Young Pioneer Tours
Blog
Welcome to the Young Pioneer Tours blog about everything North Korea, and all of our other special off the beaten the track destinations.
Since starting in 2008 we have seen blogging about North Korea and our other great destinations as a great way to engage with our customers and to show the world a slice of life in the great destinations we visit.
Due to the mass amount of great content we create, as well as receive from our Pioneers we have since started our travel lifestyle magazine “The Young Pioneer”.
We’re always looking for contributors to our sites, so feel free to browse through our blogs, and , get in touch if you’d like to write for us.
Check out and subscribe to the YPT Blog and travel magazine
How long does it take to get to North Korea?
17 October 2019 / by Gareth Johnson
The first question people tend to ask when they find out that we do tours to North Korea is “you do tours to North Korea?” After answering this in the affirmative, the next question is quite often “you can go to North Korea?” After further reassurances …
How to visit the North Korean Mansudae Art Museum in Beijing
17 October 2019 / by Alistair Riddell
In 2009, North Korea’s Mansudae Art Studio opened the dubiously-named “Mansudae Art Museum” in Beijing’s trendy 798 Art Zone. YPT went along to check out this outpost of DPRK culture open to visit by the general public without travelling to North Korea …
What is the Pamir Highway?
16 October 2019 / by Gareth Johnson
We at YPT often pride ourselves on taking the road less travelled, but it would be rank dishonesty to claim this of the Pamir Highway – a historic trans-Pamir road that’s been in use, one way or another, for millennia. A crucial link along the historic …
North Korea vs South Korea: The Historic Football Match Played in an Empty Stadium
16 October 2019 / by John McGovern
When the draw for the Asian section of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar was made, here at YPT we were immediately excited at some of the games we could watch in Pyongyang. Home to Sri Lanka in March 2020, home to Turkmenistan in June 2020, but the big one w …
Celebrating Halloween in North Korea
15 October 2019 / by Gareth Johnson
Halloween (or Hallowe’en, for old-school purists) is that very spooky time of year when people tell ghost stories, terrible horror movies are released, and the Americans adopt the flimsiest of excuses to dress as slutty nurses and superheroes. North Ko …
Private tours to unrecognised countries
15 October 2019 / by Joel Vostok
At the Soviet Europe office of Young Pioneer Tours, one of our greatest passions is promoting tourism in what are known as ‘breakaway states’ or ‘unrecognized countries’. In the former Soviet Union there are four unrecognized states in existence: Trans …
Coca-Cola, North Korea style
15 October 2019 / by Gareth Johnson
North Korean coke! The tale of Coca Cola in North Korea is one that has been told many times. For a long time one has been able to made Chinese-made coke in North Korea, and of course there has always been the homegrown brand of Ryogjin Cola. You will …
Syria Tourism Update (14/10/2019)
14 October 2019 / by Ben Crowley
Syria has recently hit the news again in a big way. After not much attention for a while, it’s back in the limelight. The president of the USA, Donald Trump, announced that he would withdraw US troops from a particular segment of the Syrian/Turkish bor …
Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow is alive!
14 October 2019 / by Ben Crowley
Many of you may have read or heard the rumours that Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow, the President of Turkmenistan, had passed away. The rumour started from the Russian news agency TASS and quickly did the rounds on the internet. After a week of rumours the …
