Introduction
One of the most isolated and unlikely holiday destinations, North Korea, which is known locally as the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, remains defiantly backwards and inaccessible. North Korea travel is strictly on the government's terms and independent travel is out of the question. Those that bide by these rules though and visit North Korea will see a strange, rather unsettling country at work.
The capital Pyongyang has some spectacular architecture and implausibly large monuments dedicated to the late Great Leader Kim Jong Il and his father Kim Il Sung. Walk, accompanied by minders of course, past the Arch of Triumph, the Gates of Pyongyang, a 13-lane boulevard connecting the city centre to the suburb of Kwangbok and a pair of fountains that jet water 150m into the air.
Kumgangsan is North Korea's largest national park; comprising a range of mountains along the east coast, it is peppered with Buddhist temples, waterfalls and springs making it popular with birdwatchers, botanists and photographers.
The sacred summit of Paekdusan is Korea's highest peak. This extinct volcano has a spectacular crater lake, the Lake of Heaven, and is surrounded by virgin forest, rocky crags, dramatic waterfalls and gushing springs. Scale the breath-taking Kim Jong-Il peak for panoramic views.
