In a recent conversation with a traveler friend of mine, we got onto the topic of places we wouldn’t go if we were given a free ticket. Both of us being fairly adventurous travelers, it was a pretty short list on either side.
But it begs the question of what people are willing to accept as vacation. Many people I know want to go to the beach, plop down on the sand, have their feet rubbed and read the latest Dan Brown book (the cripple did it, regardless of what book you’re reading).
Others, want to get the highest “adventure” value out of their dollar and would prefer to chew on tree roots in the Peruvian jungle with pygmies. Each voyage has its own spot on the travel spectrum; I’d like to think that I lean a little further to the adventure side vs. the posh side, but there are times when I’ve broken down and checked into the Club Med.
At the top of my list of places to see if it was paid for? Afghanistan. As Cassie Biggs of the AP recently found out, the underground tourism industry in the war torn country does exist, its just a matter of having the courage and money to make the trip. Personally, I would one day like to see the site of the Bamyan Buddhas and the fields of poppies that are supposed to blanket the countryside. Some day, I guess.
The three places I wouldn’t go? Iraq, Sudan and Somalia. What are yours?
For the record, a great documentary on the destruction of the Bamyan Buddhas can be found here.