Jan 6th, 2012 at 8:30AM:
What comes to mind when you think of the world's worst place? While it is easy to complain about rural Wal-marts, La Guardia, Applebee's, and any government office with motor vehicle in its title, none of those places escalate the game from nuisance to immediate danger. All of them can be horrible, yes, but a threatened existence they do not pose.
The places on this list are the bad ...Click on a label to read posts from that part of the world.
Afghanistan posts
World's worst places: Top 10 places you do not want to visit in 2012
Jan 6th, 2012 at 8:30AM:
What comes to mind when you think of the world's worst place? While it is easy to complain about rural Wal-marts, La Guardia, Applebee's, and any government office with motor vehicle in its title, none of those places escalate the game from nuisance to immediate danger. All of them can be horrible, yes, but a threatened existence they do not pose.
The places on this list are the bad ...Major tourist site restored in Herat, Afghanistan. Please send me there!
Oct 19th, 2011 at 3:00PM:
While Afghanistan may not be high on your places-to-go list, the government is trying hard to offer more sightseeing opportunities.
A giant citadel overlooking the city of Herat has just reopened after several years and $2.4 million of restoration. The citadel dates back to when Alexander the Great's armies marched across Afghanistan on their way to India in 330 BC. It was used by a ...10 countries Americans need advance visas to visit
Aug 17th, 2011 at 12:00PM: We live in an increasingly borderless world and we have access to many countries that were closed (or non-existent) 20 years ago. As reported earlier this week, Americans are especially lucky with access to 169 countries visa free. Still, there are still many countries that Americans need advance visas to visit. Visa applications and processing services can cost several hundreds of dollars and ...Buzkashi - goats and gladiators
Mar 3rd, 2011 at 2:00PM:
In central Asia, men play a strange game on horseback. Instead of a ball, they use a goat carcass. Instead of goals, they must ride until free of challengers. Instead of minutes, the game can be measured in days. This is Buzkashi - goat grabbing.
Long established as the national sport of Afghanistan, Buzkashi is polo's drunken uncle. The sport is also played in Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, ...The burqa and niqab: can travelers get used to anything? Should they?
Jan 31st, 2011 at 11:00AM:
Travel broadens the mind, at least for most people. As we explore different cultures and beliefs we see that for the most part they're OK. While there are always local customs we just can't follow, in general the more we travel, the more accepting we become.
But how accepting should we get? I've traveled extensively in the Muslim world and I've yet to figure out exactly how I feel about the ...Photo of the Day (6.15.10)
Jun 15th, 2010 at 5:00PM:
Even when you think the world has been completely mapped and charted, this week's news that Afghanistan is sitting upon $1 trillion worth of minerals proves otherwise. After decades of war and a crippled economy, this could be a very positive turning point for the country. In light of this, I decided to dig up this photo from uncorneredmarket that shows some of Afghanistan's underestimated ...Afghanistan's first skateboarding park, Skateistan
Dec 31st, 2009 at 4:00PM:
Two years ago, a couple of Australians started teaching kids in Kabul to skateboard. For free. The activity instills them with confidence and courage, and offers them what youths all over the world want: a way to escape. "Teenagers are trying to dissociate from old mentalities, and I'm their servant," Oliver Percovich, one of the Australians, told the New York Times last January. "If they ...Afghanistan Peace day celebration gone wrong
Sep 25th, 2009 at 4:00PM:
It is Friday afternoon again, so as most of you wind up the week in your office while trying to reach a new high score, or by thinking of ways to decorate your cubical, check out this funny video.
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Afghanistan creates first national park
Sep 10th, 2009 at 12:30PM: A few weeks back we mentioned that Afghanistan has been actively trying to build tourism in an attempt to bolster the country's economy, and we even mentioned that the Bamiyan Province in particular was at the forefront of this movement. Now, the country has taken another step in that region by designating a UNESCO World Heritage Site as nation's first national park. The new park is located ...Afghanistan wants you, but you might want to wait
Jul 7th, 2009 at 1:30PM: A Tourist Information Center was just erected in Afghanistan's Bamiyan valley. Customer service lessons are in progress – already making the region friendlier than most airlines – but it may take some time before Afghanistan is ready for regular visits. After all, seven U.S. soldiers lost their lives in the war there yesterday. If you think Afghanistan is ready for western tourists, ...Five great reasons to travel now
May 20th, 2009 at 3:00PM: You've been bombarded with pessimistic accounts of the travel industry's decline. And, yes, I am fully aware that I'm part of it. Frankly, these reports are true. There is a problem – i.e., people aren't traveling – and it's driven by a combination of macroeconomic challenges and company mismanagement. But, these conditions also mean there's no time like the present to get out on the ...Afghan wildlife refuge: no hand grenade fishing
Apr 24th, 2009 at 8:00AM: Afghanistan is going green. The war-torn country has declared Band-e-Amir its first conservation area. While it may be premature to book your trip to this spectacle, at least there's hope that you'll get to enjoy it someday.
Band-e-Amir, like the rest of Afghanistan, has had a rough run over the past 30 years. Let's face it: that's how long the country's been engaged in one war or another. The ...A dozen lucky people are going to Afghanistan!
Apr 23rd, 2009 at 12:00PM: Bored with the usual travel fare? Get in touch with Poland-based Logos Travel, and you could find yourself in Afghanistan for two weeks. All 12 spots have been purchased – at prices of up to $3,700 each. Poland's Foreign Ministry doesn't think this is a bright idea, though, and issued a travel warning ... as if one were necessary.
In case you didn't know, people are fighting over there. ...Afghanistan, an accordion, 'Elvis' and Johnny Cash
Mar 31st, 2009 at 8:30AM: A friend of mine just sent me this video from the start-up Web site GlobalPost, and it's fantastic. Gregory Warner, a freelance foreign correspondent living in Afghanistan, is an avid accordion player, and he tries to use the instrument as a means to connect with the people he's covering. The way Afghans respond to his accordion music is somewhat unexpected and reveals some truths about the ...
Destination on the Edge: Kabul
Dec 29th, 2008 at 10:00AM: While the wealthy winter on St. Barth's and in St. Tropez, the adventurous need something a little different. Instead of settling for the mundane, invest in the time of your life. Go to Afghanistan. For those with an addiction to thrill, the definition of "luxury" is changing. Conspicuous consumption, a taste for exclusivity and bragging rights crystallize when you step onto the dusty Kabul turf. ...A thousand splendid "truths" about Afghanistan
Feb 18th, 2008 at 9:30AM: This weekend, I was talking to some friends about the increasing popularity of all those fiction bestsellers from other countries, namely Khaled Hosseini's "Kite Runner" and "A Thousand Splendid Suns". People like reading them in part because Hosseini is a good writer, but they also like reading them because they feel like they are learning about life in Afghanistan.
The conversation turned to ...New, tasteful hit in China: Osama bin Laden-shaped candy
Feb 13th, 2008 at 11:30AM: The things people make money on in this world are quite amazing. I especially wonder about the Osama-inspired merchandise that people seem to keep producing for some reason.
A friend sent me a link to Wired's defense blog. The author, Noah Shachtman, seems to know a thing or two about this topic. Sick of eating "baked scorpion on sticks" and "rat-shaped lollipops" in China, he is marveling over ...One for the Road: Colour - Travels Through the Paintbox
Nov 27th, 2007 at 9:00AM: This book beckoned me from a front table at Artisan Books on Gertrude St. in Melbourne's Fitzroy neighborhood. The 2006 paperback version I bought has the bold cover shown here, although I've seen several other versions of this book that was originally released in 2002. Regardless of what it looks like, Victoria Finlay's Colour: Travels Through The Paintbox is a masterpiece. Just as I enjoy ...America's Next Top Model, Afghani-style
Oct 5th, 2007 at 8:53PM: Imagine models dressed prudishly in jackets and long pants strutting their stuff on a low-budget TV would hardly seem the stuff of controversy to most of us, but in the Middle East, it has the potential to raise a few eyebrows. It's true -- a version of America's Top Model has now hit the most unlikely of places: Afghanistan. Of all the bits of American culture to adopt, they just had to pick that ...Savvy Traveler: Arab vs Muslim
Aug 24th, 2007 at 4:05PM: It is a little frightening how many people use the terms "Arab" and "Muslim" interchangeably. Shows how much we know about that region of the world even after years of being intimately involved with the Middle East. One often hears that people say "Arabs" when referring to Iranians. They are actually not Arabs; they are primarily Persians. Yes, they might practice Islam but that's another story. ...
