(Courtesy: Koryo Tours)



Tourist photos from Cuba are becoming more common with the recent lifting of sanctions, but even fellow Communist country North Korea is getting in on the act. The first photos of its new helicopter tours of Pyongyang were released in recent days, showing the city from some unseen perspectives.

The North Korean government just agreed to the 40-minute tours this month, and tour operator Koryo Tours released some aerial photos. Visitors flew over landmarks including the pyramid-shaped Ryugyong Hotel, public squares, and the May Day Stadium.



Courtesy: Koryo Tours



The 11-person tour, led by a guide, was given on a Soviet-era Mil Mi-17 military helicopter. This being North Korea after all, passengers were barred from taking photos or video between the airport and the city.

“Pyongyang looks very dystopian from above,” British tourist Tom Hingley, who shot photos and video of the flight, told the Daily Mail. You’ve got Orwellian tower blocks everywhere and this mad, big skyscraper and huge chimney stacks belching out black smoke in the distance.

“It’s a really fascinating place to see from the air. It was good fun inside the helicopter. People were jumping from one side to the other and swapping windows to have a look.”

Related: “Surfing DPRK?” — North Korea Tries to Lure American Surfers



Courtesy: Koryo Tours



Koryo, based in Beijing, is offering the chopper tours for $190 per person. Tour companies estimate North Korea is attracting 6,000 Western tourists a year, and they hope the new tours will increase those modest numbers. In addition to the helicopter, Koryo offers tours on a Antonov 24 Soviet propeller passenger plane from the 1950s.

Related: First Cuba, Now Iran? Tourism is Booming in the Most Unlikely Places



Tourists inside the helicopter look down from their porthole-shaped windows. (Courtesy: Koryo Tours)



“The plan to use Air Koryo helicopters and small aircraft has been a long-gestating project,” Simon Cockerell of the tour company told Reuters.

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