Few would consider North Korea an ideal golfing destination, but I have been looking forward to my second visit to the communist country despite media reports of problems ranging from a sunken warship to border shootings.
For all its friction with Seoul, the North is quietly opening its doors to foreign visitors. Most of the people on my Air China flight from Beijing to Pyongyang appear to be from the diplomatic corps, but there are also some Western tourists.
With its five immigration counters, Pyongyang International Airport could not be more different from the super-efficient structure we tend to take for granted at Chek Lap Kok, but with fewer than 20 international flights per week there really is no need for further infrastructure. The one hi-tech piece of equipment the airport does possess is a German-made luggage scanner, through which all but diplomatic bags must pass.
On my previous trip, I wasn't allowed to take in professional camera equipment and so in the hope of acquiring decent stock images of the country's sole 18-hole golf course I purchased a high-end, point-and-shoot camera. But thick, grey cloud covered the course on the day we played, making it impossible to accomplish what I set out to do.
Professional camera equipment is now permitted, as are laptop computers. However, anything equipped with a GPS device must be left at the airport and collected on departure; the same rule applies to mobile telephones.
Being separated from the internet, e-mail and a mobile phone for a week feels strange at first, but in many ways it is quite refreshing to be away from these 'must-have' gadgets as there is little to distract from the natural beauty of this country of 23 million souls.
