotmail.com)

Hey I dunno if you already have made the plans but I would like to go with you. Right now I'm living in China so I can make it up to Beijing no problem. The problem is that I am an American...so my question is, can I get in on a tour to NK?