# War-zone Vacations



## George Wallace (10 Dec 2010)

There is no end to stupidity:

Reproduced under the Fair Dealings provisions of the Copyright Act.

*Consumer News *


*War-zone vacations pitched to tourists*

10/12/2010 1:28:27 PM
CBC News

LINK 

*Think of a packaged vacation, and Iraq likely doesn't come to mind.*


But a Swiss-based travel agency is offering just that: organized tours of six war-torn or inaccessible places not typically on the average traveller's destination list, but likely flagged on many governments' "avoid all travel" list.

The destinations include Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, North Korea, Somaliland and Sudan, with plans to add trips to Yemen, Burma, Colombia, Sierra Leone and Liberia.

The agency, Babel Travel, partnered with Robert Young Pelton, author of The World's Most Dangerous Places and an avid explorer who runs a website, Comebackalive.com.

Kevin Pollard, founder and managing director of Babel Travel, says he contacted Pelton about creating the trips because he wanted to tap into the "extraordinary access" and "range of on-the-ground contacts" Pelton has accumulated during his three decades in conflict zones.

Offering packaged trips to war-torn and inaccessible countries is not new. But Pollard says his company is the first to offer a wide spectrum of dangerous destinations, whereas other travel companies focus on selling tours to one country or just a few. And he says none offer trips to Somaliland or the areas Babel Travel tour companies will visit in Sudan.

The trips won't appeal to every budget. A trip lasting 11 to 22 days can cost from $8,000 to $19,000 Cdn, excluding airfare and insurance.

Nor is the travel agency aiming to appeal to every tourist.

"This is a trip for those who 'do,' not watch," the website proclaims.

The agency promises the highest level of security and requires that customers be fully insured. While baggage loss and trip cancellation insurance would suffice for many vacations, kidnapping and terrorism are additional worries in countries fighting wars.

Dubbed "cultural engagement" trips, Pelton designed each trip to include a local and western leader. He says it's important for people to understand such inaccessible countries.

But Jennifer Laing, a lecturer in the Tourism Research Unit at Australia's Monash University, says the expansion of frontier travel into packaged tours is not just about education, but a sign of a trend toward travellers seeking out a more novel experience.

"People are sick of the same old places and mass travel and are looking for something new and exciting," Laing said. That such "frontier travel" is risky adds to the appeal, giving travellers an "element of prestige."

And, she said, it has an added benefit: "[It's] great for dropping into a dinner party conversation."


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## hold_fast (10 Dec 2010)

I didn't think Sudan was _that_ bad... my brother and mother went there for Christmas last year, as they're with a foundation that's building a school there.


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## GAP (10 Dec 2010)

And these twits will be the first to cry  "Government MUST help me" when they get kidnapped/assaulted/killed.....dumb, just plain dumb...make them sign a waiver before they go....


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## opp550 (10 Dec 2010)

> And, she said, it has an added benefit: "[It's] great for dropping into a dinner party conversation."



Really? One should risk their life just so they can have something to talk about?



			
				George Wallace said:
			
		

> There is no end to stupidity



I think you nailed the issue right on the head.


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## dogger1936 (11 Dec 2010)

Great HLTA ideas!


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## Thompson_JM (11 Dec 2010)

a few of my buddies and I joked about going to Iraq on our HLTA, just to spice things up....

We settled for Australia instead.... 

I think it was the better choice.... My buddy found his rental car amusing..... White Toyota Corolla.....


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## PMedMoe (11 Dec 2010)

I read this yesterday.  Some great comments on the CBC link:



> "Do" not watch.
> 
> Sounds like a great recruiting slogan for the Canadian Forces. Please consider joining up. Otherwise...please consider donating some of that extra cash to one of the many NGO's/charities that are busy doing...not watching.
> 
> Warzones are sites of suffering and empoverishment where human dignity is reduced. They are not for entertainment or sighseeing. Everyone is entitled to their opportunity but I hope the discerning traveller isn't going to a warzone to have a good look at suffering in order to have something to talk about over canapes.





> Call today and YOU will receive your very own flack vest and bodyguard. Wait, there’s more. If you bring a friend, you’ll also receive 10% off your travel insurance. Benefits include, death allowance of $300.00, hostage pay of $5.00 per day and we’ll also send you a t-shirt with the logo “sucker” on the back. Please hurry as tickets are selling fast!



My favorite, which may have been removed was "Adventure, eh?  Tell it to the Donner party."   ;D


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## Journeyman (11 Dec 2010)

From the title, I thought this was a thread on NDHQ's Staff Annoyance Visits.


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## jollyjacktar (11 Dec 2010)

Journeyman said:
			
		

> From the title, I thought this was a thread on NDHQ's Staff Annoyance Visits.



 :cheers:   ;D


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## George Wallace (12 Dec 2010)

There are always folks who don't heed any warnings or pay attention to news reports:

Reproduced under the Fair Dealings provisions of the Copyright Act.


> *Meet Mogadishu's 'first tourist'
> *
> 
> December 12, 2010
> ...



Now, not to dissuade anyone from visiting Somalia, but last year a member of my unit took his Release and went off to Somalia to teach English, against all advice not to by his peers here.  I have not heard of him since.


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## opp550 (12 Dec 2010)

> "I did not know the part of the country the government controls was so incredibly small," he said.





> The traveller said he would have been keen to meet the tourism minister to raise the issue of tourist guides and guidebooks for Somalia, which he found to be in very short supply when he planned his trip in the region.
> 
> "But to my surprise, Somalia has no such minister on the cabinet list," said Bown, adding that he would post information on the Internet for globetrotters wishing to emulate him.



Did this guy even try to do research? Did he just figure "Oh, I haven't been there yet, it will be fun!"?

I'm surprised he came back as happy and cheery as he seems to have.


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## Redeye (14 Dec 2010)

Robert Young Pelton runs a great site, comebackalive.com with tourism info for such places.  He actually wrote a book that was essentially a Lonely Planet guide to places like Somalia.

Sadly, the site has been substantially revamped and the guide to Somalia, which was particularly funny, has disappeared.


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## Danjanou (14 Dec 2010)

Ok define warzone? I've been a couple of places on that list, and not in uniform/on deployment. 

The Thai Burmese border may not have been club med, but it was a change from the smog and traffic of Bangkok.  Been to northern Colombia several times and enjoyed it immensely, aside from the VCPs stopping my cab enroute to the Casino. The gentle lull of FARC gunfire from the nearby hills was actually almost relaxing as the surf most evenings, and considering the lousy TV reception in my room, entertaining too.   ;D

Sometimes it's luck of the draw, like being in Cuba, when Fidel throws one of his hissy fits and splashes a couple of  Miami exile plans and then looses his DGI troops on the streets, or an anti government riot in Venezuela, or finding yourself at the border when Belize and Guatemala decide to start trading rounds again.

D9 doesn't seem to share my juvenile innocent sense of wonder though. The expression on her face on our Honeymoon in the DR when I suggested a hop across the border to Haiti was priceless. Mind she did enjoy herself and does do the name drop at parties I've noticed.

I'm Just checking flights to Asia now fro next month . Surprisingly I can save a few bucks if I route through Seoul right now. Hey why not I'm technically flying into a war zone in the Southern Philippines anyway.  8)


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## daftandbarmy (15 Dec 2010)

PJ O'Rourke's been there, done that and pulished a pretty good book about it years ago: Holidays in Hell. Imagine my suprise on reading it that the last story concerend an incident in which I was peripherally involved. He even got it pretty much right, from an uninformed civvy's point of view, bless 'im.

http://www.amazon.ca/Holidays-Hell-Intrepid-Reporter-Travels/dp/0802137016

The main leasson is that unless you're 'playing the game', people generally tend to look after - or ignore - you, which squares with what I've seen.


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