• Anthony Middleton took the Pyongyang 表明する from 中国 to Pyongyang 
• Across the 国境, he discovered some 支配するs were more lenient than 推定する／予想するd
• READ MORE: I travelled to an アイロンをかける 鉱石 地雷 深い in the Sahara 砂漠 by train

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The 目的地 for the train was 公式に Pyongyang, but the ticket might just 同様に have said '補欠／交替の／交替する reality'.

Because that's what adventure blogger Anthony Middleton said he 設立する when he arrived in the North Korean 資本／首都 経由で the Pyongyang 表明する from 中国.

During his four-day stay he 証言，証人／目撃するd a bizarre 集まり synchronised dance, an all-girl pop 禁止（する）d and had his phone 診察するd for anti-North-Korean 構成要素. 

The train ride was 注目する，もくろむ-開始, too, with very clean carriages, 見解（をとる）s of North Korea's rolling countryside and, Anthony 明らかにする／漏らすd, beer served on board as good as anything 利用できる in Britain.

The 40-year-old, who runs the Man vs Clock travel blog, 始める，決める off on the eight-hour rail 旅行 during the '厳しい winter season', when the ground was covered with 厚い ice and 気温s 定期的に dropped below 氷点の.

In an 排除的 interview with MailOnline Travel, he 株d his experience travelling through the country known as the Hermit Kingdom, 予定 to its 欠如（する） of 接触する with the 残り／休憩（する） of the world.

'It’s known to be the most 孤立するd country on Earth,' said Anthony, from Durham. 'I 設立する this fascinating, as not many people can 証言，証人／目撃する it with their own 注目する，もくろむs.

'Every hour of every day was jam-packed with places to go and things to 包む my 長，率いる around.' 

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

He 手配中の，お尋ね者 to experience 'as much as humanly possible' in the 隠しだてする 明言する／公表する, where tourists have 制限するd 接近 and are only 許すd to travel in groups organised by 公式の／役人s or 認可するd travel 機関s.

This drew his attention to the Pyongyang 表明する train, which he 棒 from the Chinese 国境 city of Dandong.

'It's not possible to travel 独立して as a tourist to North Korea, so you have to go with one of the few DPRK-認可するd 小旅行する companies,' he explained.

'I went with a company called Young 開拓する 小旅行するs. I had to sort out my 二塁打-入ること／参加（者） Chinese ビザ, which in my experience can be a little tricky, but I got 地雷 with no 演劇s in Bangkok.

'Other than that, once I paid the company the agreed £1,245 料金, they took care of the sleeper train.'

Before 搭乗 the train in Dandong, Anthony went through Chinese 出口 customs and 移民／移住 checks at Dandong 鉄道 駅／配置する.

Here, he 解任するd 存在 met with 'a large waving statue' of Mao Zedong, former leader of the Chinese 共産主義者 Party, which '始める，決める the トン for what I was about to experience across the 国境'.

A 小旅行する guide 手渡すd Anthony his North Korean 身元 card, which he us ed to board the train.

すぐに into its 旅行, the train crossed the Yalu River 経由で the Sino-Korean Friendship 橋（渡しをする） and arrived in Sinuiju city, North Korea.

'Dandong is 権利 on the 国境, so the 部分 of the 旅行 within 中国 is 極小の,' Anthony said.

'Once the train crosses into North Korea at Sinuiju, the entire 残りの人，物 of the 旅行 is within North Korean 領土.

'The total distance to Pyongyang is だいたい 225km (140 miles).'

At Sinuiju, all 乗客s disembarked the train 'for North Korean 入ること／参加（者） 手続きs', 含むing 移民／移住 and customs checks, Anthony said.

He 追加するd: 'The 過程 here can be 非常に長い and 徹底的な, as North Korean 当局 closely scrutinise all 文書s, luggage, and everyone entering the country before getting 支援する 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, 恐れるing the consequences of '所有するing anything that could be みなすd 不快な／攻撃 by North Korean 基準s'.

But he had 用意が出来ている for this 過程 with a '徹底的な 数字表示式の 洗浄する', 減ずるing his phone usage before the trip.

Tourists who have failed to follow strict North Korean 支配するs have 直面するd 厳しい 罰, such as 21-year-old Otto Warmbier, who was 宣告，判決d to 15 years in 刑務所，拘置所 with hard 労働 after admitting to trying to steal a 宣伝 旗，新聞一面トップの大見出し／大々的に報道する from a 制限するd area of his hotel while visiting in 2016.

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

In Anthony's 事例／患者, 軍の 職員／兵員 asked him to を引き渡す his phone for a 'five-second' check before permitting him to continue his 旅行 to Pyongyang.

The sleeper train was 'rustic and exceptionally clean' with a 'typical old Soviet style', によれば Anthony.

The carriages 含む／封じ込めるd first-class sections known as 'soft sleepers', which consisted of four beds in a cabin, and 予算 cabins with six beds.

'I knew I'd barely sleep so I took the 予算 cabin,' said Anthony, 'which was 含むd in the total 小旅行する price.'

There were hot water taps for tea, the traveller explained, and a 'no-nonsense lady serving 軽食s 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 負かす／撃墜する for a 十分な meal.

'Instead, the train might have a simple dining or buffet car 申し込む／申し出ing 限られた／立憲的な 軽食s and （水以外の）飲料s, まず第一に／本来 consisting of 地元の North Korean 製品s such as 薄焼きパン／素焼陶器s, crisps, chocolate and noodles - which, surprisingly, weren't spicy.

'The 軽食s did the 職業, but they were pretty bland compared to a 火星 妨げる／法廷，弁護士業 or any other finely-tuned chocolate from 全世界の brands that have more 成分 選択s at their 処分.'

When it （機の）カム to onboard （水以外の）飲料s, Anthony was surprised to find that alcohol was 'served 定期的に' and said the train trip was 'very boozy'.

As a fan of soju, an アル中患者 drink made from fermented white rice served in South Korea, he was 'looking 今後 to trying the North Korean 見解／翻訳／版'.

But this, he said, was 'distinctively いっそう少なく 甘い and かなり 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 絶えず 冷淡な and, as 推定する／予想するd, a little rough around the 辛勝する／優位s. But I got to see some of the countryside of North Korea as I crossed over the 国境 from 中国 and also on the return 脚. '

Peering out of the window of the train, Anthony 観察するd how most 地元のs '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 許すd to disembark at any 鉄道 駅／配置するs on the way to Pyongyang and could only get off the train once 教えるd, Anthony said.

'For 地元のs, the 状況／情勢 is やめる different,' he 追加するd.

'Some North Korean 居住（者）s can disembark at stops along the train 大勝する from Dandong to Pyongyang, 供給するd they have the necessary 許可s to travel.

'In North Korea, 国民s 要求する travel 許すs to go between different 地域s or 州s and their movement is also closely 監視するd and controlled by the 政府.'

In a 類似の vein, there were also 'no-go areas' onboard the train, によれば Anthony, who was 知らせるd of the 支配するs by a 小旅行する guide.

'Other than the defined 禁じるd areas, we could wander within our carriage and get food at the small kiosk,' he explained.

Another 面 that surprised Anthony was that he was 許すd to take pictures of the countryside rolling past the train window. 

But photographing train 駅／配置するs, 兵士s and police officers was 禁じるd.

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

'I knew I was in for a unique experience when I realised that my visit 同時に起こる／一致するd with this,' he said. 

'On the day, I saw 集まり 祝賀s across the 資本／首都. Most people were dressed in red and we were 招待するd to see a 大規模な synchronised dance for him.'

Anthony also visited the 'grand' flower festival featuring the 'Kimjongilia' flower, 指名するd after the former leader すぐに after his death in 2011.

He compared the birthday 祝賀s to a '宗教的な festival 献身的な to a deity', but with a 'markedly different' atmosphere.

'While there was 賞賛, the underlying sense of joy and hope that usually …を伴ってs 宗教的な 祝賀s seemed absent,' he 発言／述べるd.

Anthony said there is a '軍隊 woven into the fabric of daily life' in North Korea, which he referred to as 'the 教団 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 祝う／追悼するing their leadership are a ありふれた sight throughout the country.

'Experiencing this first-手渡す is surreal. I have visited many places around the world where the country has been seduced by the 教団-like personality of a leader or a popular 提案するd figurehead, but this was on a whole new level of adoration.'

During a 小旅行する of Pyongyang, North Korean guides would 言及する to Kim-Jong-il as 'our dear leader' and 賞賛する 'the wonderful things that he had done' with a level of 約束 that 'echoed 主題s of an Orwellian novel', Anthony said.

After visiting the 資本／首都, he stopped off in Sariwon, which he 述べるd as a 'newer city than Pyongyang' where people are 'even shyer'.

Here, he enjoyed a short 引き上げ（る） before tucking into 地元の food at a 調書をとる／予約するd restaurant.

'Then, the curtain suddenly went up and a 行う／開催する／段階 appeared with a North Korean girl 禁止（する）d,' he 追加するd. 

'As I locked horns with my personal 対話 and the 激しい sensory overload, I realised I was very much ready to 長，率いる 支援する to 中国 the next day.'

反映するing on the highs and lows of his trip, Anthony said the main 最高潮の場面 was 'undoubtedly' interacting with 地元の people にもかかわらず this 存在 'within the 強制s 課すd by the 小旅行する and 政府 規則s'.

While the least enjoyable 面, he said, was 'grappling with the 認識／意識性 that there was an 完全に different reality taking place around me, one that I would never get anywhere の近くに to'.

I took a sleeper train through North Korea. Here's what it was like and the things that surprised me most (含むing how 'boozy' the 旅行 was and a girl 禁止（する）d playing at a restaurant)