Yough Pioneer Tours
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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
KVINT: national icon of a country that doesn’t exist
May 2, 2019 / by Gareth
Over ten years ago, I led Young Pioneer Tours’ first trip to Tiraspol, the capital of Transnistria (a country not even MS Word – let alone the UN – will recognise). The legends of this trip abound; not too put too fine a point on it, but YPT invented T …
Wines of the world: France, Italy… Moldova?
May 2, 2019 / by Gareth
There is perhaps no passion more notoriously snobby than wine-tasting, so when I claim that Moldovan wine (and brandy) is some of the best in the world, I expect no small amount of derisive sniffing and arched eyebrows to follow. Fact is, though, that …
Filming in North Korea
May 2, 2019 / by Gareth
Whilst it is illegal for journalists to travel to North Korea in an undercover capacity, it is still completely possible for media and film crews to visit the country – to which Michael Palin’s recent trip, facilitated by Koryo Tours, attests. At Young …
What was the May Fourth Movement?
May 1, 2019 / by Gareth
If you’re of a certain age (and gender and race) then it is likely you’ll enjoy the memes and the greetings on the 4th of May with your usual annual pleasure – May the Fourth be with you! But while Star Wars Day is celebrated around the world (especial …
What does ‘DPRK’ mean?
May 1, 2019 / by Gareth
When you travel anywhere in the world, it’s important to respect local norms and traditions: don’t disrespect the King in Thailand, don’t bare your soles in the Middle East, don’t suggest that guns are bad mmmkay in America, and don’t say “North Korea” …
Air Koryo and its fleet
May 1, 2019 / by Gareth
Air Koryo gets a lot of unwarranted crap: from being the “world’s only one-star airline” to their infamous mystery burger, the poor airline takes a licking but keeps on ticking. In actuality, not only do they have an excellent safety record, but flying …
Understanding the Juche Calendar
May 1, 2019 / by Gareth
Whilst the world mostly sets its clock to when Jesus was born, there are in fact a ton of other calendars used by people around the world. There’s the Russians that hold Christmas two weeks after the event, there’s the Persians where it is currently th …
Day of the Shining Star
May 1, 2019 / by Gareth
There are many special times to visit the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, one of which is the Day of the Shining Star. The Day of the Shining Star (Korean광명성절) is a major public holiday in North Korea and falls on February 16th – the birthday of …
Traveling to Kaesong and the DMZ
May 1, 2019 / by Gareth
Understanding Kaesong Kaesong was the ancient capital city of the Koryo dynasty that ruled the Korean Peninsula. Nowadays the historic city is a UNESCO world heritage site containing a number of historical relics from the 10th-14th century. Incidentall …
