Public Hangings:

Tickets for these are understandably popular, but your hotel can usually get you good seats for a small fee.

Restaurants / Dining Out:

Westerners in particular find many of the meals offered to be unusual, although nutritious dog and (protein rich) caterpillars are making fewer appearances on tourist menus these days.

Always remember that if you don't actually enjoy a meal, it is unlikely that you will keep it for long, anyway.

Pornography:

Please do not bring pornography into the country.

It will be supplied in your hotel room, on your coach tour TV (usually in black and white), and inside your restaurant menu (except at breakfast time, for obvious reasons).

Departure Tax:

A departure tax of USD127 (no change given) is payable, only in fresh US dollars.

Ninety-three percent of visitors in a recent survey declared this as "a bargain."

A dollar cash machine is available in the departure area of Pyongyang International Airport.

If the electricity is off due to maintenance, please use the adjacent winding handle to retrieve your cash and, usually, your card.

American Express is particularly welcome.

Your Hotel:

Location: in the middle of Taedong river on Yanggak island

Floors: 47, of which 23 have been mostly completed

Rooms: 1,000 rooms. Deluxe suites, and standard class rooms. International phone, TV, refrigerator in each room, all of which occasionally work

Warm water supply : 24 hours a day from 1:00am to 3:15am

Restaurants: Two Korean food restaurants (mostly dog and a local variety of succulent hedgehog), one Japanese (serving sushi, DPRK style. Mostly dog and a local variety of hedgehog, wrapped in rice, and served raw), and one Chinese food restaurant (all Chinese-style food served, especially dog and the local hedgehog.)