Pyongyang is home and playground to the elite of North Korean society. As such, one will find the best and the most of anything in Pyongyang. That also means that one will find things in Pyongyang that are frequently not seen in the rest of the country.

One such manifestation of this can be found at the Pyongyang Gold Lane. Yep, it’s a North Korean bowling alley…

This is the bowling center from the outside:

North Korean girls out bowling:

I must make the observation at this point that the North Korean bowlers I watched were extremely good. Many of them were hitting strikes (knocking all of the pins down) quite consistently. Now, if I recall correctly, my best bowling score ever was around 190, but I don’t doubt that even many of the children in the establishment could have beaten me on my best day. I’m not a big bowler, so I’m not exactly losing sleep over this. I just thought it was interesting.

Of course, North Korean propaganda promotes the idea that they are racially superior to the rest of the world, so perhaps their bowling talent is evidence for that.

Some of the bowlers:

A view out over the bowling lanes:

Even in North Korea things break down… This man is repairing one of the machines:

Upstairs in the bowling center was a shop selling cigarettes, alcohol and a variety of knick-knacks. There was also a row of slot machines upstairs, but they delivered tokens rather than coins. Of most interest to me, was the good view from upstairs down onto the action below: