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. Cannily, they set up on the south side in the
mornings, and the north in the evenings (if a vehicle travelling the
wrong way wants to buy something from them, the driver just swerves
across the empty motorway and enters the services from the wrong
side): http://www.flickr.com/photos/recline...in/photostream

In message , at 11:04:42 on
Mon, 13 May 2013, Recliner remarked:
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:

So the problem seems to be a lack of tarmac paving the road, rather than
just having crushed stone?
--
Roland Perry

On Mon, 13 May 2013 12:54:14 +0100, Roland Perry
wrote:

In message , at 11:04:42 on
Mon, 13 May 2013, Recliner remarked:
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:

So the problem seems to be a lack of tarmac paving the road, rather than
just having crushed stone?

Even when there is tarmac, it tends to be in poor condition (it's
probably another thing they're short of, as well road building
machines). Concrete roads probably do badly in North Korea's weather
(very cold winters, hot summers) and need more maintenance than they
can provide.

The wide, straight roads themselves seem to have been well engineered
originally, with plenty of viaducts, bridges and tunnels through the
mountains, but the funds to keep them in good condition seem not to be
there (they're probably diverted to creating more leaders' statues and
grand buildings). As most people aren't allowed to travel, it probably
isn't an issue for the population at large, but it does seem odd that
by far the worst road we travelled on was the one connecting the main
port and the capital. We did see some freight trains, so that may be
how most goods move.

On 12/05/2013 15:21, Recliner wrote:

Separately, women were banned from
cycling throughout the country for many years, as the leader didn't like
the look of women on bikes.

Any man with that attitude has clearly never been to Copenhagen.

--
Arthur Figgis Surrey, UK

On 13/05/2013 13:08, Recliner wrote:
On Mon, 13 May 2013 12:54:14 +0100, Roland Perry
wrote:

In message , at 11:04:42 on
Mon, 13 May 2013, Recliner remarked:
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:

So the problem seems to be a lack of tarmac paving the road, rather than
just having crushed stone?

Even when there is tarmac, it tends to be in poor condition (it's
probably another thing they're short of, as well road building
machines). Concrete roads probably do badly in North Korea's weather
(very cold winters, hot summers) and need more maintenance than they
can provide.

How was the road to Kaesong, however, considering its importance from a
military and political perspective?

The wide, straight roads themselves seem to have been well engineered
originally, with plenty of viaducts, bridges and tunnels through the
mountains, but the funds to keep them in good condition seem not to be
there (they're probably diverted to creating more leaders' statues and
grand buildings). As most people aren't allowed to travel, it probably
isn't an issue for the population at large, but it does seem odd that
by far the worst road we travelled on was the one connecting the main
port and the capital. We did see some freight trains, so that may be
how most goods move.

I have also seen some footage of freight trains in the Nampo area on
videos about the building of the Western Sea Barrier.

I have not heard of many cases where tourists have visited Nampo, I must
say.

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


I liked the other photos in the link above, particularly of the Chollima
statue and of the exterior to Kumsusan Palace.

The â‚©200 note also has an image of the Chollima statue on its obverse,
by the way.

http://banknote.ws/COLLECTION/countr...ON/KON0062.htm

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.

Arthur Figgis wrote:
On 12/05/2013 15:21, Recliner wrote:

Separately, women were banned from
cycling throughout the country for many years, as the leader didn't like
the look of women on bikes.

Any man with that attitude has clearly never been to Copenhagen.

Very probably. I think he mainly visited people's democracies, not real
ones.

" 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.

" wrote:
On 13/05/2013 13:08, Recliner wrote:
On Mon, 13 May 2013 12:54:14 +0100, Roland Perry
wrote:

In message , at 11:04:42 on
Mon, 13 May 2013, Recliner remarked:
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:

So the problem seems to be a lack of tarmac paving the road, rather than
just having crushed stone?

Even when there is tarmac, it tends to be in poor condition (it's
probably another thing they're short of, as well road building
machines). Concrete roads probably do badly in North Korea's weather
(very cold winters, hot summers) and need more maintenance than they
can provide.

How was the road to Kaesong, however, considering its importance from a
military and political perspective?

The wide, straight roads themselves seem to have been well engineered
originally, with plenty of viaducts, bridges and tunnels through the
mountains, but the funds to keep them in good condition seem not to be
there (they're probably diverted to creating more leaders' statues and
grand buildings). As most people aren't allowed to travel, it probably
isn't an issue for the population at large, but it does seem odd that
by far the worst road we travelled on was the one connecting the main
port and the capital. We did see some freight trains, so that may be
how most goods move.

I have also seen some footage of freight trains in the Nampo area on
videos about the building of the Western Sea Barrier.

I have not heard of many cases where tourists have visited Nampo, I must say.

Yes, we drove along the sea barrage, saw the video in the visitor centre,
looked at the sea locks, etc. As a ship was passing through, we couldn't go
over the locks themselves. The road and railway line over the barrage
didn't seem to be heavily used.

We noticed what looked like a new comms cable being installed along the
road to the barrier. It was being done by thousands of volunteers (whose
bikes were parked along the road), hand digging a ditch and laying the
cable in it. No culvert, just the cable dropped in the probably not very
straight ditch.