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Whether you're at home or abroad, you can't let fear dominate your life. People who are afraid to travel to "dangerous" countries are probably the same people who are afraid to eat groceries past the best-by date, or wear clothes from a thrift shop, or drink out of a glass used by somebody else.
I note that Mr. Newman, age 85, was released by North Korea after being held for a month. He is a Korean War veteran and evidently the North Koreans grabbed him giving some idea of just how thorough their records are. Personally, I am Vietnam vet as well as Desert Storm. I have been asked by a buddy to make a trip to VN. I turned him down. Not interested for any number of reasons but the whole idea of going to a 3d world country with a shaky history with the US chills me.
I've no idea what possessed Newman to go to North Korea for goodness sakes. Other Americans have gone there and wound up being held. Nuts!
I don't get the whole idea of wanting to visit some country where the medical support is almost non-existent or the authorities are flaky on human rights realizing of course the same thing can be said for the USA in some isolated examples.
I also realize you can visit any US city and become a victim of some criminal but overseas is a wholly different matter especially in North Korea or a Pakistan etc.
Any sense of adventure I had in my youth has long since departed. I find plenty of countries to visit where things seem a bit more organized and functioning.
What say ye?
I have been to many places in Pakistan and I can tell you that it depends on where in the country you are travelling. I visited the Northern Areas near the border with India and China and there was no safety issues. Hell I even visited the "unsafe" areas and there wasn't any problems. When you are in the mountains you will find a lot of tourists from different countries.
Also certain cities are safe like Islamabad and Lahore...
It is quite a beautiful country though which is having security issues thanks to the war next door in Afghanistan. I hope to visit soon again one day. Also I feel just as free in Pakistan than I do in the US. Hell I feel like I can get away with doing a lot more since its easy to bribe police and other officials.
You're fine in China as long as you stay with a tour group or in a touristy area; otherwise the police will watch or may detain you.
Wellll...yes and no. You can go to China on your own. I go there on business. It's safe. Yes you have to deal with a paranoid government that watches it's visitors to some extent, particularly those that visit on business (yeah, I have some stories), but it's nothing like N. Korea level. They won't detain you. They have diplomatic relationship with the US, and they are sensitive to the safety and well being of their visitors. My company actually has American expats working and living there. No it's definetly NOT a free country, but it's not this commie police state anymore.
And as someone said, the worst danger (really, just annoyances) are the touts selling fake Rolexs and/or the working girls selling themselves in Shanghai.
I spent two years of my life in Northern Iraq. Aside from the violence, I also saw some of the most beautiful things that I'm likely to ever see in my life. This probably sounds crazy, but a part of me wants to go back. I understand the veteran who wanted to go back to North Korea. Maybe he carried out operations there. Maybe that's where he lost a close friend or made a close ally friend.
All of that said, I would rank North Korea at the bottom of my safe travel destinations list. It is hard to say how bad street crime is because we aren't given this information about NK, but corrupt government officials add a whole new dimension of danger when traveling in a place like that. Even in Eastern Europe this is a problem.
I would also like to mention that those hikers who were hiking in Kurdistan were hiking on incredibly rugged mountains with mine fields. You really need a Kurd to guide you and they are very aware of the borders. What I'm saying is that you don't get to where they were on accident. I've always been very suspicious about their story.
Are you referring to the climbing group- they were a team of hardcore Alpinists and Climbers. Travel to very sketchy places just comes with the territory when you play that game. Most of the of best unclimbed lines just happen to be in dangerous places. It is always a risky game.
Their story is that they didn't know they were so close to the border and they thought that Ahmed Awa was a safe place to visit. They only hiked a bit further and were detained. I am simply suspicious that they were trying to do some rogue documentary work, is all. Here are some links that describe the beauty of the waterfalls and support my claims:
On the flipside, it wouldn't be the first time that somebody has been arrested for purely political reasons outside of the territory of the arresting nation. I think the important thing to remember here is that sometimes you can be in a very safe country (like South Korea), but you need to be cognizant of the dangers present in a neighboring country. Don't take it for granted that you won't end up in the center of some political battle of ego's.
Their story is that they didn't know they were so close to the border and they thought that Ahmed Awa was a safe place to visit. They only hiked a bit further and were detained. I am simply suspicious that they were trying to do some rogue documentary work, is all. Here are some links that describe the beauty of the waterfalls and support my claims:
On the flipside, it wouldn't be the first time that somebody has been arrested for purely political reasons outside of the territory of the arresting nation. I think the important thing to remember here is that sometimes you can be in a very safe country (like South Korea), but you need to be cognizant of the dangers present in a neighboring country. Don't take it for granted that you won't end up in the center of some political battle of ego's.
O/P Ollie....I am with you on this, way to many beautiful safe places to visit.
I have always wanted to go to Margarita Island but from where I live that means an over night stay coming and going in Caracas..no thank you
Location: RI, MA, VT, WI, IL, CA, IN (that one sucked), KY
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Originally Posted by njkate
O/P Ollie....I am with you on this, way to many beautiful safe places to visit.
I have always wanted to go to Margarita Island but from where I live that means an over night stay coming and going in Caracas..no thank you
Caracas isn't bad, certainly fine to spend one night in!
I note that Mr. Newman, age 85, was released by North Korea after being held for a month. He is a Korean War veteran and evidently the North Koreans grabbed him giving some idea of just how thorough their records are. Personally, I am Vietnam vet as well as Desert Storm. I have been asked by a buddy to make a trip to VN. I turned him down. Not interested for any number of reasons but the whole idea of going to a 3d world country with a shaky history with the US chills me.
Vietnam is basically fine for tourists these days. My parents visited on a cruise ship vacation and liked it so much they went back again. My father, a Vietnam vet(served in the air force as a pilot) felt fine visiting Vietnam and talking to people(actually got several different perspectives on the war).
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