North Korea Tour Guide
All North Korea tours are accompanied by two local North Korea tour guides, which is mandatory for every tour to North Korea, and a Rocky Road tour guide. You may have heard that North Korea tour guides are robots who are just there to spout the party line and stop you from making trouble. But, what are North Korea tour guides actually like?
Being a tour guide in North Korea is a hugely respectable and competitive profession. The guides are trained at a specialist tourism college in Pyongyang and most speak English or Chinese, although it’s not uncommon at all to see tours led in German, Russian, Italian, Spanish, Japanese or Hebrew.
Friendly and welcoming tour guides
Despite their professionalism and the responsibility on their shoulders, not to mention the long hours, North Korean guides are friendly, knowledgeable and often genuinely kind people. One thing that most people don’t know about North Koreans is that they usually have a great sense of humour and are extremely hospitable. They will go above and beyond to show you their country. By the end of the tour, you won’t want to leave them!
Even though they are the face of the regime, to gain their trust, it’s best to ask them questions about their lives rather than sensitive questions about the government. They receive these questions all the time. Ask them about their routine, their family, their friends and hobbies and you’ll gain a unique insight into real North Korean life. They will likely also be interested in hearing about your life, and usually enjoy seeing any pictures you have to show.
After the tour unfortunately there is no way of contacting the guides again. At Rocky Road Travel we receive numerous letters and gifts to pass on to particular North Korean guides. We do our best to pass any messages along. Here’s hoping the country opens to the outside world so that communication becomes easier one day.
Meet your own DPRK guide on one of our North Korea Tours this year. If you have travelled to North Korea before and want to request a certain guide we can also facilitate that. Contact us today on +4915114575768 or email info@www.rockyroadtravel.com.