Most parents would probably hesitate about allowing their children to visit a potential war zone.
But the group of Hong Kong high school students who returned on Saturday from an eight-day tour of North Korea will have holiday stories better than anything their friends will have managed in Phuket or Singapore.
Twenty-two students from Chinese International School watched teenagers practise military drills in Pyongyang, took photos with “friendly” soldiers in the demilitarised zone and stayed two days in the region of Kaesong.
Last week, North Korea banned South Korean managers from entering Kaesong’s joint industrial park, striking a blow against the decade-old symbol of inter-Korean co-operation.
But the returning travellers said they noticed little unease among the North Koreans they encountered.