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
A new budget way to travel between Beijing and Shanghai
25 April 2019 / by Pier Doyon
For a long time, the choices to go from the Chinese metropolis of Shanghai to the capital, Beijing, were either flying or taking the train. As trains are often much cheaper than flights, the choice truly came down to taking a slow train or take the hig …
Top 7 North Korean Snacks
25 April 2019 / by Gareth Johnson
North Korean snacks migt not be famous the world over, but they are interesting and a highlight to any trip here. Without question, one of the elements of travel that I love most is sampling the local cuisine of any new country I’m lucky enough to visi …
How to get from China to Mongolia Overland
25 April 2019 / by Alistair Riddell
Ever since I’ve been in China, I’ve held a preoccupation with the frontiers of this vast land. These are the places where the tidal wave that is mainstream Chinese culture washes against the shores of the other, the minority, the strange – and it often …
Why a DPRK-Russia summit should happen in Vladivostok
24 April 2019 / by Pier Doyon
After a couple of inconclusive summits with Trump, North Korean leader Marshal Kim Jong Un is now pivoting and meeting with Vladimir Putin in what is being dubbed the Kim-Putin Summit. While the current leader of the Democratic People’s Republic of Kor …
News: Eritrea unilaterally closes land borders with Ethiopia
24 April 2019 / by Pier Doyon
Less than a year after it signed a peace declaration with Ethiopia and opened up its land borders, Eritrea closed its last open land border yesterday. Positive gestures were made in 2018 towards the normalization of the relationship between the two cou …
A strategic convenience: the history of Russia-DPRK relations
24 April 2019 / by Gareth Johnson
With Kim Jong Un travelling to Vladivostok to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin, one may wonder if ties between the two countries are about to experience a revival. DPRK-Russia relations have, unsurprisingly, a long-rooted history. However, despite …
What Is Hwanggumpyong Island?
23 April 2019 / by Gareth Johnson
Cute islands in the middle of rivers might have romantic overtones, but more often than not they can prove to be right royal pains in the ass! There have been more than a few conflicts over useless rocks over the years. On the Tumen and Yalu rivers the …
Is it safe to travel to South Sudan?
23 April 2019 / by Pier Doyon
At YPT, our mission is to take you safely to places your mother would rather make sure you don’t go. We believe in what we do because through travel, you get to see for yourself different situations around the world without the filters of the med …
The China – North Korea border (and crossings)
23 April 2019 / by Gareth Johnson
Despite North Korea and China being neighbors and buddies in all things red and socialist, the China – North Korea border is not only one of the most militarized and tense on earth, but is also one of the most interesting. To say Young Pioneer Tours ar …
