North Korea poster: a conversation piece, at least?

by Tom Johansmeyer on

For travel junkies, there’s a new poster that could be equivalent to putting commemorative plates on display in your home. Show your zest for hitting the road – and how it pervades your entire life – by turning your walls into a shrine to exploring new places. Start with the latest offering from North Korea, and you’ll guarantee the conversation will turn to travel the next time you have guests in your home.

North Korea has just released a new propaganda poster, celebrating the sinking of a South Korean navy ship … despite having denied being responsible for it. Forty-six people died in the event.

Of course, this poster probably wasn’t intended for mass distribution, which means you could struggle to get your hands on it. The only reason word of its existence has leaked outside the country, it seems, is because a Chinese businessman visiting North Korea photographed it. Featured in the photo, according to Radio Free Asia, is “a helmeted North Korean sailor smashing a ship in two” with the words “We will smash you with a single blow if you attack!”
Radio Free Asia adds:

The businessman, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that high-ranking North Korean traders he dealt with “expressed self-esteem in relation to North Korea’s military strength” and told him, “regardless of U.N. sanctions, we [North Koreans have] never stopped reacting.”

“It’s hard to understand how high-ranking officials can adamantly deny North Korea’s responsibility for the sinking of the Cheonan while propaganda posters showing a ship being broken in half by a fist are in circulation,” he said.

Of course, there is a chance that this is an old propaganda poster, created originally in 2002 following a naval clash between the two Koreas. Either way, it’s a must-have or the committed traveler – far better than the sketch of your family by a near-homeless “artist” in Montmartre.

[Photo via RFA, Via Gawker, Business Insider]

New travel guide spoofs, “Where not to go before you die.”

by Laurel Miller on

Prolific travel writer Catherine Price is over the whole “bucket list” trend. Annoyed that a crappy movie spawned an obnoxious national book craze of all the things one must see, do, and visit before they kick it, Price decided to strike back. Her new release, 101 Things Not to See Before You Die is a hilarious, tongue-in-cheek compendium based on Price’s own travel experiences.

Some of Price’s picks include The Beijing Tap Water Museum, Times Square on New Year’s Eve, rush hour on a Samoan bus, and Nevada. But the 31-year-old New Yorker is far from being a jaded crank. In a recent CNN interview, she explained, “People shouldn’t take it too seriously– it wasn’t my intention to say all of these places are actually horrible. Some of them are pretty interesting. (The motivation…) was just to liberate people from the feeling there are all these things they have to do. I’m guilty of this myself, but if you’re just going through things checking off lists then you’re not really experiencing them. You’re just doing it like an assignment.”

Tea-leaf picking: Summer fun in North Korea

by Tom Johansmeyer on

If you can get into North Korea … and if you can manage to set your own itinerary … visit the Kangryong Unjong Tea Plantation of the DPRK (i.e., Democratic People’s Republic of Korea). It’s tea-leaf picking season, and now’s the time to get in on the action, in theory, at least. In fact, notes the Korea Central News Agency, “The tea leaves picking is at its height in the plantation.” Great news!

I’m not sure how this activity works, but I’m guessing it bears at least some resemblance to apple-picking in New England, though with a hell of a lot more repression oversight.

Act now, because you won’t be the only person picking tea leaves. The KCNA reports: “The workers there are harvesting tea leaves every day much more than their daily plan while drying them in good time by operating the drying facilities in full capacity.” Hurry up, before all the leaves are gone!

[photo by giladr via Flickr]

Photo of the Day (7.18.10)

by Jeremy Kressmann on

I’ve always been amazed by underwater photography. Underwater images remind me of fantasy and the surreal – a place of the imagination outside my everyday life. That’s why I loved today’s image from Flickr user justindelaney, who took this great shot while freediving in Bali. We’ve all seen this portrait of two friends side by side a thousand times. But when was the last time you saw it in such a strange setting? The dark blue background and the snorkeler masks add to the comedy and intrigue of the photo.

Have any wonderful, wild photos from your own travels? Why not share them with our readers here on Gadling by adding them to our group on Flickr? We might just pick one of yours for our Photo of the Day.

Photo of the Day (7.17.10)

by Catherine Bodry on

On of my favorite things in the whole world is the approach of a summer storm over green grass or mountains. The dark clouds juxtapose with the greenery in such a way that trees seem to glow, and you can see that in this photo (shot by Flickr user justindelaney in Thailand). In this case, the temple glows as well, and you know rain is imminent. I can almost feel the still, humid air. The smiling Buddha seems pretty excited about it, too.

Have any photos that will make us feel an approaching storm? Or maybe just a cool shot of your travels? Upload them to Gadling’s Flickr pool and we just might select one for our Photo of the Day feature!