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.
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How to blend in with North Koreans – Step by step guide on how to get a North Korean suit
29 December 2016 / by Justin Martell
Whether you consider it a pariah state or simply misunderstood, North Korea is known for going its ‘own way,’ and the Hermit Kingdom’s fashion trends, such as the North Korean suit. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fnVwnEUskJk If you are travelling to N …
“A Puzzle Solved” – Anecdotes of Kim Jong Il
20 December 2016 / by Gareth Johnson
A perk to working in North Korean tourism is access to the fascinating literature of the DPRK. Rarely read by foreigners or made available online, we’d like to share some. Here is an unedited excerpt, taken from the book “Anecdotes of Kim Jong Ils Life …
A Taste of Pyongyang
19 December 2016 / by Alistair Riddell
Mealtime in North Korea, like many East Asian countries, is a communal gathering with a shared assortment of dishes. Those who have visited North Korea on a tour have had the experience, sitting around the lunch table, drinking a beer, and discuss …
Traveling to North Korea and the US Sanctions
6 December 2016 / by Gareth Johnson
Working in tourism in North Korea, YPT regularly answers questions about safety and security issues for when we’re visiting the country. The media paints a certain picture of the country and it is understandable that some people have questions about th …
Myanmar’s 5 Best Sun Spots
28 November 2016 / by Gareth Johnson
Who doesn’t love a sunset or sunrise? One of life’s simplest pleasures enjoyed by everyone around the globe…and Myanmar has some of the most remarkable in the world! So here is our list of 5 of the ultimate spots to watch a sunset or sunrise in Myanm …
Punks, Pipes, and Pirate Ships – A Glance Into the Weird World of Slab City
23 November 2016 / by Gareth Johnson
It is interesting that when one begins to type “Niland” into the search bar, the first suggestion that Google offers is “nihilism”; defined as “the rejection of all religious and moral principles, often in the belief that life is meaningless” and as “e …
Chinese-American Cuisine: A Palate Divided
12 November 2016 / by Gareth Johnson
Duck head, lotus root, pig intestine soup… Sound like familiar X-Factor fare? In actual China, you’re more likely to find boiled chicken feet than deep fried chicken balls, and most Chinese people will look at you like you shot their grandmother if you …
How to Cook Your Turkmen Truffles
3 November 2016 / by Caitlin Graham
Having left the relative cool of the Kopet Dag mountain range where we’d spend the previous night with a local family in a village, we drove along the one road heading from Ashgabat to the west of Turkmenistan. Gradually it got hotter and drier as we v …
YPT’s 5 Best Tours… That Hardly Anyone Books
7 October 2016 / by Gareth Johnson
Over our 10 years at YPT pioneering travel to “destinations your mother would rather you stayed away from” it is fair to say that we have always tried to push the envelope with new tour locations. Some of our favourites such as Iran, Central Asia, and …
