" wrote:
On 13/05/2013 11:04, Recliner wrote:
On Sun, 12 May 2013 18:31:37 +0100, Paul Corfield
wrote:

On Sun, 12 May 2013 09:21:17 -0500, Recliner
wrote:


As a result, you see many more bikes on the motorways outside the capital,
often cycling in the wrong direction in the fast lane, or straight across
the motorway; neither causes much of a problem to the few motor vehicles
weaving their way around the pot holes.

Bicycles on the motorway! Well I think I can safely say that you
manage to surprise me every time you post about N Korea. It sounds
like one of the weirdest places on earth. I know it's a closed
militarised society and a dictatorship with the full quotient of
brainwashing but you do have to wonder how the N Koreans put up with
all of this. It's almost beyond my comprehension.

No bikes in this pic, but you get an idea of the state of the
motorways in the country:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/recline...in/photostream

There's a pedestrian on the motorway in this pic, but the main lesson
is how drivers have to weave their way along the broad highway to
avoid craters:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/recline...in/photostream

As you can see, I had to set the pocket camera to its fastest shutter
speed (1/2000 sec) to get sharp pictures from the bouncing (but not
speeding) bus.

The motorway to the south and the DMZ (the Reunification Highway) is
in better condition, with a carriageway surface good for speeds up to
about 90 km/h, and even a central reservation and a moribund services:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/recline...in/photostream

There's no fuel pumps, and all the facilities in the building are
closed, apart from the toilets, which have waterless toilets.

Local entrepreneurial women set up tables outside to sell snacks and
souvenirs to tourists.

So, do you pay them in Won or in hard currency? I wonder if it is against
the law for North Korean citizens to hold foreign currency, as it was for Soviet citizens.

Euros, I think. After North Korea's disastrous currency reform, it would
be hard to stop people holding foreign currencies.