It's nearing 1 pm, we are a bit antsy. We go to the Tea Room and find that there are 6 of the 8 in attendance with the 2 western guides as well.
We met Lilijana, Michael, Sherrie, Sharon and the guides, Charlotte and Josh. We were given a quick run down of what not to do--ever. Do not denigrate their leaders, do not tear anything off walls, do not discuss religion, and do not wander off by ourselves. Charlotte then went through what happens to tourists who do such things. They are arrested and detained until some high ranking official finds a gap in their schedule to come over the Korea to pick them up. They are not in work camps, but in a hotel south of Pyongyang where they are fed but with little else to entertain themselves. BTW, when the official comes to visit, they are then handed the bill for the housing of said delinquent. There is nothing the guides can do if you violate the simple, sensible rules.
After the meeting we met up with Wendy at the Silk Market. The silk market is a conglomeration of shops within a single multi-storied structure where up and coming designers sell their creations and knockoffs are sold side by side. You are expected to bargain. The items have price tags on them, but these are ridiculously high prices for knock offs. Rule of thumb is bit 10% of the asking price and do not go higher than 20%. The first place, they laughed at my counter, and as I was not really prepared to pay more than that, I walked out. The second place, I offered 20 yuan more, not accepted, in fact I was scolded, "Look at the quality"! Yes, I knew it was a high quality jacket, but I didn't want to pay stupid money for it. A bargain I was hoping for....thank you very much.
When Wendy met us, we were heading over to an Indian restaurant. Unfortunately, it has since closed its doors. Now we are wandering around without Internet to help us and we can't find a restaurant. As we walked down a side street, Wendy saw a sign for "_____'s Home Cooking. We followed the sign and came across a medium sized restaurant with the kitchen across the alley!
We ordered some great stuff, I just don't have any pictures....We walked Wendy back to her subway stop and we climbed on the train ourselves. We got out at the railway station, but got hopelessly lost trying to get to the street that passes our hotel. As long as we were in a mall, I decided to look at jackets and/or a vest. I found a puffy vest for 169 yuan, which is approximately $25. And it can stuff into a tiny bag too!
We had to be at the airport by 10:30 am so to bed we went.
We met Lilijana, Michael, Sherrie, Sharon and the guides, Charlotte and Josh. We were given a quick run down of what not to do--ever. Do not denigrate their leaders, do not tear anything off walls, do not discuss religion, and do not wander off by ourselves. Charlotte then went through what happens to tourists who do such things. They are arrested and detained until some high ranking official finds a gap in their schedule to come over the Korea to pick them up. They are not in work camps, but in a hotel south of Pyongyang where they are fed but with little else to entertain themselves. BTW, when the official comes to visit, they are then handed the bill for the housing of said delinquent. There is nothing the guides can do if you violate the simple, sensible rules.
After the meeting we met up with Wendy at the Silk Market. The silk market is a conglomeration of shops within a single multi-storied structure where up and coming designers sell their creations and knockoffs are sold side by side. You are expected to bargain. The items have price tags on them, but these are ridiculously high prices for knock offs. Rule of thumb is bit 10% of the asking price and do not go higher than 20%. The first place, they laughed at my counter, and as I was not really prepared to pay more than that, I walked out. The second place, I offered 20 yuan more, not accepted, in fact I was scolded, "Look at the quality"! Yes, I knew it was a high quality jacket, but I didn't want to pay stupid money for it. A bargain I was hoping for....thank you very much.
When Wendy met us, we were heading over to an Indian restaurant. Unfortunately, it has since closed its doors. Now we are wandering around without Internet to help us and we can't find a restaurant. As we walked down a side street, Wendy saw a sign for "_____'s Home Cooking. We followed the sign and came across a medium sized restaurant with the kitchen across the alley!
We ordered some great stuff, I just don't have any pictures....We walked Wendy back to her subway stop and we climbed on the train ourselves. We got out at the railway station, but got hopelessly lost trying to get to the street that passes our hotel. As long as we were in a mall, I decided to look at jackets and/or a vest. I found a puffy vest for 169 yuan, which is approximately $25. And it can stuff into a tiny bag too!
We had to be at the airport by 10:30 am so to bed we went.
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