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
Tackling the Cuban Currency: CUPs and CUCs
2 February 2016 / by Gareth Johnson
Sat in a fast food diner right in the heart of downtown Havana, I ordered a beer and a Cuban sandwich. The latter, for those who’ve never tried one, is like no ordinary sandwich – it comes in a baguette, Cuban bread stuffed to the brim with roasted por …
Soviet Style Fun: Central Asian Theme Parks
31 January 2016 / by Eilidh Crowley
Like an aeroplane in the sky, it barely looks like it’s moving from a distance. When you see an aeroplane you know it’s travelling at maybe 900km an hour and likewise, the largest indoor Ferris Wheel in the world covers a substantial distance very quic …
How to spend May Day in China’s Communist Capital
27 January 2016 / by Gareth Johnson
The first time I visited Yan’an it was the May 1st holiday for International Labour Day. After arriving late at night we went straight to our hotel, it was still chilly in the evenings but there were a group of Uyghurs out selling lamb skewers so we co …
North Korea’s Top 5 Moments in Sport
14 January 2016 / by Gareth Johnson
Here’s YPT’s favourite moments in DPRK sport history. Collision in Korea Held in the incredible May Day Stadium, 1995’s Collision in Korea wasn’t so much a showcase of North Korean wrestling talent as a demonstration of the building prowess of th …
Exploring Albania: Why this Overlooked Country Deserves More Attention
10 January 2016 / by Gareth Johnson
With one of the most fascinating histories in Europe combined with an incredibly diverse landscape, it is no wonder that tourism to Albania has increased by almost 1000 percent in the last ten years. This increase, however, has come almost exclus …
I was a guide in North Korea for two years. Now I’m leaving, and here’s my answers
10 January 2016 / by YPT Team
Have you noticed many changes in North Korea from your first time to last time? From my first tour in September 2012 to my final tour for Party Foundation Day in October 2015, I was fortunate enough to visit the DPRK around twenty-five times. A c …
Chasing Spirits in a Chinese Ghost Town: The utter strangeness of Ordos Kangbashi
10 January 2016 / by Gareth Johnson
Yang, our driver, is inching the car forward. We’re filming from the back seat. It’s late in the evening and in this part of town there are no streetlights, it’s almost pitch black. We follow the silhouette of a man stumbling along the pavement, …
5 Top Fake News Stories About North Korea
10 January 2016 / by Gareth Johnson
For many publications (not to name any specifically) North Korea acts as an easy target to help out on slow news days. When it comes to the DPRK, it is much easier to exaggerate a half-truth, twist the truth, or best still? Simply make something u …
Borderlands of North Korea – #2 Dandong
28 December 2015 / by Gareth Johnson
Aside from Young Pioneer Tours regularly blogging about our budget tours to North Korea and the many new North Korean Tourist attractions that pop up in Pyongyang and other cities, we also try and do the odd (dare we say interesting) piece about the wi …
