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  • 26
    Feb
    2013
    12:12pm, EST

    Hot air balloon crash kills 19 in Egypt

    Hagag Salama / AP

    Egyptians gather at the site of a balloon crash where the debris from the burned gondola rests, outside al-Dhabaa village, just west of the city of Luxor on Feb. 26.

    Hagag Salama / AP

    Rescue workers remove a body from the scene of a balloon crash outside al-Dhabaa village, just west of the city of Luxor, 320 miles south of Cairo, on Feb. 26.

    By Ayman Mohyeldin, Charlene Gubash and John Newland, NBC News

    Courtesy Christopher Michel

    Balloons float in the air in Luxor before another balloon crashed on Feb. 26.

    A hot air balloon carrying foreign tourists caught on fire while it was in the air near Egypt's ancient city of Luxor, killing 19 people, officials said Tuesday.

    The blazing balloon crashed to the ground early Tuesday morning, Gen. Mamdough Khaled, director of security for Luxor Governorate said in a statement, according to initial reports.

    Khaled said that Luxor International Hospital had received 19 badly burned bodies. Health officials initially said 18 people died, but later said one injured person had succumbed to their injuries. Continue reading.

    EPA

    Egyptians work at the site where a a hot air balloon crashed, in a field next to the southern Egyptian town of Luxor, on Feb. 26.

    Ibrahim Zayed / AP

    An Egyptian rescue worker collects remains near the scene of a balloon crash outside al-Dhabaa village, just west of the city of Luxor on Feb. 26.

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  • 24
    Oct
    2012
    10:42am, EDT

    Monkey business: Baboons raid tourists’ car

    Schalk Van Zuydam / AP

    Tourists Alexandre Casias, center back, and Emilie Vachon, not in photo, from Montreal in Canada, have their car raided by Baboons, at Millers Point on the outskirts of Cape Town, South Africa, Oct 24.

    Two baboons raided a car belonging to two Canadian tourists at Millers Point on the outskirts of Cape Town, South Africa, on Wednesday, according to The Associated Press. Monitors with paintball guns track baboon troops to keep them from getting into trouble, but that does not always keep them from mischief.

    Schalk Van Zuydam / AP

    Baboons raid a car belonging to tourists Alexandre Casias, partially seen in background, and Emilie Vachon, right, from Montreal in Canada at Millers Point on the outskirts of Cape Town, South Africa, Oct. 24.

    Schalk Van Zuydam / AP

    A close up of a baboon with a tracking collar at Millers Point on the outskirts of Cape Town, South Africa, Oct 24. Baboon monitors armed with Paintball Guns attempt to prevent baboons raiding cars, houses, dust bin's. The baboon monitors spend their days following baboon troops across the cape peninsula to ensure they do not misbehave.

    Related content:

    • Oil-soaked penguins rescued in South Africa
    • Offerings made to elephant killed by train in India
    • Moviegoers (and their pets) flock to Internet cat video film festival

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    Sign up for the NBCNews.com Photos Newsletter

    70 comments

    it looks like getting carjacked in the ghetto to me

    Show more
    Explore related topics: south-africa, environment, tourism, cape-town, animal-tracks, commentid-cape-town
  • 15
    Oct
    2012
    9:36am, EDT

    AFP - Getty Images

    Splashing through floodwaters in Venice

    Tourists wear plastic bags to protect their shoes as they cross a flooded St Mark's Square in Venice on Oct. 15, during the first "acqua alta" of the season. The periodic flooding known as "acqua alta," or "high water," is caused by seasonal high tides.

    Comment

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    Explore related topics: travel, weather, italy, tourism, world-news, venice
  • 4
    Oct
    2012
    7:48am, EDT

    AFP - Getty Images

    A great big crowd on China's Great Wall

    Visitors gathered on the Great Wall of China outside Beijing on October 3, 2012. Hundreds of millions of tourists crowded into scenic spots, resorts and other tourism destinations scattered across the country while millions of visitors arrived in the capital city for China's National Day "Golden Week" holidays.

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  • 5
    Jul
    2012
    11:49am, EDT

    Charly Triballeau / AFP - Getty Images

    At Mont Saint-Michel, a horse-drawn shuttle provides glimpse of past for visitors

    A horse-drawn shuttle is tested on July 5, in front of the Mont Saint-Michel in France. The horse-drawn shuttles of the Mont Saint-Michel should have been active on April 28, 2012 but, still being tested because of problems of welds. Visitors will be able to reach the Mont Saint-Michel in the Maringote: a horse-drawn shuttle crossing from the continent to the Rock, as did the pilgrims from days gone by.

    Comment

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  • 14
    Jun
    2012
    6:04am, EDT

    China's 'Red Ants' embrace RV culture

    Zheyang Soohoo / Reuters

    Men row a boat carrying a child on a lake in front of recreational vehicles (RVs), during a camping trip at an RV park on the outskirts of Beijing on April 14, 2012. Chinese buyers bought an estimated 1,000 RVs last year, but experts say the RV business is about to take off in the country.

    Reuters reports — Dong Xuemin can't wait for weekends when he heads out with family or friends to the mountains north of Beijing or to a lake for a picnic.

    Terril Yue Jones / Reuters

    Dong Xuemin poses in front of his RV and boat at his storage company in Beijing on April 17, 2012.

    Dong is a "Red Ant" - a member of a club of urban Chinese who'll find any excuse to hit the road, not in ordinary cars, but in recreational vehicles, those quintessential Western chariots of leisure transportation used by "Snowbirds" in North America typified by white-haired retirees heading south for the winter.

    Read more stories from China on Behind the Wall

    "RVs have a long and glorious history in the West," says Dong, 41, who runs a logistics and storage business in Beijing where he stores his RV, boat, all-terrain vehicle and motorized surfboard. "Chinese are the same; we love the outdoors. So we're learning the American and Western RV culture." Read the full story.

    Follow @msnbc_pictures

    Zheyang Soohoo / Reuters

    Children sit around a table as they play inside an RV, during a camping trip at an RV park on the outskirts of Beijing on April 14, 2012.

    Zheyang Soohoo / Reuters

    People light a fire on a barbecue grill next to RVs during a camping trip on the outskirts of Beijing on April 14, 2012.

     

    41 comments

    I have a lot of Asian friends, not just Chinese, Japanese too. From my understanding, they have their only view upon life. As a general speaking. Their view is pretty simple, how much you make how much you have. And that is why they invest heavily in their children's future, wanting that their child …

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    Explore related topics: china, asia, tourism, world-news, rv, leisure, red-ants
  • 16
    Apr
    2012
    8:31pm, EDT

    Fishermen catch the last light of the day

    Tauseef Mustafa / AFP - Getty Images

    Kashmiri fishermen throw their nets into Dal Lake at sunset in Srinagar on April 16. Tourism workers in Srinagar, located in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir, are hopeful that the summer will bring more tourists to the region after years of civil unrest which has driven both domestic and foreign visitors away.

     

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    1 comment

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  • 24
    Jan
    2012
    11:11am, EST

    One year after revolution Egypt struggles to attract tourists

    Jeff J Mitchell / Getty Images

    Tourists visits the Giza Pyramids and Sphinx in Cairo on Jan. 24 in Cairo, Egypt. The country is struggling with falling tourism figures and rising unemployment following last year's revolution, which ousted President Hosni Mubarak.

    Jeff J Mitchell / Getty Images

    Tourist visits the Giza Pyramids and Sphinx in Cairo on Jan. 24 in Cairo, Egypt. The country is struggling with falling tourism figures and rising unemployment following last year's revolution, which ousted President Hosni Mubarak.

    Jeff J Mitchell / Getty Images

    A young man rides a camel in the Sphinx village on Jan. 24 in Cairo, Egypt. The country is struggling with falling tourism figures and rising unemployment following last year's revolution, which ousted President Hosni Mubarak. The Egyptian parliament, chaired by Mahmoud el-Saqqahm, met yesterday and elected leading Muslim Brotherhood member Saad al-Katatnias as speaker.

    Jeff J Mitchell / Getty Images

    A vendor sells oranges in the Magra El-Oyoun market on Jan. 24 in Cairo, Egypt. The country is struggling with falling tourism figures and rising unemployment following last year's revolution, which ousted President Hosni Mubarak.

    Khaled Elfiqi / EPA

    A general view shows Egyptian protesters demonstrating one day before the first anniversary of the 25th January uprising in Tahrir square, Cairo, Egypt.

    Muhammed Muheisen / AP

    Egyptian protestors read a local newspaper outside a tent in Tahrir Square, in Cairo, Egypt, on Jan. 24. Al-Adly, Mubarak and four top security officers are being tried for complicity in the deaths of hundreds of protesters at the hands of security forces during the 18-day uprising, which started one year ago this week. Mubarak stepped down on Feb. 11. The six could face the death penalty if convicted.

     Related links:

    • A timeline of the events in Egypt since the revolution started on Jan. 25, 2011
    • Egypt partially lifts state of emergency law

    1 comment

    Egyptians..... Here's some free advice on how to improve your economy. Don't rape journalists who may tell their story again and again and again, convincing men like me that Egypt is not safe to bring their wives. It's not good for business.

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    Explore related topics: travel, egypt, tourism, world-news, cairo, pyramids
  • 6
    Sep
    2011
    8:29am, EDT

    Ng Han Guan / AP

    A soldier watches as a woman pulls at a red carpet during a send-off ceremony for a North Korean leisure boat carrying Chinese travel agents and foreign journalists to promote Kumgang mountain resort tourism from the port in Rason city, North Korea. Photo taken on Aug. 30 and made available today.

    North Korean semiotics: red carpet, or red rag to a bull?

    By David R Arnott, NBC News

    We reported on the inaugural trip of the Mangyongbyong cruise liner here on PhotoBlog last week - see the post, All aboard for cruising, North Korean style - but this additional picture that the AP moved today caught my eye with its intriguing, confused symbolism.

    1 comment

    Yeah, boy. North Korea. Can't wait to get there!

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    Explore related topics: travel, asia, north-korea, tourism, world-news, semiotics
  • 31
    Aug
    2011
    8:13am, EDT

    All aboard for cruising, North Korean style

    Jeremy Laurence of Reuters reports from aboard the Mangyongbyong, North Korea:

    When you think of taking a cruise, usually it's the Bahamas, Fiji or the Maldives that generally come to mind. How about North Korea?

    On Tuesday, the mysterious state launched itself into the glitzy world of cruise tourism when about 130 passengers set sail from the rundown port of Rajin, near the China-Russia border, for the scenic Mount Kumgang resort near the South Korean border.

     

    Carlos Barria / Reuters

    A visitor posses with a cruise ship at the port of Rason, in the North Korean special economic zone northeast of Pyongyang on August 30.

    Carlos Barria / Reuters

    Local residents wave as a cruise ship with visitors leaves the port of Rason on August 30.

     

    Isolated North Korea's "state tourism bureau" has teamed up with a Chinese travel company to run the country's first ever cruise aboard an ageing 9,700 tonne vessel which once plied the waters off the east coast of the divided peninsula shuttling passengers between North Korea and Japan.

    Some 500 North Koreans, about half dressed in dark workers clothes and the others in office and traditional attire, waved off the ship in a strictly choreographed performance on the potholed dock. The spectators waved North Korean flags and fake flowers, and let off a blast of paper fireworks to mark the occasion. Carnival music blared from two minivans with speakers on their roofs.

     

    Ng Han Guan / AP

    North Koreans and Chinese travel agents eat at a buffet during the trial cruise of the North Korean leisure boat the "Mangyongbyong" on its way to Mount Kumgang in North Korea on Aug. 30. Since South Korean tourists have been barred from the luxury resort, known abroad as Diamond Mountain, North Korea has begun courting Chinese and other international tourists.

    Ng Han Guan / AP

    Visitors enjoy the view along the coastline in Mount Kumgang in North Korea on Aug. 31.

     

    Before the setting off, the vice mayor Hwang Chol-nam of Rason City, of which Rajin port is a part, gave a speech lauding the venture as part of the region's push to attract tourism.

    Hwang hailed a local rule that allows people of any nationality to visit the area visa-free. They must, however, arrange the trip through a designated tour company.

    "Any country, people from America, Japanese, Singaporean can come to Rason, that's the reality today, and that's the same for the Kumgang special economic zone," he told reporters aboard the vessel.

    See more pictures of North Korea on PhotoBlog.

    Follow @msnbc_pictures

    35 comments

    How big are the oars that they give you to power the ship?

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  • 17
    Aug
    2011
    2:54pm, EDT

    Desmond Boylan / Reuters

    Tourists take a ride in a 1955 Desoto convertible in Havana Aug. 17. The first group of Americans to tour Cuba under new, more liberal U.S. travel regulations have been greeted by hugs, handshakes and a welcoming Cuban government, according to a trip organizer. Cuban-American members of the U.S. Congress already have proposed legislation to roll back the regulations, so it remains to be seen how long the freer travel will last.

    First Americans in Cuba under easier travel rules

    By Rich Shulman

    It would really be a shame if Congress restored the travel restrictions. The cold war is over. Full story.

    1 comment

    We look like absolute idiots maintaining this ridiculous attitude toward Cuba. How damned embarrassing for us to look frightened of them, as though they were some kind of threat. They represent the end of the Cold War as Kennedy exposed the Soviets as paper tigers and stopped their adventures cold.  …

    Show more
    Explore related topics: travel, cuba, tourism, havana
  • 18
    Jul
    2011
    6:29pm, EDT

    Halldor Kolbeins / AFP - Getty Images

    Tourists are driven up the side of the Eyjafjoell volcano to reach the crater on June 29. Icelandic volcanoes may be known for their ash-spewing ability to halt flights and make a mess, but they also pay their dues, attracting tourists eager to see the source of the chaos.

    Tourists enjoy close up view of Eyjafjoell volcano

    By Rich Shulman

    This looks like a really cool was to see the volcano. In 2010, AP reported that volcano tourism in Iceland was on the decline as eruptions ceased.

    1 comment

    Volcans ride Transporter to view Eyjafjoell, but still can't pronounce the name...Ribbit.

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