DMZ and the grand people study house

We had a long day ahead of us. At 07 we were woken up. Before At 08 we should have eaten breakfast and be ready at the bus, where the first stop was the DMZ (Demilitarized Zone), which is the heavily guarded border between South and North Korea. The 2 countries are still at war with each other, but they have signed that they will stop shelling each other. The border is heavily guarded. We could look a little into South Korea, but we couldn't see any soldiers. They take turns to be present around the border line, so that the tourists from both countries do not have to bump into each other. A table has been set up exactly across the border so that neither party has to leave their own country to talk. The road between Pyongyang and the DMZ is wide, but there are not many cars. You can easily stand in the middle of the road and take pictures without risking being run over. We drove past many cyclists and people working in the fields. It can be difficult to see the purpose of their work. Some sit and poke around in the ground...but after what? Some people dust the guardrails with brooms... why is it necessary? A lot of people sit on the ground and look with a bike lying next to them... do they have a break all the time? Many walk around out on the street or on the side of the road...there are almost no shops or businesses, what is their purpose? We had lunch in the small town of Kaesong, capital until the 16th century, where we got to see new and old architecture. This town had houses that were over 200 years old. We were allowed to see them from a vantage point in the park, Janamsan Park, as we were not allowed to come down and walk in the streets. We had lunch at a local restaurant, Tongil=reunification, in town. Each person had 12 small bowls in front of them with dishes - some more inviting than others :) Before we headed back towards Pyongyang, we saw King Kongmin's tomb, which is located with a beautiful view of the mountains. When the queen needed to find a suitable burial place for her husband and king, she sent some soldiers out to search. If she was dissatisfied, the person was shot on the spot. A soldier wanted to show her this beautiful place by letting her climb up the opposite mountain so that she could really see the beautiful location. She was thrilled with what she saw. At the top of the mountain, she took out a white scarf to wipe her forehead of sweat. She had forgotten that "the waving of a white scarf" meant that she was unhappy with the place and the soldier should be shot immediately. If people don't have to worry about houses, food or clothes, they get time to focus on literature and art, which is one of the basic thoughts of the country. People can satisfy their desire for new knowledge by visiting Folkets Bibliotek, Grand People Study House, where they can borrow books, listen to music and learn languages. They have hired translators to translate foreign books. They really wanted to show us books - they found e.g. Shakespeare. There was no sign that they had some of the latest bestsellers that have been popular in many, many countries across cultures - eg Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter. It is super cold in most buildings - colder than outside, so remember to bring an extra sweater. You think it's a lie that it can be so cold inside :) There are 30 million books in their library, of which 60% are foreign. They exchange books with other countries, so they had approx. 90% at home at the moment. One day, Kim Il Sung had passed by the People's Library, where he had seen that people were sitting too bent over the tables when they were reading. As the great leader, he immediately had the tables changed so that the top could be raised slightly on one side - exactly like the school tables we know from our school days. It sounds a little comical that they praise the manager for this invention that we all know from our childhood. Up on the roof of the library we were allowed to take pictures of the city. Here our guide felt sure that we could not take pictures of anything "forbidden". If we're down the street, we're always told we're busy. As a rule, we only have a minute to take pictures, then we are quickly moved on. We were to have dinner at a local restaurant, Mangyongdae, which was located at the back of a small souvenir shop. We bought local rice wine at 8 yuan per bottle. We are not allowed to use the local currency, so everything must be paid in yuan, dollars or euros. You select your goods, leave them standing by the clerk. Going somewhere else to pay, after which you go back for your goods.Apparently, this procedure could not work if there were many customers and traffic in the store. Imagine if Netto introduced such a procedure... :) Usually, restaurants prefer large window facades so that customers can be attracted to the place. Our restaurant had no windows at all. At the end of the room was placed a gigantic picture of a beautiful green forest, so we felt like we were sitting outs