I took a sleeper train through North Korea. Here’s what it was like and the things that surprised me most (including how ‘boozy’ the journey was and a girl band playing at a restaurant)

The destination for the train was officially Pyongyang, but the ticket might just as well have said ‘alternate reality’.

Because that’s what adventure blogger Anthony Middleton said he found when he arrived in the North Korean capital aboard the Pyongyang Express from China.

During his four-day stay he witnessed a bizarre mass synchronised dance, an all-girl pop band and had his phone examined for anti-North-Korean material. 

The train ride was eye-opening, too, with very clean carriages, views of North Korea’s rolling countryside and, Anthony revealed, beer served on board as good as anything available in Britain.

The 40-year-old, who runs the Man vs Clock travel blog, set off on the eight-hour rail journey during the ‘harsh winter season’, when the ground was covered with thick ice and temperatures regularly dropped below freezing.

In an exclusive interview with MailOnline Travel, he shared his experience travelling through the country known as the Hermit Kingdom, due to its lack of contact with the rest of the world.

‘It’s known to be the most isolated country on Earth,’ said Anthony, from Durham. ‘I found this fascinating, as not many people can witness it with their own eyes.

‘Every hour of every day was jam-packed with places to go and things to wrap my head around.’ 

Anthony, who lives in Thailand, said he was inspired to visit North Korea as part of a personal goal to visit every country in the world.

He wanted to experience ‘as much as humanly possible’ in the secretive state, where tourists have restricted access and are only allowed to travel in groups organised by officials or approved travel agencies.

This drew his attention to the Pyongyang Express train, which he rode from the Chinese border city of Dandong.

‘It’s not possible to travel independently as a tourist to North Korea, so you have to go with one of the few DPRK-approved tour companies,’ he explained.

‘I went with a company called Young Pioneer Tours. I had to sort out my double-entry Chinese visa, which in my experience can be a little tricky, but I got mine with no dramas in Bangkok.

‘Other than that, once I paid the company the agreed £1,245 [$1,549] fee, they took care of the sleeper train.’

Before boarding the train in Dandong, Anthony went through Chinese exit customs and immigration checks at Dandong railway station.

Here, he recalled being met with ‘a large waving statue’ of Mao Zedong, former leader of the Chinese Communist Party, which ‘set the tone for what I was about to experience across the border’.

A tour guide handed Anthony his North Korean identity card, which he used to board the train.

Shortly into its journey, the train crossed the Yalu River via the Sino-Korean Friendship Bridge and arrived in Sinuiju city, North Korea.

‘Dandong is right on the border, so the portion of the journey within China is minimal,’ Anthony said.

‘Once the train crosses into North Korea at Sinuiju, the entire remainder of the journey is within North Korean territory.

‘The total distance to Pyongyang is approximately 225km (140 miles).’

At Sinuiju, all passengers disembarked the train ‘for North Korean entry procedures’, including immigration and customs checks, Anthony said.

He added: ‘The process here can be lengthy and thorough, as North Korean authorities closely scrutinise all documents, luggage, and everyone entering the country before getting back on the train.

‘I had read that this takes up to four hours, but for us it was only 90 minutes.’

Anthony said he felt anxious about the content on his phone, fearing the consequences of ‘possessing anything that could be deemed offensive by North Korean standards’.

But he had prepared for this process with a ‘thorough digital cleanse’, reducing his phone usage before the trip.

Tourists who have failed to follow strict North Korean rules have faced severe punishment, such as 21-year-old Otto Warmbier, who was sentenced to 15 years in prison with hard labour after admitting to trying to steal a propaganda banner from a restricted area of his hotel while visiting in 2016.

The university student, from Cincinnati, Ohio, served 17 months of his sentence in North Korea before he was brought home to the US in a coma. He died six days later.

In Anthony’s case, military personnel asked him to hand over his phone for a ‘five-second’ check before permitting him to continue his journey to Pyongyang.

The sleeper train was ‘rustic and exceptionally clean’ with a ‘typical old Soviet style’, according to Anthony.

The carriages contained first-class sections known as ‘soft sleepers’, which consisted of four beds in a cabin, and budget cabins with six beds.

‘I knew I’d barely sleep so I took the budget cabin,’ said Anthony, ‘which was included in the total tour price.’

There were hot water taps for tea, the traveller explained, and a ‘no-nonsense lady serving snacks from a trolley’.

Anthony continued: ‘On the sleeper train from Dandong to Pyongyang there typically isn’t a proper restaurant car where you can sit down for a full meal.

‘Instead, the train might have a simple dining or buffet car offering limited snacks and beverages, primarily consisting of local North Korean products such as biscuits, crisps, chocolate and noodles – which, surprisingly, weren’t spicy.

‘The snacks did the job, but they were pretty bland compared to a Mars bar or any other finely-tuned chocolate from global brands that have more ingredient options at their disposal.’

When it came to onboard beverages, Anthony was surprised to find that alcohol was ‘served regularly’ and said the train trip was ‘very boozy’.

As a fan of soju, an alcoholic drink made from fermented white rice served in South Korea, he was ‘looking forward to trying the North Korean version’.

But this, he said, was ‘distinctively less sweet and considerably higher in alcohol content’.

There were beers, too. 

‘They were on par with any British beer, in all honesty,’ Anthony said. ‘So not bad but certainly not the best out there.’

Was it a comfortable ride? 

Anthony said: ‘It was constantly cold and, as expected, a little rough around the edges. But I got to see some of the countryside of North Korea as I crossed over the border from China and also on the return leg.’

Peering out of the window of the train, Anthony observed how most locals ‘got around on old bicycles’ and that some would ‘curiously look inside the train sheepishly’ while others would ‘manage a wave’.

Foreign tourists were not allowed to disembark at any railway stations on the way to Pyongyang and could only get off the train once instructed, Anthony said.

‘For locals, the situation is quite different,’ he added.

‘Some North Korean residents can disembark at stops along the train route from Dandong to Pyongyang, provided they have the necessary permissions to travel.

‘In North Korea, citizens require travel permits to go between different regions or provinces and their movement is also closely monitored and controlled by the government.’

In a similar vein, there were also ‘no-go areas’ onboard the train, according to Anthony, who was informed of the rules by a tour guide.

‘Other than the defined prohibited areas, we could wander within our carriage and get food at the small kiosk,’ he explained.

Another aspect that surprised Anthony was that he was allowed to take pictures of the countryside rolling past the train window. 

But photographing train stations, soldiers and police officers was prohibited.

Anthony arrived in Pyongyang on the birthday of Kim Jong-il – the former supreme leader of North Korea. 

‘I knew I was in for a unique experience when I realised that my visit coincided with this,’ he said. 

‘On the day, I saw mass celebrations across the capital. Most people were dressed in red and we were invited to see a massive synchronised dance for him.’

Anthony also visited the ‘grand’ flower festival featuring the ‘Kimjongilia’ flower, named after the former leader shortly after his death in 2011.

He compared the birthday celebrations to a ‘religious festival dedicated to a deity’, but with a ‘markedly different’ atmosphere.

‘While there was admiration, the underlying sense of joy and hope that usually accompanies religious celebrations seemed absent,’ he remarked.

Anthony said there is a ‘force woven into the fabric of daily life’ in North Korea, which he referred to as ‘the cult of Kims’ in relation to the Kim family.

‘Everywhere you turn, larger-than-life portraits of Kim Il-sung, Kim Jong-il and Kim Jong-un watch over public spaces,’ he said.

‘While statues and monuments commemorating their leadership are a common sight throughout the country.

‘Experiencing this first-hand is surreal. I have visited many places around the world where the country has been seduced by the cult-like personality of a leader or a popular proposed figurehead, but this was on a whole new level of adoration.’

During a tour of Pyongyang, North Korean guides would refer to Kim-Jong-il as ‘our dear leader’ and praise ‘the wonderful things that he had done’ with a level of faith that ‘echoed themes of an Orwellian novel’, Anthony said.

After visiting the capital, he stopped off in Sariwon, which he described as a ‘newer city than Pyongyang’ where people are ‘even shyer’.

Here, he enjoyed a short hike before tucking into local food at a booked restaurant.

‘Then, the curtain suddenly went up and a stage appeared with a North Korean girl band,’ he added. 

‘As I locked horns with my personal dialogue and the intense sensory overload, I realised I was very much ready to head back to China the next day.’

Reflecting on the highs and lows of his trip, Anthony said the main highlight was ‘undoubtedly’ interacting with local people despite this being ‘within the constraints imposed by the tour and government regulations’.

While the least enjoyable aspect, he said, was ‘grappling with the awareness that there was an entirely different reality taking place around me, one that I would never get anywhere close to’.