It has some of the world's most severe restrictions on women, but that isn't stopping all-female tourist groups from visiting Afghanistan to see it for themselves.
Despite its "appalling human rights record" and a UK government advisory against all travel to the country, a "growing number" of British women have "swapped cocktails in Ibiza" for a trip to "one of the world's top terror hotspots", said The Sun.
Forty years of war have "kept tourists away from Afghanistan", said The Associated Press, but after the Taliban returned to power there was a "sharp drop in violence" and this is "increasingly attracting" tourists who are drawn by the "dramatic scenery, millennia of history and a deeply ingrained culture of hospitality".
It's "slowly becoming an unlikely destination for brave travellers looking for a true culture shock", said The Sun, and there are all-women tours led by female guides like Zoe Stephens, a Briton working at Koryo Tours. The idea behind the women-only tour is that visitors can "learn about the lives of Afghan women in context", said Stephens in The Independent.
But there are still ethical and safety issues. Speaking to The Sun, Stephens said the "morality police", a law-enforcement wing that imposes "modesty" rules, were "the ones you have to watch out for" when you're there. Sometimes they "politely enforce" laws about women's restrictions, so if a woman is in a park, which is not allowed, they "may come up to you and ask you to leave".
But "the main thing is modesty, not just in clothing, but in behaviour as well", she said. "I wouldn't recommend going around singing and dancing." | 
