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, torch on his forehead and a ghost detector in his hands. […]

A bridge is often a thing of unity, of connectivity and a symbolization for the joining together of places, people, or ideas. Not so in Mitrovica. In this Kosovan town where the southern half is made up of ethnic Albanians and the northern half of Kosovan Serbs, the Ibar Bridge acts as the complete opposite. Mitrovica, like the […]

On the night of the 26th of November 2015, Young Pioneer Tours were lucky enough to be the first – and still, only – foreign tour group to attend the Turkmenistan Independence Day Celebrations in the newly redesigned Ashgabat Stadium. Our group of ‘Young Pioneers’ if you will, were on their best behaviour. We wore […]

Do you crave to see the unique phenomenal treasures of Russia? The best way to have a sneak peek of the breathtaking scenes is by touring the gorgeous capitals of Russia. The genuinely pure intimate travel experience of the two cities is worth savoring each moment. You can never go wrong with a tour package […]

There are many ways one can visit different places. People can use dedicated transport but it will cost them a lot. There is a way of visiting different tourist spots at a lower cost. It is called hitch-hiking. In hitchhiking, you can stand at the side of the road and ask people to help you […]

In 2015, a whisper of something extraordinary happening in the DPRK began circulating around those of us who watch the country with interest. A foreign band was to play in Pyongyang, but we weren’t sure who, or when. Things like this aren’t entirely unheard of. In 1999, Bill Clinton’s brother visited the DPRK and gave […]

I’ve had a fascination with the DPRK for over a decade now. Something about it has always drawn me in. From the seemingly endless media gossip to books and news reports sourced from inside the country, I’ve soaked everything and anything up that is even remotely related to the country since I was a teenager. […]

What is it like living in Transsnitria? YPT’s Gareth decided to give it a bash! A cold war relic. The last remnant of the Soviet Union. The only place in Europe that didn’t get the memo about the Berlin wall coming down. Strange flags, statues of Lenin, vodka for a dollar, and more hammers and sickles […]

A face crumpled with puzzlement, the brow all squished up, the corner of the mouth raised to the sky, and a particularly high inflection on “Turkmenistan?”, is usually what I’m greeted with when I tell peopleabout my favourite country and the place where I run tours to. “Is that a real place?”, “Do you mean Turkey?”, and “Is that […]

The vast majority had previously taken part in marathon events – but undoubtedly there was something special about taking part in the Pyongyang marathon.  After a feast of breakfast in the hotel banquet room that included everything from apples to Chinese soup to fried pork, the runners departed the Sosan Hotel and made their way […]