North Korea has a luxurious cruise ship

The North Korea has a luxurious cruise ship, it's their first luxury liner, and it's loaded with fun.
It's all very exciting, the cabins are shared with people you don't know, and the ship is rusty, what more could you ask for?

If you are fortunate enough to eat at the Captain's Table, remember it's a help yourself buffet.


The vice mayor Hwang Chol-nam of Rason City, gave a speech applauding the cruise ship as part of a push to attract tourism.



On board entertainment is fast pace and exciting, a waitress dances while a North Korean man sings karaoke.


During the 21-hour overnight cruise, passengers get to sleep on wooden bunk-beds while others were assigned mattresses on the floor.
Except for the Captain's table meals are served cafeteria-style on metal trays.


Deck chairs and tables are plastic, but accompanied by bright parasols
The price is around US$310 per passenger for an all-inclusive, five-day trip.
Officials say,'It ought to be very popular.'
'People from China’s northeast would really like this kind of trip because it’s a cruise. You can enjoy the sea.


Bon Voyage

Human Excrement - Selling like "Hot Cakes"

You may find this hard to swallow, but the kingdom of Kim Jong-Il known as North Korea has a fond affection for human excrement.

Yes, that's right, feces, junk, poop and according to Professor Kim Young-soo of Sogang University in Seoul, South Korea, the human excrement are selling like “hot cakes.”
According to Kim, people are using the human waste as fertilizer and shops have begun selling it because of of a fertilizer shortage.
"Each household used to use human excrement as fertilizer, but because it's hard to keep up with the amount, human manure shops showed up at markets," Professor Kim said.

So, is human waste bad for humans when used as fertilizer?
We have snooped around a little and to our surprise, this practice is more common than we we realized.

From what we understand,  "humanure" may not be unhealthy, but the thought of it may be hard to stomach.
It seems that whenever human waste has been converted into fertilizer, the crops have been substantial.

Here's a video that will show you how it all comes out.

North Korea and it's mind-expanding, brain juice

The government of North Korea has declared the creation of a mind-expanding, brain juice called the ‘Super Drink,’ that will multiply brain hells and stop skin aging.
How great this must be for the regime, producing an anti-oxidation drink that “protects skin from wrinkles and black spots, and prevents such geriatric diseases as cerebral hemorrhage and brain infarction.
This concoction contains 60 types of “microelements” extracted from over 30 species of plants. This particular combination supposedly improves mental acuity and retention by “multiplying brain cells.”
No one has really explained how the juice does all of these wonderful things, but we don't just have to take North Korea's word on this.
Apparently the juice was well received by Chinese, German and other businessmen at a trade fair in Pyongyang last month. Plus they quoted company manager, Jong Song Ho, who testified that the juice “proved efficacious among workers of such industrial establishments as thermal power station and smeltery and at medical institutions.”

North Korea's Minced Beef and Bread

Back in July we ran a post about the evil "US imperialist" fast food now available in North Korea.
Burgers, called "minced beef and bread" to avoid any connection to American fast food, are the biggest attraction along with fries, crispy Belgian waffles, fried chicken and yes, hot dogs.
The restaurant buys soft drinks from local shops that cater to the diplomatic community and resells the beverages in paper cups.

Since Samtaesong opened its doors in May, customers, including foreign students from China and Russia, have been standing in line to place their orders.
Prices may be set in euros, but US dollars are accepted as payment.
A "minced beef and bread" costs 1.20-1.70 euros (1.77 to 2.50 dollars) and about 300 are sold each day.
The most expensive item on the menu is the crispy fried chicken at slightly under three euros.
North Korea's per person income was estimated at just over 1,000 dollars in 2008,
a whopping 2.74 dollars per day.
But that doesn't seem to be hurting business. There's a plan to open more Samtaesong outlets in the country.

Everything sounds great, but we just have a few observations:
1. How many burgers can they possibly stack on that grill at one time?
2. What's up with that can on the grill?  What is that? Why is that?
3. What's going on with the girls and the hair treatment in the second photo?