Thursday Thriller: Going Where You Ain’t Supposed To!

I’ve done pretty well heading off the normal tourist trail and heading where you ‘ain’t supposed to go’. I’ve found that the areas I was most afraid of were the most friendly.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office website has this to say:

Advise against all travel to:
* Somalia

Advise against all travel to parts of:
* Afghanistan * Albania * Azerbaijan * Burundi * Cambodia * Cameroon * Chad
* Colombia * Congo (Democratic Republic) * Djibouti * Ecuador * Eritrea * Ethiopia
* Georgia * Haiti * India * Iran * Iraq * Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories
* Lebanon * Mali * Mauritania * Niger * Nigeria * Pakistan * Philippines
* Russian Federation * Sri Lanka * Sudan * Thailand * Uganda * Venezuela * Yemen

I cycled from London to Cape Town in 2005-2006 and from Korea to Cape Town: the Axis of Evil by Bike in 2007-2008 and went to 13 of these countries. George Bush famously labelled Iraq, Iran and North Korea as the Axis of Evil. Both Iran and Iraq are stunningly beautiful places and when the troubles come to an end in Iraq I’m sure tourism will play a large part in its regeneration. North Korea is by far the most interesting country I’ve ever been to. The difference from the South Korean and US propaganda I was fed in whilst teaching for a year in South Korea was incredible. I’m not saying I agree with the government in the North but their commitment to and pride in staying Korean is commendable.

This week I’ve got three amazing videos from Iraq, Afghanistan and the Congo.

Skiing in Iraq

Two guys set off in search of skiiing in Iraq. The guys head to Northern Iraq in Kurdistan which has always been the safest part of the country.

Skating in Afghanistan

Skateistan is a fantastic project in Kabul aiming to help internally displaced kids. They run projects building ramps and skateparks and teaching both boys and girls how to skate. Follow them here on their website and here on twitter.

Canoeing down the Congo

Now this is amazing. Congo is stunningly beautiful and my time in Kinshasa and Bas Congo was amazing, but the entire length of the Congo in a canoe? Brilliant.

If you liked this then you’ll like these:

Thursday Thriller: Space
Thursday Thriller: Running
Thursday Thriller: Swimming
Thursday Thriller: Two Wheels
Thursday Thriller: Extreme Thrills
Thursday Thriller: Surfing