Can I travel to North Korea if I am Celiac?
Let’s be frank. It does feel a little wrong to be talking about food when there is a very real food crisis in North Korea. At the same time, if you have already decided you want to go, there is no avoiding worrying about the meal situation. Asking yourself if you can be gluten free in North Korea is thus a legitimate question.
Okay, let us tackle the most important question first – can you actually go to North Korea if you have Celiac disease? You will be happy to hear that, yes, you absolutely can. You are not permitted to enter the country unless you are part of a tour, and you can inform the tour company you choose in advance about your dietary restrictions.
Okay, but will I be in good hands?
I am basing this of my own experiences, and I had no issues whatsoever. The first day in North Korea the tour group had dinner at the hotel. I was extremely nervous, because what if I did not get anything gluten free? I saw I received similar food to others and asked the staff about it. Naturally, they did not understand English. I double checked with the tour guides that I was indeed registered with gluten free diet, and they calmed me down. Yes, they said, we have informed them of it (being the government, I presume). For the second dish, my meal was different than that of the rest. In other words, the first dish was naturally gluten free and the other dishes were adapted for me to be safe.
The rest of my 1 week trip was the same. Every meal I got was for the most part tweaked to be gluten free. The North Korean guides would explain to me whenever a dish contained gluten while informing me that my meal would arrive a little after the rest. I was never “glutened” during my trip.
NB: Do note that you can choose to fly in or take a train from China. If you take the train, your meals are not covered (that starts when you enter North Korea), and so you should bring gluten free snacks for this 24 hour train ride.
So, can I choose where and what I want to eat?
So, this is where this “guide to North Korea” becomes a little tricky. You are not in control of where you are going to eat. Wherever you go is already selected for you yet can also change at any time. As your tour fee includes meals, wherever you eat is taken into that equation. What dishes you will eat is also pre-selected (maybe with some exemption, but certainly not if you have a dietary restriction), so you have no saying in that either. Except at one place where you can choose if you want to try to eat dog or not (I did not). Of course, there are many different tours you can go on – if you spend more money you can go on your own trip with a North Korean and foreigner guide. In such instances you may have some more say in destinations (as in cities to visit), but in the end the North Korean tour company that is partnering with your non-North Korean tour company has a final say in all details.
With that said, I enjoyed all meals I received and the mystery of not knowing what to expect was kind of thrilling. Here are some examples:
KOREAN SOUP AND GARNISHES
KOREAN BBQ (with live entertainment)
NORTH KOREAN MINERAL WATER
Final notes
Do not let Celiac disease stop you if you want to see more of the world. I went to North Korea in 2014, and already back then I felt very safe. If you have any questions, do get in touch. I used the tour company Young Pioneer Tours (not an ad) and I was very happy with the follow-ups and assistance I received.
