Although most people may think North Korea is off-limits to visitors, Singaporeans have been heading there for the last 13 years.
After the Singapore Government lifted a travel ban in 1992, the Korea International Travel Company (KITC) decided to enter Singapore and other South-east Asian markets like Thailand. It contacted tour agencies here and Universal Travel Corporation took up the offer.
The People's Park Centre agency started tours in 1994 and, for most of the last 13 years, has been the only company here to do so. Last year, at the request of KITC, it formed a consortium with five other companies to expand its reach.
About 200 to 500 Singaporeans make the trip every year, says Universal's managing director Khoo Boo Liat.
Initial tour itineraries were recommended by KITC but Universal has modified them through the years to appeal to Singaporeans.
For example, tours to war museums were replaced with visits to the Pyongyang Metro and the country's mountains.
The current 12-day itinerary, which includes a two-day stopover in Shenyang in China, costs $2,188. Confident that numbers will rise, Mr Khoo says: 'For well-travelled Singaporeans, it's one of the few places that remain unseen.'
Headline news: Grab a copy of the Pyongyang Times on your Air Koryo flight if you want to read about the latest "evil actions" of Japan or the United States.
Life!'s trip was sponsored by Universal. Instead of seven nights in Korea, we spent four. The rest of the intinerary includes visits to Kumgangsan and Wonsan.
Shopping
One doesn't go to North Korea to shop because options are rather limited.
There is only one department store in Pyongyang that tourists are allowed to go to, which is the four-storey Taesong Department Store. It sells locally made clothes - from dresses to the traditional Korean costume, the hanbok.
There are also other local products like leather shoes, fashionable-looking cosmetics, ginseng, liquour and soft drinks. The prices, which we had a quick look at, seem generally reasonable.
You can find souvenir stores at every tourist attraction. Korean paintings, dolls, stamps, badges and handicrafts as well as books by Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il go for about S$10 each.
The local currency is the North Korean won which tourists are not allowed to use or even change.
Instead, the currency of choice for foreigners is the euro, with the Chinese renminbi also accepted at most shops, so stock up on these before you go.
Also, try to bring small change as the salespeople almost never have any for your big notes.
Instead, they will try to barter with you: Throw in another book or map so that the total amount will make up 20 euros, for instance.
Getting around
There are three modes of public transport in Pyongyang: the bus, the tram (running with and without tracks) and the metro.
Buses seem the most popular, going by the queues everywhere. Each form of transport costs 5 Korean won (1 euro = 180 won), but the only one that tourists are allowed to take is the metro.
That's possibly because it is the most impressive of the lot. The two stations - Puhung and Yongwang - that tourists are allowed into boast marble floors, chandeliers and colourful murals.
The stations are a long way down - 100m to be precise, with long escalators - but for a good reason. Equipped with triple-blast doors, they are built to double up as nuclear bunkers.
