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
February 18, 2020 / by Sion
Western Sahara Outline Hundreds of miles of coastline, plenty of sand, year-round sunshine and cheap prices – sounds like anyone’s idea of paradise, right? Except there’s a catch: this country doesn’t actually exist! Welcome to Western Sahara. Situated …
February 18, 2020 / by Sion
Chagos Islands Outline Situated slap bang in the middle of nowhere, somewhere in the Indian Ocean. The Chagos Islands are a group of seven atolls and around 60 individual tropical islands surrounded by crystal clear blue waters, and soft golden s …
February 18, 2020 / by Sion
An outline of Darfur If you thought the conflict in Western Sahara was wild, strap yourselves into this one. Welcome to Darfur! Darfur is a region of around 9.5m people, approximately the size of Spain in the western part of Sudan. The region is the me …
February 18, 2020 / by Ben Crowley
The History The History of the Gates of Hell are not a simple one. The Gates of Hell in Turkmenistan has to be one of the most awe-inspiring sights in the world. Also known as Darvaza, which means “gates” in the Turkmen language, it is an integral stop …
February 18, 2020 / by Ben Crowley
Whenever we’re on tour in Central Asia, most people are amazed at the ethnic diversity. They’re usually shocked at how many Russians, Ukrainians, Belarussians, and Germans still live in Central Asia, and how ‘East Asian’ or ‘Middle Eastern’ a lot of th …
February 18, 2020 / by Ben Crowley
History of Nowruz in Central Asia Nowruz in Central Asia has been celebrated for thousands of years – at least three thousand based on historical evidence, but possibly even longer, and the celebration shares many of the same attributes that are usuall …
February 16, 2020 / by YPT Team
One of South Korea’s highest-rated and controversial drama cable television shows crash landing on you is coming to an end tonight. For those unfamiliar with the series, it tells the story of a South Korea Heiress (played by Son Ye Jin) and a North Kor …
February 13, 2020 / by Gareth Johnson
History is strewn with people screwed over by humanity. Armenians, Jews and Kurds to name but a few. But one group of people being screwed right now that almost no one knows about is the people of the Chagos Islands. The Chagos Islands, also known as t …
February 13, 2020 / by YPT Team
Update on tours: You will have all heard about the DPRK closing its borders for tourists in the wake of COVID-19 spreading globally, but what isn’t being spoken about as much is its effects on YPT’s other destinations. While Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Taj …