Travel alerts straight to your inbox:

Gumball 3000 Makes a Pit Stop in Pyongyang

August 16, 2008 at 3:30 PM | 1 Comment

Participants in the annual Gumball 3000 road rally are known to be a little nuts, racing their souped-up rides across continents at blistering speeds, stopping only to spray Champagne on each other at glitzy locations around the globe. But they may have just carved another notch in the crazy tree with their latest gambit, a pit stop to party in the North Korean capital of Pyongyang.

The 5,000-kilometer rally began on August 9 in San Francisco, and its globe-hopping route will pass through Los Angeles, San Diego, and Las Vegas before ending in China on Saturday, where drivers and crew will cheer on their countrymen and women at the Olympic games. (No, they don't drive across the ocean. There are airplanes involved.)

The Gumballers stopped in North Korea for about 16 hours on Thursday on their way to Beijing. The reclusive regime banned their technologically-advanced vehicles, but, amazingly, extended a welcome for the ragtag band of moneyed misfits to check out the colorful and creepy Arirang Mass Games. Attendees said there was plenty of merry-making, karaoke, and skateboarding, with no reports of incidents, arrests, or reeducation.

Related Stories:
· Partytown Pyongyang: Global Tour Comes to NKorea [AP via Yahoo! News]
· Gumball 3000 [Official Site]
· Gumball 3000 Coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: loqu.com]

Where: Pyongyang

: / /

Author Photo: Victor Ozols by Victor Ozols

1 Comment

Return to » Gumball 3000 Makes a Pit Stop in Pyongyang

  1. pntzdwg

    Jaunted Member
    August 18, 2008 at 5:40 AM




    Lazy

    I was in Pyongyang when the Gumball 3000 folks showed up. I ended up sitting two rows behind them in the foreigners section @ the Arirang performance they attended. We headed to their hotel, they were staying @ the Koryo hotel, hoping we could crash one of their infamous parties. There was nothing. A few of them were down in the karaoke bar, a couple more were up in the lobby bar, but nothing of the sort that the group is known for. I heard from a reporter traveling with them the some of the skaters woke up early the next morning to record a skate session in the DPRK... they ended up only in the hotel parking lot. Not that the restriction in surprising, but I would have expected more from that group. Finally somewhere scared them into order.

Return to » Gumball 3000 Makes a Pit Stop in Pyongyang

Leave a Comment

Not yet a member? Click here to become a member.
Already a member? Login below:

Nickname:

Password:

Send us a tip