North Korea has closed its borders in fear of the spread of the Ebola virus. But at a time when the secretive state was still welcoming tourists, former aid worker Andrew Macleod made the journey to the repressive nation. Andrew's holiday snaps and camera footage provide a unique insight into the reclusive country, where he came across deserted motorways, metro stations plastered with propaganda and attractive border guards. Here: a female traffic police officer in the snow in February 2013, in Pyongyang, North Korea. (Photo by Andrew Macleod/Barcroft Media)

Six-month old female liliger cub Eva plays in snow with her mother Zita in the Zoo in Novosibirsk, Russia, Thursday, December 5, 2013. The cub's mother is Zita, a liger – half-lioness, half-tiger, and its father is a lion, Sam. (Photo by Ilnar Salakhiev/AP Photo)

The snow-capped Etna spews hot lava, near Catania, Sicily island, Italy, 26 November 2023. One of Europe's most active and tallest volcano has erupted again on 25 November 2023. (Photo by Dario Lo Scavo/EPA/EFE)

Macaques huddle together for warmth at a hot spring in Nagano, Japan in the last decade of December 2023. Known as snow monkeys, the animals soak in the 40°C water every day during cold weather, spending their bathtime grooming, snoozing and playing on visitors’ camera tripods. (Photo by David Lazar/Animal News Agency)

Visitors watch ice-cold artworks, depicting Marilyn Monroe, at an ice and snow sculpture exhibition made by 35 international artists, who worked 4 months at minus eight degrees Celsius in Oberhausen, Germany, on the 1st of Advent, Sunday, December 1, 2024. (Photo by Martin Meissner/AP Photo)

A skater observes pancakes snow on the frozen Lake des Rousses in Les Rousses, central-eastern France, on January 1, 2025. This phenomenon forms when slushy ice in water clumps into round, pancake-like shapes due to waves or currents. (Photo by Fabrice Coffrini/AFP Photo)

View of the visitor walkway at the Iguazu Falls, which was destroyed by the strong current of the river on the triple border between Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay, on October 30, 2023. The Falls are flowing at over 24 million liters of water per second, according to hydrological monitoring by Companhia Paranaense de Energia (Copel). This is the second highest flow since 1997, when monitoring became automatic and was measured hourly. (Photo by Christian Rizzi/AFP Photo)

Gina Labianca (L) tries on a super woman outfit as Charlie Lucas tries a snow white Costume at the Halloween MegaStore Miami Beach on October 21, 2011 in Miami Beach, Florida. The megastore is a temporary location for the store which opened for the holiday to sell costumes, masks and other items to people needing to dress up for the evening of October 31 when costumed people around the world observe the day. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)