Dangerous Holidays
AXIS of evil! Fancy going there on your annual two weeks off? Not likely I’d imagine but many people do choose to have their one big holiday a year in just such a place. Parts of the Middle East were described thus by US President George Bush and that, along with certain other phrases such as ‘friendly fire’, are not what you’d like to hear in reference to your chosen holiday destination. Imagine the packing; pyjamas? Check, suntan lotion? Check, bullet proof vest? Check. So why do they do it?
Most of us holiday in order to relax, unwind and to de-stress from the daily rigour of modern life. Others it seems opt for a bit more drama. Who, in their right mind, would choose to holiday in such inhospitable countries as Afghanistan and the potential danger zone of Iran? Jonny Bealby, adventurer, writer and proprietor of Wild Frontiers Adventure Travel says; “This is a very niche market but people are beginning to realise there is more to these countries than is portrayed on the news. The story on the ground in places like Afghanistan is very different.”
The Department of Foreign Affairs advises against all travel to Afghanistan and states: “The security situation remains serious and the threat to Westerners from terrorist or criminal violence, including kidnappings, remains high. If you consider your presence in Afghanistan is essential, you should have adequate and continuous close security arrangements.” Clearly this is not a holiday for the faint hearted. I’m an en-suite and room service girl myself and find it hard to understand the allure. But Jonny tells me; “Some people want more then beach towel and barbeques. Being in a country is not just about sightseeing, it’s about experiencing what the people who live there experience. Our customers have home stays where they get to share the life of a local. For instance getting up at dawn, milking a cow, turning the milk into lassi for breakfast. They then prepare the evening meal in a traditional way with the wife of the house and eat it from a banana leaf as they do. You may be sleeping in a rope bed with a Hindu tribe one night and with Buddhist monks the next.”
Ken Jordan who travelled with Wild Frontiers to Afghanistan last year said it was an experience of a lifetime. “The place is amazing, the people, the landscape, unlike anything I had ever seen before. We travelled up in to the Himalayas where the contrast of dark and light is stunning. Parts of the mountain are so high it’s impassable. We travelled to a place on the Tajik boarder that had undiscovered civilisations, a whole Greek city that had never been excavated.”
One of the most enduring memories is of the people themselves, he says; “Afghanistan is a country that has been under siege for decades. The man in the street isn’t responsible for that but they have to live with it. As a result they are real survivors and incredibly warm-hearted. They seemed genuinely pleased to see foreigners who aren’t part of the armed forces or UN military. We were never asked for money, never flogged souvenirs and those you meet would share whatever they could spare with you, no matter how little they had. You come away feeling humbled with a sense of helplessness over what people there have been through.”
The country is littered with old tanks and you see many villages that have been destroyed by warfare. He says he never felt in danger himself although four European aid workers were shot and killed outside a mosque that they had been visiting the previous day. They were targeted at random because as westerners they stood out. A little unnerving but he says that would not put him off going back. “I’m very fatalistic about life, I’d rather go being happy for what I’ve done then regretting not doing it.” Ken is pictured with a village elder next to a Russian tank in Afghanistan. He says the villagers took great pride in recounting the whole story. How the Russians had occupied the village, destroyed many of the houses and then used this tank as a threat against any further unrest. One night the Mujahideen launched an attack on the tank and managed to get a grenade in through the hatch killing all occupants. The tank is so heavy, and facilities so limited, that it seems doomed to remain on the village street as a permanent memorial.
Jonny says he takes the safety of his customers very seriously and has constant safety information passed on to him from people on the ground. As an experienced traveller he has spent months in and round Afghanistan and has built up excellent contacts. However, Control Risks, a company set up to advice corporations on staying safe in the world’s most dangerous places have rated Afghanistan as high risk. According to them visitors face the threat of kidnapping and assassination, especially outside of Kabul. They say former Taliban and al-Qaida operatives remain at large, and attacks with improvised explosive devices are on the rise. Large areas of the country are heavily land-mined or strewn with unexploded ordnance.
Tracy Munford, a regional manager with Leisure Connection in Essex has recently returned from an all action holiday in Kazakhstan. Why? A thirty something good-looking single professional woman; wouldn’t’ somewhere on the Mediterranean be more appropriate? “I wanted to go there because I thought it would be like Dubai was a decade ago when no tourists went there, unspoilt beauty. It doesn’t yet realise its natural assets and so they haven’t been exploited by tourism. The country is breath-takingly beautiful and everything is so cheap.”
Tracy’s two week adventure involved crossing over the border into Kyrgyzstan, taking a helicopter ride over glaciers, horse riding through the mountains, white water rafting and biking through deserted landscapes. “It was incredibly well organised. We camped at night in the middle of nowhere then woke up in the morning to find that a truck had delivered our bikes up to us while we slept. There are so many high spots it’s hard to highlight just one but I particularly loved the hot springs. They were nearly too hot to bare but running along side these hot springs is a freezing river that came down from the mountain.”
The Dept of Foreign Affairs offers comprehensive advice on Kyrgyzstan and states: “There is a history of terrorist activity and armed violence. Mugging and theft regularly occur in both cities and rural areas and foreigners are a particular target. There have been reports of thefts committed by uniformed police officers and gangs.”
When I think of Iran I have images of the Ayatollah Khomeini parading the streets with burning banners and men carrying Kalashnikovs hidden behind head scarves; or of Bush accusing the country of terrorist collusion. I do not think, ‘hmm lovely place for a vacation’. But there is a lot to this country that I did not know. For example Iran has one of the oldest histories in the world, extending nearly 6,000 years and it was a founding member of the UN. Their culture and traditions, though complicated, are very warm such as the way they treat foreigners and the elderly.
They have the world’s oldest human rights declaration called the Cyrus Cylinder which pre-dates the Magna Carta by one millennium.
It’s not so much the civil unrest that makes the news these days but the deteriorating relationship with the west. The British Foreign Office says there is a general threat from terrorism and explosions which have killed a number of people since 2005. Attacks could be indiscriminate, including in places frequented by expatriate and foreign travellers. The Dept of Foreign Affairs advises against travel to certain regions of Iran. However that did not deter one intrepid holiday maker, a Mrs. Malina Shaw from Sussex, from deciding it would make a great spot for her annual hols. She said having heard so much about it on the news she wanted to find out for herself what it is like and didn’t feel concerned about her safety. “I was more worried that I might feel out of place in an alien culture, but I didn’t. It was a chance to experience a place that hasn’t yet been westernised. The history of the place is overwhelming, the sight seeing is amazing. Isfahan in particular is such a beautiful city and the ancient history of the place is really quite humbling.”
Melina travelled with Bales Worldwide on their Persian Heritage tour. Mark Bennetts of Bales says: “Our local office is excellent and ensures clients are kept well away from any trouble spots.
The areas visited by tourists are very safe and Iranians themselves are extremely hospitable and welcoming. People choose to come because it is a little bit different and also because it has not been spoilt by tourism.”
Melina says that because of terrorism there are many security checks at points of interest and armed security forces around the place. But most people complained more about the dress code then that. “It can be very hot under the clothes, having to have your head covered all the time, no hair showing at all. Women must wear trousers with a tunic top over it so you can’t see your body shape at all. One person on our tour didn’t quite conform to this and wasn’t treated quite so well as the rest of us I noted.” In terms of comfort and quality Melina says the hotels are very good, possibly because they are ironically all American such as the Four Seasons. Despite this her husband stayed home and she travelled with a friend. “He prefers to go somewhere less unusual, like France.”
www.wildfrontiers.co.uk / tel; 0044 (0) 20 77363968
www.balesworldwide.com / tel: 0044 (0)845 057 1819