3 down, 1 to go.

Today we did our "let's go around Pyongyang" tour, which included monument... after monument... after monument. Honestly they're all incredibly boring and after the first few, I was thinking "Great, another stone structure that is exactly dimension x to commemorate blah blah blah". So I won't bore you with the 5 or so we saw today. Of a more interesting note, I got to ride the Pyongyang metro. I had heard it is the deepest in the world, and god I could believe that. The escalator down had to be a mile long. The stations are beautiful, but we were only allowed to see 3. I tried to take a peek when we were going by the others – strikingly less beautiful. I wonder why we were not allowed to see them?

They made a big deal about the fact we're going to see the statues of Kim Jong Il and Kim Il Sung today. This is apparently like the Vatican for these people. We were told before coming, if you are not willing to place flowers at their feet and bow, just don't even bother taking the trip. It's that serious. In fact, the cost of the flowers was included in the tour and supplied to us, so there's no excuse for not having them. The whole area in the front of the statues is a big square, that even being outside was extremely bright and reflective. They also said no one can wear sunglasses or hats out of respect, hence my squinted expression.

I'm not feeling so well today, really after eating the dog soup for lunch yesterday I have been pretty ill. One of my other travel companions also is not feeling well, and my roommate also is beginning to complain of stomach troubles. I never really liked Korean food that much in the ROK, and here it's like the ROK's but worse. So many cold dishes and fish, two things I am not really a fan of. I'm doing my best to eat small portions and keep everything down, which has been pretty hit or miss. I was just thinking I would pay 100 RMB for a Big Mac right now.

Pictured: The Hotel of Doom

Our schedule has changed dramatically while we were here. We were originally supposed to go to a village and eat dinner with a family, but that changed. Instead we went to a bowling alley and arcade. Seriously. I wasn't feeling up to bowling, but I managed to check out the arcade. A couple of old, old Daytona USA machines that had extremely disclored screens. And some slot machines. Good stuff. For as much as they seem to hate America, they don't seem to mind having American things. Marlboro cigarettes are quite fashionable.

The only other thing of note today was the Juche Tower. You may have seen it in pictures of the DPRK, but its a tall tower with a flame thingy at the top. It's about 8 stories high, but it was already bitterly cold. The wind 8 stories up did not help. I stepped inside the little area in front of the lift to get some shelter. The lift operator was standing there, and could speak English. She asked me where I was from. I said America.

"America. Hmm."

Making I joke, I said "And what country are you from?"

No response. I mumbled "Well I guess we'll just stand here awkwardly then."

We drove up in the mountains for the evening, which has a hotel immensely better than the one in Pyongyang. I had a hot shower for the first time in days, which felt absolutely amazing.

Last time I mentioned how if you look around, you can see "holes" in the facade they're portraying for us. The random power blackouts are certainly one of them. But when we get to a new place, there are only lights on that lead exactly to where we need to go. There are an exact number of place settings. There is no one else there. They clearly were informed we were coming, and these places don't look open to the public. Honestly I think these restaurants and hotels are reserved only for tourists or maybe the elite, and only open when someone is coming. Also, the signs and labels are always in English. Hmmmmm...