The World’s Most Dangerous Destinations for 2007

by Willy Volk on

Here at Gadling, we usually profile places people WANT to go. However, sometimes it’s useful to mention places to avoid. Consequently, here’s an interesting (and not altogether surprising) list of the 2007’s 12 Most Dangerous Destinations:

  • Somalia
  • Iraq
  • Afghanistan
  • Democratic Republic of Congo
  • Côte d’Ivoire
  • Pakistan
  • Burundi
  • Sri Lanka
  • Haiti
  • Chad
  • Lebanon
  • Liberia

Of course, you probably don’t think of these places as vacation destinations, unless you’re a whacked-out Robert Young Pelton. However, employees of governments, oil and mining industries, and telecom industries are increasingly being dispatched to these locations. If you work for one of those groups, be certain to ask about insurance, hazard pay — and a bodyguard.

Interestingly, the piece argues that the world is NOT getting more dangerous right now. Rather, globalization and the attendant “shrinking” of the planet is largely responsible for making the world APPEAR more dangerous now than before. Whether or not you agree with that assertion, the article is interesting, and the gallery is frightening.

Awesome UNESCO Panos

by Neil Woodburn on

I’m a big fan of UNESCO World Heritage Sites and over the years have loved strolling through the official website to check out possible places to visit.

In the past, the website only had a handful of photographs to give you an idea of what to expect from a location. But now, they are moving with the times.

WorldHeritageTour.org has set up a few dozen Quicktime panographics where visitors can look up, look down, and spin around 360 degrees. Very cool! It really gives you a sense of what it is like to actually stand in front of an exotic location so very far away.

Click here to check out a world map of the locations they have shot so far. I particularly liked the ruins of Afghanistan, the Sphinx in Egypt, and lovely Samarkand.

According to the website, they’ve only completed 19 percent of “all 830 registered sites.” The site currently functions as a nonprofit, so if you like what you see and want to help them complete their job, be sure to make a donation.

Tourists Return to Kabul

by Neil Woodburn on

Wow. I figured it would be a long time before Kabul made it back into the travel section of American newspapers but when I opened up the New York Times on Sunday, there it was!

The Mysteries of Kabul, by Joshua Hammer, is your typical travel article if you overlook the fact that Afghanistan was the site of a major war somewhat recently and today still remains rather unrestful. And yet, travelers are returning according to the New York Times.

Last year 5,000 western tourists made the trek. Sure, this is a far cry from the 1970s when Kabul reigned as one of the most popular stops on the Central Asian Hippie Trail. But, it is also a great improvement over the absolute dearth that was brought on by the Russian invasion, civil war, and the post 9-11 military action.

Sure it’s still dangerous at times. And yet, as Hammer points out rather soberly, “with a few spectacular exceptions, the capital has remained violence free.” Spectacular exceptions?!?!? Not something I’d care to run across on my travels.

Nonetheless, Hammer’s account sounds very intriguing. He traveled with the Great Game Travel Company Afghanistan and explored not just the capital city, but the countryside and mountains as well. He writes fondly of expat cafes, welcoming locals, bustling bazaars, and the remnants of the Silk Road. The journey becomes slightly more depressing with a trip to the National Museum of Afghanistan (which has suffered recent lootings and destruction) as well as a visit to the OMAR Mine Museum (which better explains why there are so many missing limbs in the country).

I have to admit, I’m impressed. I had planned a trip along the Karakoram Highway and into Pakistan and Afghanistan in 1995 but was not able to go at the last moment. With all the history that has occurred in the region since then, I thought my chance to visit this corner of the world may have passed me by forever. I am happy to learn it hasn’t.

Word for the Travel Wise (01/14/07)

by Adrienne Wilson on

I’m not a collector of anything really. I have a couple of scrapbooks, old letters from friends across the globe, and my DVD’s which I’ve slacked on buying new ones recently. Nothing I have is of any value (at least now) and if I were ever to start putting together a collection of something that is, I’d go after stamps. First off, they tell so much about a place in such tiny space. They reveal history, national flowers, popular sports and religion. This web collection of Afghan stamps was fun to click around for a few minutes. They have two of Buzkashi, Islamic stamps and some depicting the Communist takeover. Good stuff and though today’s word isn’t stamp, I offer a closely related one that could be off help when mailing your letters and postcards from Kabul back home.

Today’s word is a Pashto word used in Afghanistan:

khat – letter

Pashto is spoken by 40-50 million speakers in Afghanistan, western Pakistan and northern India. It became an official language of Afghanistan in 1936. Persian or Dari is also an official language. Good example sentences, historical information and links are all found at Wikipedia. Pashto.org has video, music, downloadable dictionaries, software and book lists. Yorku.ca has a long list of words to start along your Pashto learning path for at least a few weeks. Visit the BBCPashto page if you already have some understanding of the language under your belt.

Past Pashto words: mujasemy

Polo’s Bastards Top 10 Worst Destinations

by Adrienne Wilson on

With the current conflict going on between Ethiopia and Somalia, my mind immediately began to wonder what the writers at Polo’s Bastards had been up to and what dangerous lands they’ve been exploring. Last time I checked in they’d just posted a piece on Rio’s favelas. Since then North Korea and Chechnya have also made their blog pages.

To round off the year though, Lee Ridley spent a little bit of his Christmas day highlighting some of the world’s worst destinations in 2006. Iraq assumes the position of No. 1, which doesn’t come as a shocker at all. The conflict created by the Hezbollah kidnappings of Israeli soldiers earned Lebanon the No. 10 spot, and in the middle you’ll find Haiti, Afghanistan, the entire Horn of Africa (poor Eritrea), Nepal, Chad, Chechnya and North Korea. If you’ve been in the dark concerning the political climate of these particular areas, you might want to mosey over and see what the deal is. Otherwise, just be sure to proceed with caution in the upcoming year. It is a far, far more dangerous world out there.