Kim Jong-un, the current leader of North Korea, stands with officials during the unveiling ceremony of bronze statues of North Korea founder Kim Il-sung and late leader Kim Jong-il in Pyongyang.BOBBY YIP/Reuters
This week's strange travel news.
Party on in Pyongyang
Got an itch to visit North Korea despite the current geopolitical crisis? If so, you're not alone. "The number of people interested in coming to North Korea is rising," said Richie Fenner, a guide for British-owned Young Pioneer Tours. He estimated 800 people will tour the isolated communist state with his company alone this year, up from 500 in 2012. Recent high-profile visits by former basketball star Dennis Rodman and Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt may have had an impact. So don't be afraid to tell your sweetheart: "Baby, we're going to Pyongyang instead of Paris."
Let's go see some organic kale!
Whole Foods evidently isn't satisfied with simply enticing arugula-loving, Prius-driving shoppers into its supermarkets. The company has just launched Whole Journeys, which offers small group tours that "take customers to many of the locations where [its] products … originate." Packages geared for active foodies include biking and cooking classes in Italy, hiking and tea sampling in China, and whitewater rafting and wine tasting in Idaho. Whole Foods also plans to build a health-themed resort near its Austin, Tex., headquarters in the next three years. Now the pressure is on KFC to open a motel where guests can watch daytime TV and eat Double Downs.
'Tweetathon' in the sky
Since Twitter's 2006 launch, many users haven't had the chance to tweet while flying, due to steep on-board Internet pricing or poor connectivity. But based on a five-hour "Tweetathon" staged April 9 on selected planes, that sad, dark era is coming to an end. Passengers on six routes (such as New York-Sao Paulo, Abu Dhabi-London, and San Francisco-Sydney) used high-speed WiFi for a worldwide conversation with the hashtag #High5Live. Hot topics included the weather, meal choices and nice cabin crew members. John Lennon's Imagine has finally come true.
Sources: TravelMole.com, WholeJourneys.com, CBC, Relaxnews.