They won't take our advice, but they'll still take our money: Despite an absence of diplomatic relations between the countries, Americans can still travel to North Korea, so long as you go when they want you to go, and with whom.

Visiting North Korea is allowed only during the annual Mass Games involving thousands of North Koreans performing complicated choreography and moving into intricate patterns like a college marching band on steroids. The games are normally held August through October, during which Westerners can travel with a tour group—since the government will assign you an escort to make sure you only see the North Korea they want you to see. Now is the time to start planning and booking those trips.]]> egw 2009-11-17T13:29:29-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/11/17/81838/836

We’ve got some more news from the Pacific Ocean, but this time it isn’t as successful or cool as those two dudes who decided to take a rowboat across the ocean. This story involves an ocean rescue and a couple of people that might want to reconsider their new career opportunities before they even began.

Two people from Seattle were rescued about 400 miles outside of Hawaii when their boat hit some rough seas last Friday. The winds were whipping and the waves were easily 40 feet high, and to make things worse, the two had to look after their dogs as well—don‘t worry they had life vests for their furry friends. Everything turned out well in the end as they signaled the Golden Princess cruise ship, and the vessel was glad to give them a lift. No word on whether they were allowed to eat in the dining room without formal attire. ]]> kjb 2009-11-17T10:49:28-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/11/12/131423/57

A Saddam Hussein-regime building along the water.

It might seem incredulous but in Iraq there is an actual working tourism board and even more unbelievable, they want you to visit. The BBC reports that the head of the Iraqi tourism board has attended the World Travel Market in London to promote the country as a new vacation destination.

"Tourism will help regenerate Iraq," says the tourist board chairman, Hammoud al-Yaqoubi. "We want to prove that Iraq still exists and maybe we can change people's minds about it."

In fact, there is one British company, Hinterland Travel, that has begun offering tours of Iraq in March and has at least five more planned through 2010. The company had to stop around 2003 because of escalating violence but today a nine-day tour in Iraq will cost you £1,600 per person.]]> juliana 2009-11-12T17:29:26-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/11/9/12550/5475

Everyone wants to be on the edge of a comeback these days. The city of Beirut isn't releasing a new single or belatedly confiding in Diane Sawyer, but that hasn't stopped the Guardian from proclaiming that Lebanon's capital is "back... and it's beautiful." We'd feel guilty reading this objectifying headline in a different context, but we guess it's okay to do to a city.

Writer Carole Cadwalladr has a bit of history with the old lady, having written a guidebook to the country with her friend back in 1995. Now she declares it "the Elizabeth Taylor of the Mediterranean... if you replaced the words 'alcohol' with 'Israel' and 'a string of unsuitable marriages' with '15 years of civil war.'" That's a comeback? Oh wait, and it has two new hotels and the seal of approval of the New York Times, which is where the metaphor begins to fall apart. ]]> egw 2009-11-09T14:04:25-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/11/7/152831/313

The brand new, unbelievably huge Oasis of the Seas cruise ship has been rocked by some serious waves on its first voyage. As USA Today points out, the 5,400-passenger vessel encountered hurricane-strength winds and waves over 60 feet high in the frigid waters of the North Atlantic. Fortunately for the cruise line, there aren't any passengers on board, as Royal Caribbean is merely transporting it from the shipyard in Turku, Finland to Fort Lauderdale, Florida for its inaugural cruise. But while many passengers would have likely gotten seasick, they wouldn't have been in any serious peril, as the ship has weathered the waves quite smartly. For maximum stability, Captain William Wright has slowed the world's largest cruise ship down and steered it head-on into the waves. He probably wouldn't admit it, but I bet he's having fun. ]]> Victor Ozols 2009-11-07T15:28:31-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/10/31/143953/03

If you're like me, you can't wait for the winter yachting season to begin, but before you don your monocle and climb aboard your megayacht, you'd better plot your sun-seeking itinerary carefully. Just last week, pirates kidnapped a British couple from their yacht, the Lynn Rival, as they sailed off the coast of Somalia. As the AP points out, Paul and Rachel Chandler had been sailing to Tanzania when they activated their yacht's emergency beacon on November 23, 2009, and the British navy found their empty yacht on Thursday. ]]> Victor Ozols 2009-10-31T14:39:53-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/10/31/124427/49

Taking the idea of the road trip to the extreme, an art director from the Associated Press is about to embark on an around-the-world driving adventure. Nicolas Rapp will be departing New York on November 15, 2009 and hopefully returning at around the same time in 2010 after having traversed more than 40 countries on his journey. ]]> Victor Ozols 2009-10-31T12:44:27-05:00 Search Jaunted string http://www.jaunted.com/search/