In message , at 17:12:52 on
Thu, 9 May 2013, Paul Corfield remarked:

I'm not sure exactly what mental image I had of Pyongyang but the
reality is very different. I was amazed to see the modern apartment
blocks. In some respects it reminds me of bits of Eastern Europe when
still behind the "Iron Curtain". I recall seeing a posh Western hotel
in Sofia with every luxury on displays and the rest of Sofia being decrepit

East Berlin was similar. If you could see it from the Wall, it was
luxurious, further away quite different.
--
Roland Perry