North Korea

Long hair has ‘negative effects on human intelligence’, apparently.

You might not know it but long hair has ‘negative effects’ on ‘human intelligence development’ as it ‘consumes a great deal of nutrition’ and thus starves the brain.

At least that’s the official North Korean line in an ongoing campaign to make men get their hair cut every 15 days.

Which is not to say that they don’t believe in fashion. Among the styles in 21st communist vogue are the ‘flat-top crew cut,’ ‘middle hairstyle,’ ‘low hairstyle’ and the ‘high hairstyle’.

It brings back the golden days of when travelers to Singapore had to hide their long hair under berets or be refused entry. North Korea may not be turning away foreign travelers for being hippies just yet but then you can only go to North Korea as part of a guided tour anyway.

And who wants to see the People of the Democratic People’s Republic of North Korea’s glorious ironworks or sardine factories anyway?

Tom has been traveling non-stop since the age of 18 and co-founded Road Junky in 2004. Follow him @tomglaister

He’s the author of Hand to Mouth to India, an account of hitchhiking from England to India with no money and which will soon be rereleased by Road Junky Books.

Tales of a Road Junky featuring tales of breaking people out of jail in Delhi, selling fake Rolexes in Japan and other adventures in Israel and Brazil will be out later this year.

He also writes fiction for anyone who never really grew up and his latest novel is Bozo and the Storyteller – download the audio book for free or even buy a copy…

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