Mencius Moldbugman

I don’t even consider Pakistan a hardship destination. Like the rest of South Asia, the quality of its int’l hotels is exceptionally high, and not so expensive compared to elsewhere. In India, Pakistan, Indonesia... you tend to get great hotel facilities and customer service.

This is because labour is cheap and easy to train. The cities in general are shitholes so the hotels strive to be as nice as possible to keep you on-site. Western chains there like Hilton and Hyatt are of a far higher standard than back in the west.

EG: The Hilton in Honolulu doesn’t even have complimentary breakfast, all staff demand tips for just asking them a question, and it’s a tired, faded resort. The Hilton Mumbai though like a luxury resort you will never wanna leave, exceptional service, and cheaper too.

The majority of western tourists who visit Pakistan go for the natural scenery and low-cost 5-star hotels. They are not intermingling with Islamic radicals. That’s practically impossible.

North Korea. An exceptionally easy country to visit as long as you are not South Korean or a journalist. It’s quicker and easier to get a visa to visit Pyongyang than it is for China and Vietnam. And also far easier than it is for most Asians to apply for EU/US visas.

There are many tour companies going to NK. Koryo tours has been operating for 20 years. There’s even an annual Pyongyang marathon full of western entrants. They get more visitors than most Pacific Island nations.

Chances of radicalisation in N Korea are zero. Western tourists are carefully chaperoned in tour groups alongside other westerners. Interaction with real N Koreans is severely limited beyond their tour guide. They will simply never have a real interaction with any Nork.

Media cries of radicalisation when they see someone visiting NK or Pakistan are groundless and ignorant of reality. I’m very lucky to be extremely well travelled in unusual locales... the only place I ever felt radicalised was Bhutan.