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Thema: Nordkorea per Bahn (mit Fotos)  (21263-mal gelesen) Vorheriges Thema - Nächstes Thema

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Nordkorea per Bahn (mit Fotos)
...was macht man, wenn man von einer Bahnstrecke bei der Erstbereisung vom landschaftlich schönsten Abschnitt wegen Dunkelheit kaum was mitbekommen hat?

Richtig, man schaut, dass man das bei nächster Gelegenheit nachholen kann. Bei manchen Strecken geht das leichter, bei manchen nicht. Bahnstrecken in Nordkorea gehören zu letzterer Kategorie, daher hatte ich nach 2008 (http://vienna-pyongyang.blogspot.co.at/) nicht allzu grosse Hoffnungen die damals bereiste Strecke von Tumangang nach Pyongyang bald wieder zu befahren, um insbes. den Abschnitt übers Gebirge von Kovon rüber nach Pyongyang bei Tageslicht zu sehen.

Als dann aber im Februar 2013 untenstehendes Mail von "Juche Travel Services" (http://www.juchetravelservices.com/) eintrudelte, war für mich und meinen damaligen Reisekollegen Oliver klar: Da müssen wir dabei sein! Jedenfalls sofern wir ein Visum bekommen, was ja angesichts der speziellen Umstände der Reise von 2008 etwas fraglich war...


Dear Helmut

Greetings from the UK! I have been reading your website in detail, and given your interest in DPRK railways, we are delighted to share with you the launch of our inaugural railway tour of North Korea, taking place in September 2013.

This is a unique, first time opportunity for enthusiasts and intrepid travellers alike to travel around the country in our own private charter train, the 'Chosun Explorer', as it winds its way through the picturesque Korean countryside to some of the most popular and scenic tourist destinations.

Dates: 21st - 29th September 2013

Places to be visited: Pyongyang, Mount Myohyang, Hamhung, Wonsan
[...]



Jedenfalls hat dann alles geklappt, und so waren wir vor kurzem ein zweites Mal in Nordkorea. Im Vergleich zur Reise 2008 war das nun ganz unaufregend, wir hielten uns an die vorgesehene Reiseroute und daher war auch die Einreise diesmal aufregend wie ein Kindergeburtstag - jedenfalls verglichen zu 2008 :-)

Die Reise wurde vom Schaffenskollektiv von Juche Travel Services und KITC bestens organisiert, alle Bahnfahrten haben wie geplant stattgefunden. Dazu kamen auch noch Fahrten mit Trolleybus und Strassenbahn in Pyongyang.
Einschränkungen beim Fotografieren gab es nur sehr wenige, und so wurden vmtl. während der paar Tage von insgesamt 17 mehr oder weniger eisenbahnverrückten Reiseteilnehmern in Summe wohl mehr Bilder von der nordkoreanischen Eisenbahn geschossen als in den 5 Jahren davor...

Es wird also noch einige Zeit dauern, bis ich da einen richtigen Reisebericht schreiben kann, daher hier vorab nur ein paar eisenbahnaffine Impressionen dieser Reise.


Ganz zu Beginn eine Übersicht über die ganze Reise:


Aus Zeitgründen war für mich diesmal keine An-/Abreise auf dem Landweg möglich. Damit das ganze dennoch ein bisschen ausgefallener wurde, verliessen wir auf der Rückreise die Reisegruppe in Shenyang und schlugen uns über Harbin - Heihe - Blagoveshchensk nach Khabarovsk durch.
Ich bin dann vergangenen Mittwoch von dort zurückgeflogen, Oliver hat etwas mehr Zeit und ist gerade auf dem Landweg unterwegs nach Europa.

Eine Detailübersicht zu den in Nordkorea befahrenen Strecken:


Orange: 2008 bereiste Strecke von Tumangan.


Nachstehend also nun einige Impressionen aus Nordkorea...

Sinuiji - Pyongyang:




Pyongyang - Hyangsan:


Hyangsan - Pyongyang:


Pyongyang - Hamhung:
















Hamhung - Wonsan:







Wonsan - Pyongyang:












---

Mehr folgt dann im Laufe der Zeit...


Provodnik

  • flow
Re: Nordkorea per Bahn (mit Fotos)
Antwort #1
A Waunsinn! Danke!
Morteratsch - fermeda sün dumanda

  • Martin
  • Global Moderator
  • Styria Mobile Team
Re: Nordkorea per Bahn (mit Fotos)
Antwort #2
Traumhaft!  :one:
Liebe Grüße
Martin

  • Ch. Wagner
Re: Nordkorea per Bahn (mit Fotos)
Antwort #3
Servus Provodnik,
Laut Naenara ist eine Einreise per Bahn auch von Moskau auch möglich. Weißt du mehr darüber?
LG! Christian
Fer aut feri ne feriaris feri!
Queen Elizabeth I.

Re: Nordkorea per Bahn (mit Fotos)
Antwort #4

Servus Provodnik,
Laut Naenara ist eine Einreise per Bahn auch von Moskau auch möglich.


Hast du dazu eine URL?

Zitat

Weißt du mehr darüber?
LG! Christian


*Möglich* war die Einreise via Tumangan Gr (das meinst du mit Einreise per Bahn von Moskau, oder?) schon 2008.
Einreise via Tumangan Gr ist aber weniger das Problem, die nordkoreanische Sonderwirtschaftszone Rajin-Sonbong kann auch von westlichen Touristen und auch via Tumangan Gr bereits werden.
Das was man aus irgendeinem Grund nicht will, sind Reisen von Rajin-Sonbong nach Restnordkorea.


Provodnik

  • Ch. Wagner
Re: Nordkorea per Bahn (mit Fotos)
Antwort #5
Servus Provodnik,

das ist http://www.naenara.com.kp/de/

LG! Christian
  • Zuletzt geändert: Oktober 06, 2013, 17:54:28 von Martin
Fer aut feri ne feriaris feri!
Queen Elizabeth I.

Re: Nordkorea per Bahn (mit Fotos)
Antwort #6

Servus Provodnik,

das ist http://www.naenara.com.kp/de/


Danke, das kenne ich eh.
Ich wäre eher an einem Direktlink zu jenem Bericht, wo was bzgl Anreise von Russland stehen soll, interessiert - hast du sowas?


Provodnik

  • Ch. Wagner
Re: Nordkorea per Bahn (mit Fotos)
Antwort #7
Servus,

das steht bei naenara unter "Tourismus" mit Angabe der Zugabfahrten.

LG! Christian
Fer aut feri ne feriaris feri!
Queen Elizabeth I.

  • Martin
  • Global Moderator
  • Styria Mobile Team
Re: Nordkorea per Bahn (mit Fotos)
Antwort #8
Liebe Grüße
Martin

Re: Nordkorea per Bahn (mit Fotos)
Antwort #9
Ich habe letztens mit dem Verfassen eines detaillierteren Reiseberichts begonnen, allerdnings auf englisch (damit ich die gleiche Version auch in internationalen Foren verwenden kann).
Die bisher veröffentlichten Teile des Berichts möchte ich nun auch hier re-posten.

Teil 1:

-------------------------



In september 2013 I had the great opportunity to join the first DPRK railway tour organized by "Juche Travel Services". This London-based DPRK-travel agency had already organized some special tours for aviation enthusiasts in the past, now it was time for a railway tour. The main idea of this tour was to travel around the country in a special train.

In february 2013 David from Juche Travel Services ( http://www.juchetravelservices.com/The%20Tours/_Railway%20Tours.html ) contacted me and asked, whether I would like to join the tour in september. Appearently he found out about my interest in North Korean railways after reading the blog about my train trip from Vienna to North Korea via the Russian/North Korean border in 2008 (see http://vienna-pyongyang.blogspot.co.at/).

I then told my friend Oliver, with whom I did the trip in 2008, about this railway tour, and we quickly came to the decision to join the tour, if... well...if we would get another visa to the DPRK. Given the special circumstances of our trip in 2008 we were not sure if they would let us in a 2nd time...

But in fact it was no problem to get the DPRK visa again, and so it happened that we visited North Korea a 2nd time.

My visa, which I picked up at the DPRK embassy in Vienna:


The tour plan included the train ride from Beijing to Pyongyang and back (via Sinuiju), as well as domestic train trips from Pyongyang to Myohyangsan, to Hamhung and Wonsan using a special charter train - the so called "Chosun Explorer".
This meant that we could also "collect" some new lines: From Sinanju to Myohyangsan and from Kowon to Wonsan. The line from Pyongyang to Hamhung, which was untill then also rarely used by tourists, was of course not new to us, as we went there on our way from the Russian/North Korean border at Tumgang to Pyongyang in 2008.
However on our 2008 trip we passed most of this scenic line during the night, so the tour was also a great opportunity to get "daylight-coverage" of this line across the mountains.

An overview of the planned train trip inside North Korea:


As I had not enough time for a great overland trip from Austria to Asia or back, I had to fly both directions. Flying in and out of Beijing is of course boring, so I planned to fly to Beijing and back from Khabarovsk in Russia. Oliver had more time, so he took the train back to Europe.

From Pyongyang it was our plan to reach Khabarovsk via Shenyang (where we would leave the Pyongyang-Beijing train and our group), Harbin, Heihe and Blagoveshchensk.
Heihe in China and Blagoveshchensk in Russia are two towns opposite each other on the Amur river. Crossing the river is possible by a regular boat service. By boat from Russia to China - that would probably be also an interesting border crossing experience (I like unusal/special border crossing experiences... as you might guess).

Our tour on GE:


"Continental" view:



The final trip plan was as follows. The given timings for the special train inside North Korea were actual timings, not planned timings. There was an official timetable for that special train, but I didn't ask for the exact planned timings.

Thu 2013-09-19
VIE (Wien Schwechat) dep 10h15, flight LOT LO 224
WAW (Warszawa) arr 11h30
WAW (Warszawa) dep 16h30, flight LOT LO 91
night: plane
(As you might have noticed the GE map doesn't show a flight via Warszawa. I planned to fly via Warszawa, but actually I flew via Frankfurt - the reason therefore will be told later.)

Fri 2013-09-20
PEK (Beijing Capital Airport) arr 06h35
night: Beijing Downtown Backpacker Hostel   

Sat 2013-09-21
Beijing dep 17h27, train K27
night: train

Sun 2013-09-22
entry North Korea
Sinuiju arr 11h10
change to special train at Sinuiju
Sinuiju dep 12h23, special train
Pyonygang arr 16h30
night: Koryo Hotel   

Mon 2013-09-23
Pyongyang dep 12h15, special train
Myohyangsan arr 15h45
night: Hyangsan Hotel   

Tue 2013-09-24
Myohyangsan dep 11h32, special train
Pyongyang arr 15h05
night: Koryo Hotel   

Wed 2013-09-25
Pyongyang dep 06h24, special train
Hamhung arr 15h13
night: Majon Hotel   

Thu 2013-09-26
Hamhung dep 13h22, special train
Wonsan arr 15h55
night: Tongmyong Hotel
   
Fri 2013-09-27
Wonsan dep 08h31, special train
Pyongyang arr 16h39
night: Koryo Hotel
   
Sat 2013-09-28
Pyongyang dep 10h40, train K28
Ausreise Nordkorea
Shenyang arr 22h05
night: Shenyang, Ibis Hotel
   
Sun 2013-09-29
Shenyang dep 08h47, train G303
Harbin Xi arr 11h10
Harbin dep 19h11, train K7033
night: train

Mon 2013-09-30
Heihe arr 06h33
Border crossing Heihe - Blagoveshchensk by ship
Blagoveshchensk dep 11h53 (15h53 Chinese time, 17h53 local time), train 35CH
night: train

Tue 2013-10-01
Chabarovsk arr 01h04 (08h04 local time)
night: Chabarovsk, gostiniza Erofej
   
Wed 2013-10-02   
KHV (Chabarovsk) dep 10h00, flight Transaero UN 136
DME (Moskva Domodedovo) arr 11h10
DME (Moskva Domodedovo) dep 15h40, flight Austrian OS 602
VIE (Wien Schwechat) arr 16h35

---


Re: Nordkorea per Bahn (mit Fotos)
Antwort #10
Teil 2:



Thu 2013-09-19


Suburban train from my flat in the 20th district to Vienna-Schwechat airport:


After checkin for my LOT-flight to Warszawa my friend Oliver (who booked a flight from Zurich via Warszawa to Beijing, we planned to fly together from Warszawa to Beijing) called me and told me that he just got the message from LOT that our flight from Warszawa to Beijing was cancelled.
I immediately contacted the service staff at Vienna airport. They confirmed the cancellation (probably it was due to technical problems with the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, which should have operated that flight), but fortunately they could re-book me to another flight with Lufthansa and Air China via Frankfurt. Oliver's alternative route was a Swiss nonstop-flight from Zurich to Beijing. Fortunately LOT belongs to a big alliance (Star Alliance), so it was no problem for us get to Beijing using other Star Alliance members.

Vienna marshalling yard as seen from the plane:


At Frankfurt airport:


Air China to Beijing:


Across Russia:


The entertainment system also offered some touristic information about Pyongyang (Air China has direct flights to Pyongyang):


The flight was OK, but I didn't sleep at all. No wonder, we landed at Beijing at 05h15 local time, that's only 23h15 local time in Austria.



Fri 2013-09-20

Monorail connecting the terminals at Beijing airport:




At the baggage claim we had to find out, that our luggage didn't make it to Beijing, obviously due to the change of our itinerary at very short notice.
We had to go to the lost luggage office, where we were told that our luggage would arrive the next day. We had to do some paperwork and hoped that the luggage would really arrive and be delivered to our hostel. As the direct Vienna-Beijing flight, with which my luggage would be transported, only arrives at 9h00 and we had our train to Pyongyang leaving at 17h27 on the same day, I was a little bit afraid, that this might not work... next time I will take the train again! :-)

We then took a taxi to our hostel (Beijing Downtown Backpacker Hostel):


We had breakfast there and as we were very tired, we got some hours of sleep after our room was available. We both have been to Beijing two times before, so we were not feeling that we miss something, if we wouldn't do any sightseeing.
In the evening we had a welcome dinner organized by Juche Travel Services. The welcome dinner was held in a North Korean restaurant (Haedanghwa restaurant). We went there by underground.

We had the opportunity to get to know our fellow tour members and also some final details about the trip were told, as well as the "Dos and Don'ts while in North Korea. And the final payment of the tour was done here (in EUR cash), for those of us who didn't transfer the open balance before (300 EUR had to be transfered when applying for the tour).

Spending holidays in North Korea isn't cheap - but an unique experience:


Of course we also enyojed a music show by beautiful North Korean singers at the restaurant (similar performances are usual in North Korean restaurants outside the country - see my video of the restaurant Pyongyang in Vladivostok, which I've visited in 2012: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqcKKwa2jdI)




Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QfGlKpoJjHo&feature=youtu.be


Sat 2013-09-20

Fortunately our luggage was delivered to the hostel at lunch time.

A walk in the neighborhood of our hostel:





In the afternoon we took a taxi to the train station. Before meeting our group I picked up the tickets for our later trips from Shenyang to Harbin and then to Heihe. We have bought them from http://www.chinahighlights.com/china-trains/ and they booked online-tickets for us, which we had to exchange for paper tickets at any station in China.

Beijing train station:


Ticket hall:




I queued at one of the lines for a few minutes; getting the tickets was quite easy, alltough I don't speak any Chinese and the ticket officer didn't speak any English. An interesting feature of the ticket counters were some buttons, with which the passenger could rate the service quality (by pressing one of them). There were four or five buttons (from "poor" to "very good", it was written also in English) - some kind of "on the spot feedback".

Online tickets:


Actual paper tickets:


Inside Beijing station:




The K27 is our train:


The sleeping cars for Pyongyang are provided by the North Korean State Railway:




Oliver and me in front of our sleeping car to Pyongyang:




Train Y509/510 from Qinhuangdao:






Our train tickets - we were 16 and had 2 tickets with group discount (one ticket for 10 of us, one for the other 6):

Ticket no 1 - passenger information sheet (not official part of the actual ticket):


Ticket cover:


Route ticket:


Sleeper reservation:


...and the same for ticket no 2:








The timetable:


We left Beijing on time.

Just after leaving Beijing station:


Corridor of the North Korean sleeping car (with 4-bed-compartments):


In the evening we had dinner at the Chinese restaurant car.

Sat 2013-09-21

I slept well during the night. In the morning we were approaching the Chinese border town Dandong. Here a new (highspeed?) line is being built - or is it a new road?




We arrived at Dandong station at 7h53 - about 35 minutes late.


We copuld get off and walk on the platform for a while. Only the last two cars are going to Pyongyang. The rest of the train is just for domestic travel within China. However, the Beijing - Pyongyang cars were coupled to some Dandong - Pyongyang cars (1 Korean luggage car, 1 Korean sleeping car, 2 Chinese hard-sleeper cars), so it's a train of about 6 cars, which crosses the border.




Chinese diesel engine:


After some shunting - that's the train which will go to Pyongyang:


Korean diesel locomotive no. 103:


Korean luggage car:


Korean sleeping car:


One of two Chinese hard-slepper cars Dandong - Pyongyang:


Finally we had to get on the train again for the Chinese border formalities. This took about 40 minutes.
We left Dandong at 10h15 Chinese time (11h15 Korean time), so we were 15 minutes late.

Crossing the Yalu river into North Korea:




....to be continued!

Re: Nordkorea per Bahn (mit Fotos)
Antwort #11
Teil 3:


----

This is now part 3 of the trip report. The previous parts can be found here:
http://www.railforums.co.uk/showthread.php?t=93644
http://www.railforums.co.uk/showthread.php?t=93660



The first meters in North Korea:




Welcome to North Korea:


The station Sinuiju was under renovation:



Border control took about 50 minutes, the border police checked also our luggage and we had to declare the mobile phones, our cameras and laptops and our cash. But compared to Tumangan 2008 it was very unspectacular.
The special train, to which we would change here, and our guides were already waiting for us.
After all the checks were finished we could get off. By the way, some places in our sleeping-car have been sold twice from Dandong. There were some discussions in Dandong between a group of Chinese tourists and some other touritsts from Germany - they had tickets for the same places. But as we got off already at Sinuiju, the problem existed only for the short cross-border trip.

On the platform (well, not really a platform, as evything was under reconstruction) we were welcomed by our two guides Ms Pang and Mr Oh. We boarded our special train and just a few minutes later we left for Pyongyang - about one hour earlier than the regular train.
The special train was hauled by the "red-flag" locomotive no 5301. It consisted of 4 former Swiss seating cars (from BLS, they were sold for a symbolic price to North Korea in 1997), 1 buffet-car and one car, which looked like from the governments special train (which was used by Kim Jing Il and Kim Il Sung for official trips, probably Kim Jong Un uses that train too). We didn't found out about the purpose of this car.

Before I continue with photos about the trip to Pyongyang, I want to present some impressions from our special train, the "Chosun Explorer":

Locomotives:

Day 1; Sinuiju - Pyongyang:
"red flag" electric locomotive no. 5301, manufactured in 1981 by Kim Jong Thae Loco Plant.



Days 2+3; Pyongyang - Myohyangsan:
"red flag" electric locomotive no. 5385, manufactured in 1980 by Kim Jong Thae Loco Plant.










Days 4+5+6; Pyongyang - Hamhung - Wonsan - Pyongyang:
M62 diesel locomotive no. 429, manufactured in 1990 by Voroshilovgrad Locomotive Factory (USSR).






Cars:

no 3121 (ex BLS seating car, converted for energy supply from catenary)




no 9087 (ex BLS seating car)


no 9091 (ex BLS seating car)


no 9090 (ex BLS seating car)


unknown number (buffet car)




unknown number (unknown type/purpose of car)






For the longer trip to the east coast and back a sleeping car was attached to the train, while the number of ex-BLS cars was reduced to two.
This was the sleeping car:



Our group, which consisted of 17 persons (most of them were railfans and most of them from the UK), was usually placed in the seating car next to the buffet car. For the meals we went to the buffet car and on the longer trips it was possible to get some sleep in the sleeping car (however, this option wasn't heavily used - one must not sleep while passing scenic lines at daylight). The other cars were off-limit to us.


Inside the Swiss cars:

















Inside the sleeping car:





Our excellent meals in the buffet car:













Train staff:

Chief conductor:


Chief conductor using his mobile phone:



Chief conductor, one of his colleagues and lovely Ms Pang:


The two conductors and me:


There were about 5 conductors on the train and two policemen:


The crew of the dining car:





---


...to be continued.