P'yongyang Favorite Tips by DSwede Top 5 Page for this destination

Quiet nights

Favorite thing: It is hard to imagine that in a city of its size, most life stops at sunset. Electricity is a premium that most locals cannot afford, so the skyline at night is void of many lights. The only lights you are guaranteed to see are those illuminating important monuments or more directly put, portraits of Kim il-Sung.

At 8:30 at night, the streets are empty of people, only the random person running home after working a late shift. Street lights are very few and far between. Buildings typically turn on their lights when you enter and turn them off again when you exit.

P'yongyang is the only place that from the center of 2.3 million people, when I opened my window, all I heard was the sound of the wind and chirping of crickets. There were no sounds of cars, traffic, music, parties or even conversations.