A pharmacy as a tourist destination, organised flower-laying and a multi-checkpoint entry, all sound like unusual activities to do when visiting a new country. But for the first tourists heading into North Korea, this was an easy sacrifice to be able to see the country for the first time since 2020. Luca Pferdmenges, a 23-year-old content creator travelling the world, was fortunate enough to be one of the first tourists allowed back into the country.
He spoke with the Mirror about the weirdest things that he experienced whilst there. Multi-checkpoint entry Whilst North Korea may have reopened to visitors, it is still not easy to access the country. For example, you cannot just hop on a flight.
Instead, you have to fly to Yanji, in China , where you will then cross the border via several buses. "You get a slip of paper and you have to collect the stamps. I don't even know what all the stamps were for, but you have different checkpoints," Luca explained.
"So [at one, for example] you have to disinfect all your bags, and they check your temperature...
But it is only when you have like your five or six stamps, that you're actually in the country." Pharmacy as a tourist destination North Korea closed its borders to tourists back in 2020 due to rising cases of Covid-19, but since the country has worked to upgrade their healthcare. "It is one of the things the North Koreans want you to see, especially since they worked to step up their healthcare system and build a new pharmacy," Lu.