Young Pioneer Tours
Blog
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
The Ultimate Somaliland Guide
18 June 2019 / by Pier Doyon
Young Pioneer Tours have now been running tours to Somaliland for 4 years. Usually, we like to time it to coincide with the unrecognized state’s Independence Day on May 18th. When we heard the CONIFA World Cup would be held there in June 20 …
Korean peninsula tours – The All Koreas Tour
18 June 2019 / by Gareth Johnson
Five years ago, our team at Young Pioneer Tours ran our first borderlands research tour. The trip had us driving along the North Korean and Chinese border, much of which used to be part of the historic Koryo nation. We had also had a lot of interest in …
Yiwu International Trade City
18 June 2019 / by Gareth Johnson
About 9 years ago, English football team Arsenal came to play a few matches in China for their pre-season tour. Obviously this had zero to do with money, as they ended up playing against Hangzhou not in their home ground, but instead in Yiwu City. Bein …
Unrecognized Countries – Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic
18 June 2019 / by Gareth Johnson
At Young Pioneer Tours we have more than a passing interest in unrecognized countries, with my passion running so deep that I even spent a month living in Transnistria literally for no other reason than the sheer sake of it. We run tours to almost all …
Visiting Sariwon, North Korea
15 June 2019 / by Gareth Johnson
The “Sariwŏn Folklore street” was constructed during Kim-Jong-il’s rule. Built to display an ideal picture of ancient Korea, it includes buildings in the “historical style” and a collection of ancient Korean cannons. Although it is considered an inaccu …
Soviet Batman: what if Batman had been a Soviet citizen?
14 June 2019 / by Gareth Johnson
Batman is someone who needs precious little introduction – he’s a Randian billionaire genius playboy who inexplicably spends billions on brutalising mentally ill people instead of funding social welfare programmes – and there are probably Tibetan ascet …
UPDATE: Sudan military coup – will it affect tours?
14 June 2019 / by Gareth Johnson
Update: July 6th 2019 Yesterday, the leaders of the Pro-Democracy movements and of the military came out of talks lasting for two days. An agreement concerning sharing the power has come out of these talks, which was welcomed as a victory by the pro-de …
Top Political Parties by Membership
13 June 2019 / by Gareth Johnson
In some countries membership of political parties is a big deal. Also, in order to qualify you have to be one of the ‘ruling political parties’, as otherwise there would be multiple country listings. In this article we will go through the Top 7 largest …
Tipping in North Korea
12 June 2019 / by Gareth Johnson
Does the tipping system exist in North Korea? Is tipping obligatory in North Korea? If so, how much and to whom? We are very glad that you asked, as these are some of the many questions that we get asked frequently here at Young Pioneer Tours. The shor …
