I was in North Korea for a few days last week, and all I could think about was money.

To be precise, I kept seeing things that were so utterly unusual that I would think to myself, “I bet Western tourists would pay good money to see this.”

Let me start with the airline ride in. You can get a sense from the photo of how utterly retro the plane is. It is Air Koryo, the national North Korean carrier, and the flight was aboard one of those Soviet-era Tupelov planes but in seemingly good condition. On entering the plane, you have to stoop, even if you’re short, or you’ll bonk your head.

The plane had numerous compartments, each with curtains. The stewardesses wore these lilac uniforms, sometimes donning white gloves.

The drink cart had none of the usual soft drinks. But it had big old-style brown bottles of pop-top beer. I felt like I had time traveled.

There was no magazine in the seat back, just a barf bag. It said on the front: “For your refuses.” I tried to take some video aboard the plane but the stewardess told me sternly to sit down and turn the camera off.

On landing in Pyongyang, I was amazed at the vehicle that brought the stairs to the plane. You can see it in the photo. Obviously, it was some contraption made in the Soviet era as well, and passed on to the fraternal North Koreans. It looks like a stretch El Camino mixed with some sort of old Cadillac. Anyway, it was those touches that made me think I had entered into some other-worldly theme park that ought to have a huge admission price.

On the flight out, there was no air conditioning on the plane. So each seat pocket had a portable paper fan.

When we landed, I bolted up to get my bag from the overhead compartment. When in China, even when I act at lightning speed, I still have people clambering over my back to get off the plane. Well, I quickly realized that I was the only one standing. Most of the others around me were North Korean (obvious from their Kim Il Sung lapel pins), and they must have known that disembarking from a North Korean flight is a little different.

It goes by section of the plane, and passengers seem to be monitored carefully. There’s no rushing. And it took forever. My theme park ride was over.

I’ll have more on North Korea (and several articles) in the coming days. One of the subjects will be on the environment. North Korea is amazingly pristine. There are no Hummers on the road, hardly any cars at all. Made me think that nature-lovers would pay a pretty penny to go there some day. Maybe it will become the Bhutan of East Asia.