NORTH KOREA: Defectors Discourage Anyone Visiting North Korea

Despite its image of being secretive, North Korea invites foreigners to discover its attractions. But traveling as tourists comes with strings attached, as special guides shadow their every step.

Curious to witness a nation that is consistently in the news for all the wrong reasons, record numbers of tourists are booking visits to North Korea, although defectors who have fled a regime that has imprisoned their families and friends say they wish travelers would choose a different destination.

The vast majority of the tourists are from neighboring China, there has been a sharp increase in arrivals from China in the first half of the year.

In the first three months of the year, as many as 2,000 people were crossing the border into North Korea from China.

With limited tourist infrastructure such as hotels and restaurants, the North Korean government in March announced that a limit on foreign arrivals would be set at 1,000 people per day.

In total, around 100,000 tourists visited North Korea last year, all members of groups that were carefully taken to sites that the regime of Kim Jong Un wanted them to see.

Those sites included the vast expanse of Kim Il Sung Square, usually seen on television with hordes of soldiers marching in long parades, as well as the Tower of Juche and a replica of the mountain hut in which North Koreans are taught Kim Jung Un, the father of the present dictator, was born.

Another major attraction is the Mass Games, in which thousands of children perform tightly choreographed dances and performances in the Rungrado 1st of May Stadium with 114,000 seats, the largest stadium in the world, in praise of the nation and their leaders.

Performances for this year have been abruptly halted after Kim expressed his displeasure and it is not clear when they might resume but still the tourists come.

Tourists should not set foot in North Korea, a North Korean defector said. Anyone who goes there is being manipulated by the regime and told only what the North wants them to hear, he added.

Unfortunately, if they have no other sources of information on what life is really like in North Korea, and they have no chance to see how miserable the lives of ordinary people are, then they will come out thinking that North Korea is a safe and happy place, another South Korea-based defector said. It is not safe and it is not happy.

This defector fled North Korea in 2008 after becoming disillusioned with the regime. His father was a political prisoner and was taken from the family home when he was 9. One of his older sisters has also been sent to a political prison and he does not know if she is dead or alive, he said.

He believes his other sister is alive and still working as a doctor in the North, but he has made no effort to contact her in several years because it would be dangerous for her if the North's state security officials discovered that she was communicating with someone outside the country.

Visitors to North Korea are being told about the 'victory of the Juche ideology' of the country. They are being told of the greatness of the Kim family, he said. I know this because it is exactly what I was taught when I was at school. But it is a lie.

Another defector who defected from the North in 1985 and took two years to reach safely in South Korea, says Pyongyang has two prime motivations for attracting more foreign tourists; one is to feed them propaganda, the other is to earn hard currency, he said.

Since the United Nations introduced sanctions, they have been really struggling, he says. Tourism is one of the few ways that they still have of making any money.

The money that tourists spend to go there, and anything that they use when they are in the North, goes directly into Kim's political funds and is used to buy the loyalty of the political factions and the military leaders that he needs to keep happy to stay in power, said Heo, who is now chairman of the Seoul-based Committee for the Democratization of North Korea.

Tourism is helping to keep the North Korean regime alive and I believe it should also come under the international sanctions to stop that money going to Kim.

Tourism does not support the North Korean regime and the people who visit the North are not expressing their support, said Simon Cockerell, general manager of a North Korea travel agency, Koryo Tours.

In the same way, no travel company that is taking visitors to China would say that their travelers were supporting the Chinese government.

Cockerell also denied that money from the tourism sector is funneled to the national government, pointing out that the hotels, restaurants and their other travel partners in the North all have to pay their own staff and have other overheads.

Most North Koreans never have the opportunity to interact with a foreigner. These are people whose only understanding of foreigners is what they are told by their own government. So when they do meet foreigners, they have a very different perspective.

And when they realize that everything that the state has told them previously was incorrect, he said, they then begin to question other truths that they have been fed all their lives.


Tourism Observer

CHINA: Air China Starts Flights To North Korea Again

Air China has resumed its flights between Beijing and Pyongyang.

The Beijing-based carrier has announced the restarting of all its flights to the North Korean capital city following a lengthy suspension that began in November following a United Nations mandate.

North Korea has been relying on China for most of its imports and exports.

The service has now resumed due to subsequent meetings between the leaders of both countries, Xi Jinping and Kim Jong-un.

Data suggests that the route will operate three times per week, on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.

Air China will deploy a Boeing 737-700 on the route, with a seat configuration of eight reclining First Class seats and 120 seats in Economy.

An Air China official said that these flights are continuing due to market reasons but did not provide any further comments.

However, the fact that Kim Jong-un traveled to Singapore on June 12 for the summit with other leaders suggests that the political tensions in the region might be tuning down, re-opening the door for direct connectivity with other international destinations.

Air China’s service to Pyongyang launched had frequently been canceled or disrupted due to what had been unspecified problems, according to Chinese media.

Noth Korea’s national airline, Air Koryo, is also planning to open a new route between Pyongyang and Chengdu. However, there are no official confirmations in this regard.

This is a significant move for both China and North Korea, as this route opening could enable a relief on sanctions.

It is something that will have to be observed over the next few weeks as Kim Jong-un steps further onto the world stage and starts to provide the positive dialogue that the other world leaders are seeking to achieve.


Tourism Observer

NORTH KOREA: 32 Tourists Dead In Tour Bus Accident

Chinese tourists have been involved in a major road accident in North Korea and there are a large number of casualties, China's foreign ministry said.

Diplomats rushed to the scene of the accident in North Hwanghae province, which happened on Sunday evening, the ministry added, without saying how many people had either been injured or killed.

The Working Group of the Chinese Embassy in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, accompanied by the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, rushed to the scene of the incident.

The Chinese Embassy in North Korea was informed by the DPRK that a serious traffic accident occurred on North Korea's Huanghai Road at night, causing heavy casualties to Chinese tourists, the statement said, adding that relevant details are currently being verified.

The ministry explained that an emergency mechanism has been put in place and the government is sparing no effort to investigate,

The accident involved a group of Chinese travel company staff, near an area of a roadway which is under construction.

Chinese state television's English-language channel tweeted that a tour bus had fallen off a bridge, killing more than 30 people, but later deleted the tweet.

State television's main Chinese language news channel later showed images of a crashed blue bus with its wheels in the air, in footage taken in pouring rain in the dark.

It showed at least one person being treated in hospital, but also gave no details of casualties.

In a separate statement, China's health ministry said it was sending a team of medical experts along with equipment and drugs to North Korea to help treat survivors.

North Hwanghae province borders South Korea.

North Korea is a popular tourist destination for Chinese, especially from north-eastern China.

Chinese MFA spokesperson Lu Kang later on Monday reported that 32 Chinese nationals and four North Koreans were killed in the accident, adding that an additional two PRC citizens were in a critical condition due to serious injury.

South Korean think tank the Korea Maritime Institute estimates tourism generates about $US44 million in annual revenue for North Korea.

About 80 per cent of all North Korea's foreign tourists are Chinese, it said.

China said more than 237,000 Chinese visited in 2012, but it stopped publishing the statistics in 2013.


Tourism Observer

SINGAPORE: Avoid All Non-essential Travel To North Korea Singapore Government Orders Citizens

Last Wednesday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) issued an advisory for Singaporeans to "avoid all non-essential travel to North Korea", "given recent developments and the unpredictable situation".

Isn't the advisory kind of redundant?

It's like issuing an advisory to avoid all non-essential travel to Florida, given Hurricane Irma.

Or an advisory for coulrophobia sufferers to avoid all non-essential viewing of the movie It, given killer clown.

I mean, even before the "recent developments" - which is just MFA's calmer way of saying "Kim Jong Un has the hydrogen bomb and we're all going to die!" - did many Singaporeans travel to North Korea in the first place?

I believe many, many more Singaporeans visit South Korea.

So MFA should really be advising against all non-essential travel to the land of Gangnam Style because if Supreme Leader Kim starts nuking people, the first to go would likely be his southern neighbour.

But even without the threat of a nuclear apocalypse, there are other reasons North Korea is no longer the irresistible tourist destination it used to be.

The Wonsan Air Show was supposed to be held this month but was grounded.

The month-long Taedong River beer festival, which was supposed to held last month, was also cancelled.

It would have been North Korea's answer to Oktoberfest - but in August and with fewer lederhosen.

North Korea tourism has also been hampered by the lack of a promotional campaign with the slogan "Passion made possible".

Pyongyang could probably use a Formula One night race more than we do.

But judging by its missile tests, North Korea seems less interested in inviting the people of the world to visit than bombing it to Kim-dom come.

So with North Korea being an unlikely holiday getaway for Singaporeans, who exactly is the MFA advisory for?

It could be for someone like Mr Aram Pan.

The Singaporean photographer was in the news recently after he posted a 6½-minute video called Flight Over Pyongyang on YouTube on Sept 2.

Showing aerial footage of Pyongyang shot last year, the video was featured on several foreign news sites last week.

Metro.co.uk said the footage reveals "a city full of skyscrapers but streets largely empty of cars and people".

In the video description, Mr Pan wrote: "It's a rare treat that a foreigner is allowed photography and filming over the skies of North Korea and even rarer to be doing so in a Piper Matrix PA-46 light plane."

He has been uploading videos shot in North Korea to his YouTube channel since 2013 and has a website called DPRK 360, dedicated to the country.

Mr Pan sounds like someone who does a lot of "non-essential travel" to North Korea.

I e-mailed him yesterday and asked whether he is affected by MFA's advisory.

He replied: "The advisory is expected in light of the current global political trends. I think it will primarily just affect travel insurance coverage...

"As of this conversation, I haven't been to the DPRK since September 2016 and haven't made any plans to travel to the DPRK, so I still won't be directly affected by it."

Of course, the advisory could also be meant for me.

The last place I had a haircut was in North Korea last year, and I swore never to have my hair cut again because I want to be able to say forever that the last place I had a haircut was in North Korea.

In the intervening 17 months, my hair has grown long and unsightly. My family and co-workers are begging me to cut it.

And frankly, I, too, am getting annoyed by my own hair.

I figured the only way I could cut my hair and still be able to say that the last place I had a haircut was in North Korea was to actually return to North Korea to get another haircut.

Then came the travel advisory.

I think going to Pyongyang for a trim counts as "non-essential travel".

Looks like I'll be cosplaying as Kylo Ren for the release of Star Wars: The Last Jedi in December after all.




Tourism Observer

USA: Otto Warmbier, Who Returned From North Korea In Coma Is Dead

US student Otto Warmbier, who was imprisoned in North Korea for 17 months before being returned home in a coma less than a week ago, has died in hospital, his family said in a statement.

Mr Warmbier returned from North Korea last week, and his father Fred Warmbier denounced the "pariah" regime that brutalised his son.

Otto Warmbier, the American student who was released from North Korea in a coma after being imprisoned for 17 months, has died in a Cincinnati hospital.

"It is our sad duty to report that our son, Otto Warmbier, has completed his journey home. Surrounded by his loving family, Otto died today at 2.20pm," the statement said.

It would be easy at a moment like this to focus on all that we lost - future time that won't be spent with a warm, engaging, brilliant young man whose curiosity and enthusiasm for life knew no bounds.

But we choose to focus on the time we were given to be with this remarkable person.

Mr Warmbier had been sentenced to 15 years in prison with hard labour in North Korea, convicted of subversion after he tearfully confessed he had tried to steal a propaganda banner.

The University of Virginia student was held for more than 17 months and medically evacuated from North Korea last week. Doctors said he had returned with severe brain damage, but it wasn't clear what caused it.

He was taken by Medivac to Cincinnati, where he grew up in suburban Wyoming. He was salutatorian of his 2013 class at the highly rated high school, and was on the soccer team among other activities.

In their statement on Monday, his parents said: "You can tell from the outpouring of emotion from the communities that he touched - Wyoming, Ohio and the University of Virginia to name just two - that the love for Otto went well beyond his immediate family.

We would like to thank the wonderful professionals at the University of Cincinnati Medical Centre who did everything they could for Otto.

Unfortunately, the awful torturous mistreatment our son received at the hands of the North Koreans ensured that no other outcome was possible beyond the sad one we experienced today.

When Otto returned to Cincinnati late on June 13th he was unable to speak, unable to see and unable to react to verbal commands.

He looked very uncomfortable almost anguished. Although we would never hear his voice again, within a day the countenance of his face changed, he was at peace. He was home and we believe he could sense that.

"We thank everyone around the world who has kept him and our family in their thoughts and prayers. We are at peace and at home too."

Three Americans remain held in North Korea. The US government accuses North Korea of using such detainees as political pawns. North Korea accuses Washington and South Korea of sending spies to overthrow its government.

At the time of Mr Warmbier's release, a White House official said Joseph Yun, the US envoy on North Korea, had met North Korean foreign ministry representatives in Norway the previous month.

Such direct consultations between the two governments are rare because they don't have formal diplomatic relations.

At the meeting, North Korea agreed that Swedish diplomats could visit all four American detainees.

Mr Yun learnt about Mr Warmbier's condition in a meeting a week before the release from the North Korean ambassador at the UN in New York.

Mr Yun then went to North Korea and visited Mr Warmbier on June 12 with two doctors and demanded his release on humanitarian grounds.

UAE: Are UAE Tourists Exempted From Traffic Fines?

A card with a Dubai Police logo has gone viral on social media, saying that tourists and visitors who flout traffic rules could be let off.

The General Department of Traffic of the Dubai Police denied rumours that the visitors and tourists in the UAE are exempted from minor traffic fines. The denial came in the wake of a card going viral on social media that the Dubai Police will pardon visitors who caught by radars.

The card, which was circulated in social media, read as follows: "Dear driver, as you are a guest in the UAE and came on visit visa to Dubai, you are welcomed and we wish you a good stay. We are sorry to inform you that you are caught by radars as you did not abide by traffic law. Despite that, we will not issue you a traffic fine. We do not want to issue a fine to you, but our goal is your safety."

Major-General Mohamed Saif Al Zafeen, Head of the Traffic Prosecution Council and Assistant Commander-in-Chief of the Dubai Police for Operations Affairs, said that the Dubai Police did not circulate the card that had a Dubai Police logo on it.

"A few years ago, the Dubai Traffic Department had exempted tourists who commit minor traffic violations from paying fines to make them happy. However, the Dubai Police have not taken any such decision recently and it is just a rumour. If there is any such decision, that will be announced by the Dubai Police through its official channels."

Maj.-Gen. Al Zafeen urged the public to confirm the news before circulating that to avoid legal action.

Citizens of UAE and India are eligible to visit Russia's Far East without visas, Russia's Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev announced on Monday.

Medvedev said tourists and businessmen from 18 nations can visit the Russian Far East without visas.

The list of 18 countries comprises UAE, India, Algeria, Bahrain, Brunei, Iran, Qatar, China, North Korea, Kuwait, Morocco, Mexico, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Tunisia, Turkey and Japan.

"I have recently approved the list of countries, whose nationals can take advantage of the preferential regime. Businessmen and tourists will not need to undergo the traditional procedure of Russian visas receipt," the Prime Minister said. It will be enough for foreigners "to enter their data on a special website in the Internet," Medvedev said.

"We are proactively forming the modern infrastructure and creating special regimes in the Far East; the law on visits to the Vladivostok free port was approved in March," Medvedev said.

Cancellation of visa procedures for tourists and businessmen "will promote growth of investment and tourist attractiveness of the Far East," the prime minister said. The region will earn more money from tourist traffic growth, he added.

Eighteen countries from various regions selected by the reciprocity principle were included into the list, Medvedev said. "This is not because these states are situated at a closer or longer distance - we are appropriately introducing bilateral agreements on visa-free travel for those ready to use such an approach for us," he was quoted as saying by TASS.

NORTH KOREA: Only 2,600 Foreigners Visited North Korea Last Year.

The Kim II Sung Mausoleum

Is it really safe to go to North Korea?

North Korea is completely safe and totally legal to visit – even for Americans!

Each year, over 2,500 people visit the country from the U.S., Canada, Australia, New Zealand and other countries around the world.

And yet since the country opened up to outside visitors, only a handful of people have experienced the rare gift of visiting this reclusive nation. That makes North Korea one of the least visited countries on earth – and one of the most magical places still untouched by the outside world.

What you will do in North Korea
Every time we visit North Korea, we get this crazy traveler’s high.

It’s the kind of high you can only get by being somewhere so off the grid – and yet completely safe at the same time.

North Korea – also known as the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) – is one of the last untouched places in the world. It’s a country stuck in time, outside of the system — “a small planet,” in the words of one author. True story.

We think North Korea is a strange, beautiful, exotic place. There’s no country like it. There’s a reason we go back there every year.

When I decided to visit North Korea, my friends thought I had finally lost it, but they weren’t surprised. I travel a lot, and looked to completely change the paradigm of trips to something unique. The DPRK was that for me. It was a life experience that brought a bond with foreigners who decided to travel on this crazy journey. The photos I took circulated several large websites and serve as treasured memories. And my stories at get togethers are the stuff of legend.

Going to North Korea is both completely safe and totally legal, even for Americans.
A range of unique experiences are available, including:

- Riveting explorations of North Korea’s museums, monuments and performances
- Direct interactions with North Korean locals
- One-of-a-kind sporting events
- On-the-ground industry and free trade zone visits
- Unique leisure and entertainment experiences

North Korea is not for you if…

- You’re looking for a traditional resort vacation without any surprises
- You’re uninterested in experiencing a totally different world from the one you live in
- You want photos, memories and stories of the same places your friends have been
- You’d rather stick to the places that travel books and PBS specials tell you to go
- You are willing to pay a high price for a predictable vacation

On the other hand, if you’re looking for a truly original experience, a safe and exciting adventure unlike any other, in a place that only a handful of foreigners have ever laid eyes upon, then you’ve come to the right place. You’ll be part of an elite group that has seen one of the least visited countries on earth.

Here’s how it works

To be honest, North Korea may not be right for you, and you might not be right for North Korea; however, if the chemistry is right, the adventures are limitless.

First, lets set up a chat by phone about your interests and goals in North Korea. We want to know if you’re cut out for this adventure.

Once we know you’re the right fit, we set you up with a tour that meets your individual preferences. We offer dozens of itineraries that focus on different activities, regions and events. We’ll help you choose the perfect trip.

If you’re accepted, we handle every last detail related to your trip in North Korea, from your visa to your accommodations to your transportation. We’ll provide you with information about your trip and answer any questions you might have. All you have to do is show up.

NORTH KOREA: Visiting North Korea At Your Own Risk

Visiting north Korea is indeed at your own risk.

Government lies to the people,people lie to each other,Tour guides lie to tourists.

Otto Warmbier of Cincinnati was in North Korea with a tour group when officials there detained him on Jan. 2.

When Otto Warmbier signed up for an "adventure tour” in North Korea, he probably wasn’t expecting a relaxing vacation.

Such a trip carries unsettling risks, such as arbitrary arrest and indefinite detention. The sights include anti-American propaganda and surreal displays of military might, in a country beset by poverty and starvation.

And then there's the long list of no-nos.

Warmbier, of Cincinnati, was detained Jan. 2 at the Pyongyang airport just as his tour group was leaving the country. The North Korean government accused him of committing a "hostile act" against the country.

Since then, there's been no new information about his or well-being. The tour company that took him to North Korea, Young Pioneer Tours, did not respond to emailed questions about their operations. The State Department declined to comment on Warmbier’s case. Ohio elected officials said they're monitoring the situation and advocating for Warmbier's release as best they can.

Warmbier, a University of Virginia student, is hardly alone in seeking a glimpse of the reclusive dictatorship. Exact numbers are hard to come by, but Uri Tours, the largest provider of North Korea travel in the U.S., estimates that at least 1,200 Americans venture to North Korea every year, despite ominous warnings from the State Department.

“Sheer curiosity” prompted Earl Baron, a seasoned traveler from Massachusetts, to sign up for a tour of North Korea in 2013. Now working as a travel guide in India, the 38-year-old Baron was looking for an off-the-beaten-path destination. North Korea, one of the least visited countries in the world, fit the bill.

Other Americans want to go because it’s isolated, it’s bizarre, and it’s off the grid — a Cold War relic frozen in time.

North Korea is “one of the most magical places still untouched by the outside world,” reads an enticement from Rebel Tribe, a travel agency that organizes trips to the communist dictatorship and other destinations.

Jordan Harbinger, a Rebel Tribe tour guide based in California, said the firm’s clientele aren't typical tourists.

“They think outside the box and live outside the box,” he said

Like other tours, those organized through Rebel Tribe begin in China, where participants are given specific instructions on what they can and can't do inside North Korea.

Harbinger said he keeps it simple: “Always ask before you take pictures. Don’t try to be sneaky. And last but not least, don't talk politics,” he said. “There’s no politics to talk about.”

Andrea Lee, CEO of Uri Tours, is a little more specific. For starters, tourists are told not to wander off without their guide, she said in an email from Shanghai. They are also told “not to take photos of the military, not to bring in publications that could be deemed anti-state, and (to) generally show respect for local culture and norms,” Lee said.

Visitors fly from China into Pyongyang, the North Korean capital, where they are met at the airport by their North Korean tour guides. Those guides “stay with you the entire time,” Harbinger said, making sure you don’t run afoul of the country’s draconian laws restricting where you can go and what you can say.

What do visitors get to see? Not what you might think. An amusement park, a bowling alley and a microbrewery seem to be on every tour group’s itinerary, according to interviews with tour guides and a review of their company websites. Other highlights include the embalmed bodies of Kim Il-sung, North Korea's founding president, and his son, Kim Jong-Il, who led the country until his death in 2011. Both men are on permanent display in glass mausoleums at a monument called the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun.

“On a visit with many tense moments, the time I spent in here was the tensest,” one American tourist, Tim Urban, wrote in a 2013 account of his trip. “We had to walk single file in and out and bow three times to each of the two bros.”

He could not have called the two revered leaders "bros" while he was in the country.

“It is a criminal act in North Korea to show disrespect to the country's former leaders, Kim Jong Il and Kim Il Sung, or to the current leader, Kim Jong Un,” the State Department notes.

Baron, the tourist-turned-tour guide, said his six-day trip to North Korea was fun, fascinating and creepy.

Pyongyang looks like a modern city, he said, but it’s actually a throwback, with no Internet, no Facebook, no Hollywood movies and no cable news.

He had casual conversations with local North Koreans, but constantly wondered if they were staged by the government. When his tour group arrived at the bowling alley, it was filled with young North Koreans. But Baron couldn’t figure out if they were enjoying a typical night out — or were part of the scenery set up to project an image of normalcy to Western tourists.

“When I left I was probably more confused about the country than before I went,” Baron said by phone from Bundi, India. “You really have no idea what’s real and what’s not.”

A few venues that are not on any itinerary for foreigners visiting North Korea: forced labor camps, impoverished rural villages where residents have limited access to food, and anything remotely authentic about average people’s lives.

“You will see what the government wants you to see,” Baron wrote in a blog about his trip. “What I saw of North Korea was a tiny, tiny slice of that country and what I learned was also only a tiny, tiny piece of the truth.”

He and others wrestled with the ethics of traveling there, since a portion of their vacation tab goes to North Korea’s repressive government. But even as they conceded the downside of such trips, he and other travelers said it wasn't as dangerous as the U.S. government leads people to believe.

“Do not assume that joining a group tour or using a tour guide will prevent North Korean authorities from detaining you or arresting you,” the State Department warns in its travel advisory urging Americans not to visit the country. “U.S. citizens have been subject to arrest and long-term detention for actions that would not be cause for arrest in the United States or other countries.”

The U.S. has no diplomatic relations with North Korea, so American tourists who are arrested there, or become ill or injured, must rely on the Swedish embassy for help, the State Department notes.

But Harbinger and Baron said they never felt scared or threatened while in North Korea.

Harbinger said he tried to go jogging once — with permission from his guide -- only to be repeatedly turned back by various guards who seemingly appeared out of nowhere. He said being in North Korea was “surreal” and a bit of a “freak show.” But, he said, “I’ve never felt in danger, never felt nervous.”

Baron said he was able to wander off on his own once or twice, within confined settings such as the amusement park. And he said he was able to “loosely” challenge the propaganda dished out by the guides, although he knew there were limits and he knew not to test them.

The State Department warnings suggest Americans can’t anticipate what might trigger an arrest or detention in North Korea, due to willy-nilly enforcement of the country's harsh laws. If nothing else, happy tourists and scolding officials seem to agree that trips to North Korea are unpredictable.

“The government lies to the outside world. The government lies to the people,” Urban wrote. “The people lie to each other. The tour guides lie to tourists. It's intense.”

Colombia, Iran and N. Korea most 'provocative' destinations 2015

INTREPID travelers looking for their next, offbeat adventure are advised to consider Colombia, Iran and North Korea next year, which made Afar magazine's list of most provocative trips for 2015.

In their selection of where to go in 2015, experts at the travel magazine challenge readers to delve beyond sensationalist headlines and preconceptions and consider the trio of enigmatic countries as future vacation destinations.

Here's why:

Colombia

Unlike its Latin American neighbors Brazil, Argentina and Venezuela, Colombia's tourism industry is still in its infancy, perfect for travelers who seek out unsanitised, authentic travel experiences, experts say.

Recently, Colombia strengthened its reputation in sustainable travel at the Chinese World Travel Fair, where it was named the world's best eco-tourism destination.

Nature lovers will also appreciate Colombia – which has the highest biodiversity on the planet after Brazil – for its Andean mountains, Amazonian rainforests and Caribbean coast.

Popular activities for adventure seekers are diving, paragliding and rafting.

North Korea

In naming North Korea as one of the top destinations to visit in 2015, editors at Afar acknowledge that they're going against the advice of the US State Department, which has issued an advisory against travel to the hermetic kingdom.

At the same time, "curiosity is a powerful motivator," they say. While visits to the country remain highly supervised – the easiest way to enter the country is with a certified tour group – for travelers who've already traipsed the world, North Korea remains one in a handful of final frontiers.

Aside from joining a tour group, another way to gain entry is to join the Pyongyong Marathon, perhaps one of the only times visitors are allowed to be unaccompanied by a designated guide.

Iran

Described as one of the most "misunderstood countries in the world," editors vaunt the merits of Iran as a travel destination for its treasure trove of national heritage sites including the UNESCO-certified ancient Persian ruins of Persepolis, its fine Islamic architecture in Isfahan, and the beaches around the Caspian Sea.

A trip to Iran teleports visitors to a place which, at its height, was the epicenter of the world, boasting the greatest empire on the planet, the Persian empire.

"Foreign tourists are still relatively rare in Iran, and the locals are keen to prove how wrong many of the stereotypes of their country and culture are."

NORTH KOREA: North Korean Airport's Internet Room Has No Internet Access

North Korea has a nifty new airport terminal, which comes with a nice little Internet room that for some reason seems to be without actual Internet.

A classic situation from the crazy half of the Korean peninsula.

“On two recent trips through the airport, the room's three terminals were either occupied by North Korean airport employees, making it impossible for others to use them, or were completely empty, with their keyboards removed. Attempts to open any browser with a mouse resulted in a failure to connect.”

Back in June, various outlets, showed North Korean leader Kim Jong Un taking a tour around the new terminal at Pyongyang International Airport.

And judging by the photos, it certainly resembles an airport. However, we now know that just because you slap a name on something doesn’t mean it functions as advertised.

Talmadge was forced to do some impromptu sleuthing on whether the computer terminals have ever received an interweb connection, because the reporter states airport officials were silent on the matter.

“But a quick check of the history on two of the terminals showed one was either empty or had been cleared, and the other had a record only of a visit to Naenara, the North's official website.”

As the report reminds, this is a country that stifles its population from roaming freely on the Internet anyway.

The peculiar part is that state officials actually hope to garner an influx of visitors into the hermit country with a facade of openness and communication availability.

As we previously noted, the country has aims of bringing in two million tourists by 2020 — the country currently claims to welcome 100,000 tourists per year, although that number could really be as low as 6,000.

If you do ever enter the country, fill up on all of your Internet needs now. It seems getting information over the net in North Korea is pretty much like taking a shower via a drip in the faucet.