And finally...

...put your hands together please and I'd like you to show your appreciation in the usual way

The End

Fin

Drip feeding

I am having a few hassles posting these clips so will post this and then the last one separately.

Here we have the Supreme Commander, Kim Jong Un, visiting the troops and providing some on the spot guidance

Some more TV clips

Put your feet up, make yourself a cuppa...

First up is the Great Unveiling of the statue of Kim Jong Il and a new head for Kim Il Song

Followed by the new song singing the praises of the Supreme Commander. Kim Jong Un

And army exercises - the effigies are either South Korean President Lee Myung Bak or the American Imperialist aggressors

Almost there

Well - last day in Beijing - so a few street scenes

 This lovely man was 'performing' outside the Art Museum - calligraphy with water - evaporating in seconds.

And this is almost the end but I have a few more TV clips from North Korea - so I will check them out and try to post. I've had issues uploading some of the video into tho blog - so hopefully these will work. Check back soon.......

Arty Day

 Back in Beijing my main aim is to see the Art Districts. They are away from the city centre and require subway and bus connections. I had been worried about the bus part due to being unsure about communicating where to alight - and imagining myself miles out into the countryside and lost - but actually the buses had English digital signs and announcements so it all went smoothly.

 First stop was 798 District - this is a large area of decommissioned military factory buildings that became an artist community. Now it's more of a tourist community - there are galleries but also a lot of shops and restaurants. Good photo ops though...

 Further out is Caochangdi - a newer and quieter art district.

Ai Weiwei, perhaps China's most noted artist, moved here a few years back - and I preferred it.

Looking back

Now that we had left North Korea we seemed to spend our first day looking back at it.

 This is part of the river that forms the border between China and North Korea - with both countries having rights to use it freely

 Looking across at North Korea

 We visited the East Gate of The Great Wall - from the top we could look back down on the river and see one particularly narrow bit where, apparently, you could jump across.

 Strawberries in bulk

 Last night's first bar

 A visit to the War Museum. We had a great guide for the day and he gave a superb overview of the history and wars of the area - no easy feat.

 In the afternoon we took to the river...

 Above is the Chinese side and below is the North Korean side

Of course we mostly looked at the North Korean side

 Chinese sightseeing jaunt

 And above is a North Korean wedding party that went and cruised the other side of the river looking at Chinese things

 And the cost guard - of course

 As we headed to the station for our overnight train to Beijing it was good to see that they too had their statues and heroes.

All Aboard

As we head to the Train Station I manage to get a photo of this trolley bus - what isn't immediately obvious is that the backlights are just painted on - I kid you not!

And at the station we see the only big screen in the country

I think I must have had enough of photos because after we left Pyongyang I didn't take any more pictures. Actually we weren't supposed to take any photos from the train and our memory cards were thoroughly vetted by the border guards so I was keen not to arouse any suspicion in case they launched into my laptop.

Once in China, at Dandong, a group of us had elected to spend an extra day there. We were met by Simon, from Koryo Tours, all of us a little dazed by the sudden freedom and seeming luxuries of shops and supermarkets.  The good thing was that Simon knew where to go - and after dinner we started at the Ho Bar - which was fairly hip and cool.

But what we were really hanging out for was True Love (nightclub)- that didn't get going until late.

This place was famous for being staffed by dwarves but sadly by the time we hit town the dwarves seemed to have moved on.

The music was pumping - the kind that reverberates right through your body. The light shows probably used more electricity than all of Pyongyang. There was a great 'sprung' dance floor - where you could bounce and bob along quite happily.

And Hite - South Korean beer

 Back at the hotel, much much later,  I couldn't resist a shot of the Room Service extras - hadn't seen anything like this in a while either