Suggestions For Free Trip Anywhere (cruise, cost, Paris, gift)

[emathias]

My brother has gifted me a trip to anywhere in the world of my choosing and I'm having a hard time deciding on where to go.

I'm an American, and reasonably well traveled, so, because I know he can afford it, I'd like to really take full advantage and pick somewhere unusual.

I'm pretty open to anywhere. My two first choices have been ruled out:

First choice was Yemen, and although I have a decent tolerance for risk the fact they're basically in a state of civil war pretty much rules that out.

Second choice was Iran, but the recent budget bill apparently included a section requiring additional visa checks for people who have been to Iran, and that might require European nations to reciprocate, which would eliminate our visa waiver status if we went to Iran and neither my brother nor I would like to forego our visa waiver status.

So, I'm looking for suggestions that are unusual destinations for Americans and are either interesting historic sites, interesting nature sites, or interesting for some other reason. We're both seasoned travelers. I want it to be somewhere I haven't already been, and outside the US, so the international places I've been are Paris, London, Lyon, Geneva, Stockholm, Oslo, Bergen, Helsinki, St. Petersburg, Moscow, Khabarovsk, Irkutsk, Novosibirsk, Barcelona, Madrid, Panama, Toronto, Andorra, Istanbul, Beijing, Shanghai, Nanjing, and the Yucatan in Mexico, My brother has also been to Italy, India, the Seychelles, Copenhagen, Peru, Korea, Hong Kong, Australia and Costa Rica, so ideally not those places, either.

He speaks Spanish. I speak a smidgen of Russian and Mandarin. But we're both fine being places where we don't speak the language.

I'm having a hard time making a decision.

To give you an idea, other places I've considered (I haven't ruled them out, so feel free to give me endorsements for them):
Egypt
Jordan
North Korea
Sudan
Namibia
Berlin
Morocco
Madagascar
Bhutan
More of Turkey outside of Istanbul
Turkmenistan
Any of the *stan countries
Some other part of China
(basically parts of the ancient Silk Road)
Some other part of Russia
Algeria
Tunisia
Argentina
Chile
and/or a road trip between Argentina and Chile
Bali (we have a cousin there)
Tokyo and/or Osaka

[jlawrence01]

Dutch Harbor, AK

[jaypee]

The Republic of Nauru.

[Chava61]

Israel!

[Jkgourmet]

Cape Town, South Africa with a side trip to the Eastern Cape for safari (malaria free zone ).

[beachmouse]

You could add on a cruise to Antarctica to a Chile/Argentina route.

[John7777]

Morocco might be interesting. Or, how about Mongolia?

[Gardyloo]

How long do you have and do you have any time-of-year limitations?

For me, given your joint BTDT places, I'd do a road trip around South Africa. SA offers astonishing climate, geography, and cultural diversity, breathtaking beauty, and it's very affordable but with very high standards of facilities and infrastructure.

I'd start in the north (around Kruger NP) in late August or early September (dry season, no bugs) and work south to end in the Western Cape.

[Eazine]

Originally Posted by beachmouse

You could add on a cruise to Antarctica to a Chile/Argentina route.

Second this - how about Patagonia to Anartica? That's a trip of a lifetime. From what I've read, you get what you pay for and since the boats have to be equipped specifically for icy conditions it's not cheap. I'm not suggesting you gouge your brother - only that this trip isn't typically affordable for a lot of people so it may be a good opportunity if you're actually interested in seeing it.

[likable]

I have been to over forty countries and no where I have been compares to India for intellectual and cultural stimulation.