North Korea: yup, you read that right…

Our final and hands down most interesting stop was Pyongyang, The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea! Yup, you read that right. The “Democratic” People’s Republic of Korea, a.k.a North Korea. Nope, not the country that created Samsung or Hyundai Motors… the one right above it whose population isn’t allowed to use phones or drive cars. So before arriving, my family and I were quite scared, and rightfully so, from all the warnings we got from our friends and family. Every time I would tell someone where I was going this summer, their faces would be lit up with amusement all the way through Iceland, France, Bhutan, China, etc. until I got to North Korea. Instantly smiles faded into looks of concern and “you are honestly crazy” with a side of “WHY?!?!” The first question I would always get would be: “Wait, can you even go there???” And actually, the answer to that question is yes! Until recently, Americans were not allowed to visit North Korea, but nowadays, tourists are permitted and actually encouraged to come from all over the world (at their own risk, I may add) as long as they are with a state approved tour agency and guide at all times. And to my surprise, there were actually a lot of tourists!! So first things first, as you can tell since I am writing this, I survived (this was an honest concern)!! There had been one two many cases of Americans getting detained in North Korea and sent to labor camps for long periods of time for small acts that most people would not consider offenses. Our fears of the airport, hotel, and city were so great that we repacked all our bags into one small luggage (huge downsize from the original 5) making sure not to include anything spiritual, religious, or provocative we either brought from home or picked up on the way (ex. tons of Buddhist accessories from Bhutan!). But with that being said, to our surprise, the airport process was actually one of the most simple thus far, with the exception of having to fill out an excessive number of forms on the way in and to our knowledge no one went through our bags at any point in time! However, I do feel like it was a good call to play it safe. Keep reading if you want to hear what it really is like behind these concrete walls of The Democratic Republic of Korea…

The first stop on our two day tour was the North Korean version of the Arc de Triomphe called the Arch of Triumph. Standing 60 meters tall — 10 meters taller then the one in Paris, of course — this monument, like most, celebrates the Eternal President Kim il-sung and his “successful” military resistance in fighting for Korean independence. The two dates on the monument: 1925 and 1945 mark the year when Sung began his fight for independence and the year of liberation, respectively.

Stop two: Next, we visited the absolutely massive statues of Kim il-sung (left) and Kim Jung-il (right) standing in front of the National Revaluation Museum. You can see the sheer size of these statues well based on how small the people standing beneath it look. In order to visit, it was required to bring flowers to present to the leaders and bow in front of them. Here continues the long list of monuments dedicated to these leaders and furthermore, the examples of the cult personalities formed intentionally around them.

This is a continuation of the monument illustrating the collective, communist, and nationalist struggle against American imperialism while a similar construction was on opposite side illustrating the struggle against Japanese imperialism.

On our first full day in Pyongyang, we visited Kumsunsan Palace of the Sun, the place where both the Eternal President Kim il-sung and his son and also former Supreme Leader, Kim jung-il are preserved. We were not able to take pictures inside the palace, but let us just say it was massive, just like everything else in this city. I went on the longest moving walkway of my life numerous times (to show respect, you couldn’t keep walking, we had to just stand still the whole time, so that really highlighted the slow speed). After going through hallway after hallway, room after room, escalator after escalator, we finally got to the place where the two leaders were resting. Like any other sight of a preserved dead person, it was quite strange. The many Korean people also visiting let out cries of admiration and misery as they bowed past. In addition, lining the hallways were tons and tons of images of the two leaders throughout their lives, again depicting was another example of the cult personality formed around these two leaders.

This is an image of students walking in a very orderly fashion on the square in front of the Palace. This is an example of the level of uniformity and obedience the citizens of this country must abide by.

These women are wearing the traditional Korean dressy outfit to visit the resting place of their leader’s since they must pay the highest possible level of respect. (cough cough more cult personality)

We also visited the National Library that supposedly had 30 million books…not quite sure how accurate that statistic is but nonetheless, the building was massive (as per usual). This is an image of the English classroom where a teacher is doing oral exercises with her students. I observed that North Korea seems to be stuck in the 1950s or something, the lack of technology and style of teaching seems to be something out of an old movie.

This is the view from the top of the National Library. Side note: Something that I have noticed is that there are a lot of panoramic views of the city (especially rotating rooftop restaurants — which I heard from my mom was a very popular 80s thing…). Front and center in the picture is the Tower of Juche Idea. Although we didn’t visit this tower I was able to learn a little bit about this ideology. Juche is an idea created by the Eternal President Kim il-sung as a Korean version of communism or Marxism in order to fit the circumstances, history, and environment of North Korea. Juche, which also goes by Kimilsungism-Kimjungilism (yup.) has been edited over the years to not only distance itself from the ideals of Marx and Angles, but to also completely remove all mentions of the term “communism.” The fundamentals of the Juche Idea are: 1. Political independence, 2. Economic self-sustenance, and 3. Self-reliance in defense. While at first this idea seems okay, in reality it has ultimately blocked North Korea from the world. Thanks to the mixture of additional sanctions from exterior countries and this strict Juche idea, people inside North Korea are not permitted out and deal with harsh trading regulations that lead to famines and poverty. What I find most disturbing about Juche is the cult around it. Firstly, not only is it named after both leaders (after they died they just added the next person to the name…will this continue with Kim jung-un?!), but they also have renamed their entire calendar in association with the leader and this idea. For example, year 2014 would be Juche 103 because Kim il-sung was born in 1911, Juche 1, and so the years are based on that. Secondly, these ideals, when studied, seem to have a Japanese imperialist twist, as if they got a lot of their core ideals from the very people they hate and who controlled their country. The ideas of a closed off and independent economy were one of the Japanese as they were closed off for around 400 years. Lastly, what I find the worst part is that this idea is the only accepted political, economic, social idea and plan “forever.” Not one person can even stop to think about capitalism or even communism because that is not what their great leader said so they mustn’t argue. To me these conformist ideals brought by the cult personality of these leaders leave me, sadly, with little hope for a fast recovery of North Korea…

Korean War Memorial 

        Children preforming at a show.   

Farmers

North Korea on one side of the microphones and South Korea on the other; DMZ.

Unification Monument   

USS Pueblo ship the North Koreans captured during the Korean War. 

China: Communist lite

Where do I even begin?! China is not only geographically massive, but also has been a huge up-and-coming country for the past couple decades. In spite of its cityscape, it still has hundreds of amazing historical sights remaining from ancient times. This summer was not my first time in China, but it was my first time in Beijing. We stayed at the Aman Summer Palace Resort which was absolutely mystical. I felt like I was living in the real summer palace (which I actually was!!) like one of the old emperors-! We actually stayed in Beijing for quite a while in comparison to our other stops and got to experience the city and its beautiful outskirts pretty well! We were addicted to the Silk Market, Peking Duck, and fruity moon cakes and let’s just say the week spent in China was one of tons of food and unmatchable sights…

Beijing Snapshot:

1 — The Forbidden City: Roam the massive compound (preferably not in the sweltering heat and among thousands of tourist) and see just how grandiose this “home” of the past emperors and empresses were… no wonder it’s called a city! I fell in love with the bright color combo of turquoise, royal blue and red that was used all over The Forbidden City and most other traditional architecture.

2— The Great Wall of China: Another must see location in Beijing (a little drive out of the city) is, of course, the old national wall of protection from intruders. Each dynasty that ruled China over the years added to The Great Wall to either expand the territory it cov

ered or to renovate it. Today, not all of The Great Wall is still standing due to the lack of proper building materials available in ancient times. The original parts of the wall were constructed with wood and earth, so when there was rain, the wall would decompose and break down. Luckily, the part of the wall that we climbed was a restored section fitted with a chairlift up and a toboggan down!

3— Drive around the city of Beijing and enjoy the beautiful modern architecture. This was my favorite building that I saw on the street. It is called the CCTV Tower.

Quick History

China was feudal for thousands of years during the reign of numerous dynasties. After being in power for 300 years, the last dynasty, the Qing, were removed from power in 1911 by a national revolution led by Sun Yi Xian. Meanwhile, the European countries had their industrial revolution, the French had their revolution, and America got their independence. Consequently, the British navy became more and more aggressive and wanted to trade with China, specifically aiming to control their sea ports. China neither wanted nor needed the partnership with Western countries like Britain and solely exported goods like tea and porcelain. The British got upset because they felt like this trade was unbalanced since China was making money through exports, while the British couldn’t do the same. Consequently, the British decided to start exporting Opium to China and ended up addicting a huge amount of the population. This led to the Opium Wars which concluded in the signing of the Unequal Treaties — those signed by Chinese officials handing Hong Kong over to the UK under the influence of opium. The Chinese were left poor and suffered severely without a strong leader to raise the country out of its misery.

Two leaders rose up from these unfortunate times: Mao the communist with his red army called the PLA (People’s Liberation Army) and Sun Yat-sen the capitalist. These two leaders and their opposing parties went to war until the Japanese invasion in 1931 that began their involvement in the Second World War. Japan went on to occupy a large part of the northeast and eastern part of China.

The Civil War continued after WWII and resulted in Sun Yat-sen and his capitalist party escaping to Taiwan. Mao went on to found the People’s Republic of China on October 1, 1949, which still stands today.

China Today

Before Deng Xiaoping’s “socialism with Chinese characteristics” (aka capitalism in disguise) China was economically closed off for around 30 years. Today, China is one of the world’s largest economies and comprises 15% of the whole world’s GDP. It is also home to more than one seventh of the world’s population.

China is one of the most impressive countries I have ever visited due to the fact that they have had such a long and hard history, yet they still ended up being one of the most influential countries today!

Bhutan: The Land of Happiness

Our next stop, Bhutan, goes down in my books as one of my favorite places I have ever visited. We stayed in the absolute best Aman Resort in Paro, Bhutan: ultimate serenity and peace surrounded by lush, green mountains.

Unification and Government

Before Bhutan was one nation, the land was split up into a bunch of little states. A Tibetan Buddhist monk and military strategist (um can you say oxymoron?!) came over to Bhutan and built the first monastery and solidified the power in order to unite the land and population into one country. Up till today, the religious and political systems remain very central to the leadership of the nation; the head of religion and state, work together to rule to country. While this system does seem very intertwined, in reality, there is quite a separation. For example, once one becomes a monk, they lose their voting privilege for their whole life.

The Land of Happiness

Bhutan is dedicated to being the happiest nation in the world, preaching the slogan of being “The Land of Happiness.” They are most famous for their measurement of Gross Domestic Happiness, instead of the Gross Domestic Product, the economic based index the rest of the world obsesses over. Personally, I definitely felt the happiness as soon as I landed. How could one not be elated with lush mountain after mountain framing your window, delicious food and peace and quiet??

During our trip, we visited both Paro and Thimphu and were able to visit beautiful must-sees in both spots…

Tiger's Test, Paro, Bhutan

#1 must-see location: Tiger’s Nest, Paro, Bhutan — follow the windblown prayer flags for a beautiful five hour hike back and forth from the base to visit this majestic Buddhist temple hidden in the mountains.

Buddha Point, Thimphu, Bhutan

#2 must-see location: Buddha Point, Thimphu, Bhutan- journey to the capital city of Thimphu to visit not only one of the largest sitting Buddhas in the world, but also catch breathtaking views of the valley below.

Fun Fact: Thimphu is one of few capital cities to not have street lights or traffic lines!

Hanging prayer flags on the side of the road.

#3 must-see location: Hang Prayer Flags on the hill side — nothing more Bhutanese than prayer flags! Hang your own, or even make your own, as I did, making sure to make a wish as you tie the ends to the trees. This is a super memorable way to leave your little mark on Bhutan.

Before I arrived, I assumed that Bhutan would be very similar to Nepal, but while both have naturally breathtaking mountainous views and welcoming cultures, I enjoyed the serenity of Paro over the bustling streets of Kathmandu. I would definitely make the trek back to Bhutan for another peaceful getaway!

Nepal: KathmanDUs and DONTs

Nepal was definitely one of the places I was most looking forward to going to in order to hopefully hike the base of Mt. Everest. I was seriously and I repeat SERIOUSLY underestimating the height, complexity, and expertise necessary for such an excursion. Of course, I didn’t end up doing so and my family decided to opt for a helicopter ride around the tallest mountain in the world and more of the Himalayas. It was so beautiful and such a surreal experience to be so high up. Although it was difficult to see the entirety of Mount Everest during the helicopter ride, we were luckily able to catch sight of the glorious peak three times on flights to and from Nepal.

Beautiful view from our stopping place in the Nepalese Himalayas.

In addition to beautiful mountainous scenery, Nepal also is home to an amazing Buddhist and Hindu culture.

80% of Nepalese are Hindi, 10% Buddhist, 3.5% a combination between the two (exclusive to the Nepalese), and less than 1% Christian and Muslim.

Stupa at the Monkey Temple.

We visited the Monkey Temple which holds a beautiful stupa providing views of all of Kathmandu, the capital city of Nepal. The Buddhist temple also was home to families of monkeys, hence the name of the temple, who roamed the grounds freely.

Monkeys inhabiting the temple grounds. PHOTO CREDS TO ARI NAZEM.

We also visited one of the main city squares called Baktapur, meaning City of Communications and Deputies, which was constructed throughout the 12th–18th centuries. A Hindi city, Baktapur, is home to babas. Babas are Hindus who release everything in their lives, collect money and bread everyday, are deemed the living representation of the goddess Shiva, and pray all the time for the betterment of living things. They are able to go back into society at any point and do and eat whatever they want.

Religion is a huge part of Nepalese culture with over 365 festivals. Citizens are apart of more than 103 ethnic groups that speak more than 93 languages.

While the nature, temples, and culture are very rich, the state of the nation doesn’t seem so prosperous. There were no traffic lines on the streets, but a lot of trash. With the heavy traffic, we were able to see the tin roofs and rickety buildings. However, this is expected since the civil war actually just ended in 2008. Current day, they are trying to strengthen their bonds with India since the 1950 India-Nepal Treaty of Peace and Friendship. This treaty allows free movement of people and goods between the two nations and also facilitates a tight relationship and provides collaboration promises on matters of defense and foreign affairs.

Prayer flags and view of Kathmandu.

Overall, I really loved my time in Nepal. From the Himalayas to the Hindu temples, Nepal is a beautiful country…I would definitely recommend it for people who love the natural lifestyle and roughing it!

So to conclude…

DUs:

1- see the Himalayas and Mount Everest – helicopter or flight on a clear day

2- visit the Monkey Temple

DONTs:

1- drink un-bottled water, or eat sketchy foods

2- forget to stay safe!

Azerbaijan: Definitely going Bak(u)

Next and one of the best stops: Baku, Azerbaijan. I was sooo impressed by this city. Coming in, I did not have high hopes or expectations for Azerbaijan or the city of Baku, but, boy was I pleasantly surprised! It was a little Paris to me. Baku is a perfect example of what having natural resources like oil can do for a country. Housing huge beautiful old French style buildings with Middle Eastern touches, well kept museums, and an adorable old town, Baku definitely gave off a civilized, modern city vibe.

Stabilization Due to Oil

At the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century, Azerbaijan had its first oil boom. Throughout the years, not only the government, but also citizens, companies, and visitors have enjoyed the fruits of this vital discovery. Even though the country has one of the most corrupt royal families and governments, the society and economy seem to still function without civil discontent. Unlike a lot of other countries in the Middle East who have oil, Azerbaijan retains stability due to financial institutions and economic reforms that help them keep the country rich. For example, they created the State Oil Fund in which they deposit money when the economy is doing well and take out money when the economy is not doing so well. This allows them to save up enough money and not fail during international economic crises like in 2008.

This image is of one of the old Carvanserai in the super cute and well kept old town in the middle of Baku, Azerbaijan.

From Art to Architecture to Agriculture

50% of Azerbaijan is actually comprised of agricultural lands. The nation’s capital, Baku, however, is home to some of the most beautiful architecture, both old and new. Just from the balcony of our hotel, we were able to see the world renown Flame Towers along with an array of French style buildings with a Middle Eastern twist.

In addition, we also visited the Heydar Aliyev Cultural Center which was designed by Zaha Hadid, a world famous contemporary architect who creates works of art all over the globe. Inside the Cultural Center were numerous exhibitions housing the best of the best of Azerbaijani culture, history and art.

This is an image of the insane building. On display were sculptures of different national flags on bonbon candies.

 We also visited many beautiful modern art galleries in the city. I feel like they portray a civilian point of view of the state of the nation that you can’t get from anywhere else.

(Artwork found in the Yay Gallery in Baku Old Town.)

History

Bordered by Russia in the north, Iran in the south on the other side of the Caspian sea, and Armenia in the west, Azerbaijan has experienced a long history of border and colonial conflicts. Nowadays, most conflicts are stable and the country is generally at peace with most neighbors, with the exception of Armenia.

The Azerbaijan- Armenia conflict dates back to pre-Soviet times. The two countries last had relations for a period of three years between 1918 and 1921 during which both nations had brief independence from Russia as the Democratic Republic of Armenia and the Democratic Republic of Azerbaijan. After this, both nations were taken over again by the Soviet Union and relations were destroyed. Since then, the two nations have gone through two wars and have had no relations since 1921. Recently, the conflict over the Nagorno-Karabakh region has increase tensions and there are often clashes at the border.

 Overall, I love love loved my time in Baku. I would most definitely come back someday! While I fell in love with the city streets, the highlight of my stay has to be the bread that we found in a little household-run resturant in the Old Town. There is honestly nothing better than warm, homemade bread, honey, butter, tea and family all crowded into a tiny little booth on a hot summer day. (Well actually, if there was air conditioning, the experience would be 10x better…)These are the memories that will last forever.

Armenia: Top 10 Facts

1. Armenia has a rich and rather depressing history of 2780 years including being ruled by the Ottomans, Persians, and Soviet Union.

2. Current day Armenia is only 1/10 of the geographic territory they once controlled.

3. It is famous for its massive diaspora with a population of only 3 million in the country itself and 7 million Armenians living around the world.

Eternal flame at the Armenian Genocide Memorial in Yerevan.

4. The Armenian Genocide took place in 1915 in modern day Turkey or what was considered Western Armenia. The Turkish killed around 1.5 million innocent Armenians in order to carry out their ideals of “pan-Turkey” (Turkey for Turkey only) and ethnic cleansing.

5. The genocide was carried out in three stages: The first stage targeted young boys aged 18-45. They were called to join the army for World War I; 60,000 able bodied men were not given any weapons, were separated from the other soldiers going to war and then were killed in the deserts by Turks and Kurds. The second stage was against Armenian intellectuals and rich people educated in Europe (bankers, doctors, professors, etc.) who actually did a lot for the improvements of Turkey (ex. Created schools for women, grew the economy, etc.) — 600 of them were collected one night on April 24, 1915 and all killed. The last stage was against the peaceful population. This was the cruelest because it included old people, women, and children. The remainder of the population was asked to move temporarily to deserts “due to the war”, but little did they know, they would never return.

6. Con men were hired to carry out the killings in order to be more cruel, evil and not show mercy towards women and children.

7. Turkey has not only refused to apologize, but also has still not acknowledged the fact that the genocide ever happened. Till this day, they still claim that the deaths were due to usual and inevitable casualties during World War I.

Panoramic view of the capital, Yerevan, from the top of The Cafesjian Center for the Arts.

8. Armenia houses the third largest American embassy in the world.

9. Yerevan used to be called the “Pink Capital” because most of the buildings are constructed of the country’s natural stones.

10. The majority of the population’s last names end in “–ian” (ex. Kim Kardashian) ☺

Lebanon: From Bombed to Beautiful

Fourth stop, Beirut, Lebanon! The area where we were staying in was a very modern and luxurious area filled with street after street of interior design stores, art galleries, high-end fashion shops, and chic cafes. This dynamic represented that the people living in those areas must be rich enough to be catered to by such high-end shops and boutiques. Some of the stores can’t even be found in San Francisco! I was really impressed by how chic and clean the streets and people walking them were.

View of Beirut from rooftop of Le Gray hotel

The tourism and commercial success seems to be increasing due to the amount of construction, representing the country and Beirut’s efforts towards modernization. While the city was becoming more and more industrially modern with new skyscrapers and Parisian chic shops, the driving seemed to stay in a very erratic state with speeding, no lines, and one too many close encounters.

One night after dinner we decided to explore the other neighborhoods in Beirut. I noticed that in the Muslim areas, hijab was left to the choice of people, which I thought was very modern and open-minded. We also saw a very large Armenian area in the city, a little preview to our next destination!

Lebanon — a very old country created in 5000 BC — was invaded by many great powers throughout history. This was very evident in the massive collection of Roman, Ottoman, and French remaining artifacts and influences. Before the 15-year civil war, Lebanon was regarded as “The Paris of the Middle East,” but after being heavily bombed, the city has been on an uphill road towards reestablishing that title. After the civil war, Lebanon improved its tactics in housing these different cultures in a way to limit conflicts. For example, the different positions in government are allocated to a specific religious and cultural group in order to restrict interferences and disruptions of that kind in the political system. Obviously, it would be great if there was no civil war, but maybe if that hadn’t happened, the country would not have reached the equilibrium they are at now. Unfortunately, sometimes the only way to peace is through violence…