Welcome to the Young Pioneer Tours Blog, the place where we we keep you informed about everything YPT, from current tours, to future tours and a whole lot of eclectic stuff in between.
YPT first started blogging in 2008 and are considered the best North Korean Travel blog that there is.
But, as Young Pioneer Tours have expanded our locations, so have we expanded our blog. Now we have one of the best travel blogs in the world!
And while most of our content is about the numerous destinations we go, including travel guides and what to pack, we also delve into more serious subjects such as the safety of certain destinations, as well as how LGTBQ+ friendly the places we visit are.
While the vast majority of our content is produced in-house, we are always on the look-out for guest bloggers and writers. Want to write for us? Then simply get in touch.
You can also check out our sister publication YPT Life.
Check out and subscribe to the YPT Blog and travel magazine
18 December 2019 / by Gareth Johnson
‘Koryo-Saram’ is the collective name given to the members of the Korean diaspora that lived (and still live) in the former USSR. ‘Koryo’ is a historical name for the Korean peninsula, and ‘Saram’ means ‘people’. Hence, ‘Koryo-Saram’ = ‘Korean people’. …
17 December 2019 / by Gareth Johnson
If you’ve ever been to Southeast Asia you will have seen the signs that say “no smoking”, and “no durian” with a big red cross against consumption of this rather controversial of fruits! I’ve previously written about the differences between durian and …
17 December 2019 / by Gareth Johnson
At Young Pioneer Tours we have been pioneering travel to North Korea for over ten years, but despite this we have regularly run trips to Seoul as part of our All Koreas Tour. In celebration of One Korea, and because we just really like the place, here’ …
17 December 2019 / by Gareth Johnson
The hanbok is the national dress of the women of Korea, a dress that was still regularly worn on a daily basis until the early 20th century. Nowadays you will ladies wearing on special occasions in both the South and North of Korea, and it has a histor …
17 December 2019 / by Gareth Johnson
At Young Pioneer Tours we do not just consider ourselves experts about North Korea, but about all things Korean in general. We have written a lot about the top street food, snacks and foods of North Korea, but by doing this have skipped a whole beat ab …
17 December 2019 / by Gareth Johnson
Cutud Lenten Rites Festival is a yearly festival held in San Pedro, Pampanga Province. The Cutud Festival is the largest of its kind whereby penitents get nailed to the cross on Good Friday. This is one of the largest media events in the Philippines, w …
17 December 2019 / by Gareth Johnson
Kenji Fujimoto is famous as being the former chef of Leader Kim Jong Il. He has also written a few books, and publicly maintains a close friendship with Marshal Kim Jong Un, which led to him coming back to Pyongyang and opening a restaurant. So, what i …
17 December 2019 / by Gareth Johnson
Tours to Mongolia are one of our favorite things to do at Young Pioneer Tours, be it passing through on the Trans-Mongolian Railway, taking part in the Nadaam Festival, doing a bit of Mongolian Wrestling, or simply chilling in the Gobi Desert. Whilst m …
17 December 2019 / by Gareth Johnson
Sinuiju city is the border city between North Korea and China. Sitting opposite Dandong and across the Yalu River, Sinuiju is the first “taste” of North Korea that tourists travelling into the country get. The Sinuiju – Pyongyang train actually spends …