"I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel's sake. The great affair is to move." RLS
The main square in Sinuiju is Kim Il-sung Square just outside the railway station. We didn’t tarry there and just passed through it on arrival as its main tourist attraction, a giant bronze statue of Kim Il-sung, was under wraps due to renovations. Continue reading “Sinuiju Cultural Square (?)”
Having eaten it was now time for an afternoon of culture before we had to bid farewell to Sinuiju and to North Korea.
Our first stop was the Sinuiju Art Gallery. Continue reading “Sinuiju Art Gallery”
Perhaps my title conjures up illusions of grandeur and fine dining in Sinuiju. Perhaps the less ostentatious title ‘eating in Sinuiju’ might have been more appropriate. Continue reading “Tourist Guide Centre: “Dining in Sinuiju””
There are only two official, operating bridge crossing points on the 795 km Yalu River border between North Korea and China, one, the Sino-Korean Friendship Bridge (formerly the Yalu River Bridge) here in Sinuiju and the other, the Ji’an Yalu River Border Railway Bridge between Ji’an in China and Manp’o in North Korea. Continue reading “Bridge Across the Yalu”
Sinuiju, North Korea’s most significant border town with 360,000 people is literally a few hundred metres from Dandong, a thriving city of nearly 3 million people in north east China. In practical terms, for all bar a select few citizens of Sinuiju, the two cities might as well be on different planets as there is as much chance of their getting to Dandong as there is of their getting to another planet. Continue reading “Looking at Dandong from Sinuiju”
The European history of New South Wales, and indeed Australia, will always be traced back to the site of the first British settlement at Sydney Cove (now Circular Quay). That said, it wasn’t long until the industrial and maritime hub of the Colony, and the new city of Sydney, moved around the corner, as it were, to the adjacent Darling Harbour, or Long Cove/Cockle Bay as it was called until 1826 when the not so modest State Governor, Darling, renamed it after himself. Continue reading “WOW – Darling Harbour”
There are few parts of the world that the Irish have not infiltrated and Sydney is no exception.
Some came here of their own volition and some came as convicts and had less say in the matter. Today it is almost a badge of honour to be able to point to a convict Irish past. Continue reading “Nolan Memorial Fountain”
Being vestiges of the ‘First Fleet’ this anchor and small cannon, in Macquarie Place, hold an important place in the history of European Australia. Continue reading “Vestiges of the First Fleet”
In January 1788 the First Fleet arrived into Sydney from the UK. It brought with it Australia’s first European, mostly convict, settlers who came ashore here at Macquarie Place, now a little further back from the harbour than it was in 1788, due to land reclamation in the intervening years. It was from here that these early settlers set out to explore and settle Australia so it was rather fitting that distances of places from Sydney be measured from here. Continue reading “Macquarie Obelisk”
In 1857 Sydney acquired a small number of these ornate cast iron drinking fountains from Macfarlane & Co, a prominent Scottish iron foundry. Continue reading “Macquarie Place – Canopy Drinking Fountain”
The Rambling Wombat 