You can soon get a train from Wigan to North Korea

What are you doing next summer?

North Korea is a unique, fascinating place. Effectively shut off from the rest of the world by the Supreme Leader Kim Jong-Un, what life is really like there remains a mystery, with any glimpses given to the West being tightly controlled propaganda.

Maybe the only way the truly understand North Korea would be to visit it yourself. But that's no easy feat, as the country is notoriously hard to get into.

Next year, however, you will be able to jump on a train in Wigan, and end up in Pyongyang.

https://twitter.com/lupinetravel/status/1131248118689947648?s=21

In 2020, for the first time ever, trains will run from Greater Manchester to the North Korean capital. The only catch? The journey takes nearly a month.

The train leaves Wigan on April 26th, and arrives in Pyongyang by sleeper from Beijing on May 18th

Along the way, it stops at London, Berlin, Warsaw, Moscow, Irkutsk and Ulaanbaatar.

The trip is operated by Lupine Travel, and costs £3,195. That includes tour guides and your meals during your four nights in North Korea - but does not cover any of the multiple visas you will need to travel.

Lupine Travel are a company that specialises in finding "secure routes offering once-in-a-lifetime experiences in unique and hard-to-reach destinations and open them up to our clients". Earlier this year, 'Visit North Korea' billboards appeared at non-league football team Blyth Spartans.