When you visit Pyongyang in the winter, you can't help but be struck by how cold it can be. Unless you're from Saskatoon. But let's face it, you're probably not. A few shots from a couple weeks ago:
During our visit, we went for an early morning run before sunrise, after a light overnight snowfall. Neighborhood teams - men already dressed in suits for work - were busy sweeping the snow off the streets lest it get packed down and turn to the kind of icy hazard that doesn't abate until March or April.
As John Everard notes in his recent book, Only Beautiful, Please, winters are hard in the DPRK. Heating is a rare luxury in the city, but people are tough and simply buckle down and get on with things. If you live in a place where you can just turn the thermostat up without a thought, its worth remembering that this is a quality of life issue that we take for granted.