Hard to visit countries
 

At the very top of my list of 80 plus countries is Libya in 2005 on a small expedition cruise ship. We were told on approach that there was a possibility we might be turned away. The people were very kind to us and approached us on the street thanking us for coming. Seeing Sabratha and Leptis Magna were a very moving experience. I believe we were the only American tour company based ship which was allowed there for a very long period and afterwards it was closed up to Americans again. From what I heard other countries' ships were allowed but Americans had to stay on board. Something about Kadafis' son or nephew not being allowed into the U.S. to play soccer so no Americans were allowed into Libya in retaliation.

I've been to 129 countries so far including some of the harder ones listed, Belarus, Bhutan, Syria, North Korea and Afghanistan. Mostly what I have left is Pacific islands, Central Asia (though will be there in May), Central Africa and Eastern Europe.

Currently I'm waiting on an Iranian visa authorization, apparently it's taking ~90 days to get approval for Americans right now (and Americans have to be on a guided tour). Saudi will also be difficult to visit on anything other than a transit visa. Turkmenistan is difficult, either need an Iranian+Uzbek visa to get a transit visa, or take a guided tour. Angola is almost impossible (or very expensive) to get a tourist visa, and even transit visas are not being granted from what I hear on the lonely planet site. I've heard Algeria can be a pain to get a visa as well. Libya used to be impossible/difficult for Americans.. not sure now what the situation is.

Nigeria isn't so bad.. getting the visa was relatively easy actually. I just did a Nigeria/Cameroon/Gabon/Equatorial Guinea trip last month. I skipped out of Lagos pretty quickly though.

http://i.imgur.com/Uqe8R.png

I am dying to get to Tuvalu soon but limited flights and the expenses make it improbable.

Iran is actually very easy from Dubai. Kish Island is an Iranian duty free island where no visa's are required and flights from DXB are plentiful and cheap.

Don't ask me how I found out about this...a very sordid tale ;)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kish_Island

Thats not real Iran - there is no point just going to Kish, unless you really are just collecting countries or stamps. Its an amazing country and going to just Kish would be just wrong.

Turkmenistan - you do NOT need to be on a guided tour for a tourist (non-transit visa) on arrival. You just need an invite letter and someone needs to pick you up. You can then kick around Ashgabad on your own. I used a local agency, booked the letter, got the visa on arrival with that, they booked me 3 nights in the hotel Altyn Asyr, and then dropped me off at the Iranian border, I think all in, that cost about $350. About half of what StanTours wanted.

Lots of people I met in Mashaad, Iran were getting their transit visas for TKM there too, it was very easy. There is a wonderful guesthouse there with the owner being a wonderful source of information, and who organizes trips into the countryside. In Shiraz, one of the things not to be missed, is a night out with the nomads in the hills - these are not tourist nomads - these are the real deal, when we arrived, we were the first visitors to their "house" in 3 months.

Completely agree...but some people do just collect stamps to say they went to a place...for these people Kish is perfect. For everyone else, a trip to Iran proper is likely to be far more rewarding!

As I am just back from Haiti (Port au Prince and Jacmel), I'd say the infrastructure is not especially bad nor is it particularly dangerous if you make arrangements with knowledgeable locals. I can recommend Haiti Tours for setting up hotels, transportation, etc.

Mali through Burkina Faso is quite easy overland, by the way. You could start in Senegal and go through the Gambia on the way. A lot of people also then go to northern Ghana and on through Togo and Benin.

For the South Pacific, all roads go through Fiji. I've been to both Kiribati and the Solomon Islands and the only workable flight schedules require a day or two in Fiji in between.

I've been fascinated by the Comoros (and Mayotte, which is a French dependency) for some time, but that seems complicated, with very limited flight routes and political instability. There is a reason it is nicknamed coup-coup land.

I would say that infrastructure is haphazard. As far as dangerous is concerned, crime is a serious, although manageable issue, but dining is perhaps of more concern. My stomach is still causing me problems two weeks later, and I tend to be pretty careful with what I eat. Make sure you have your typhoid shots up-to-date.

Love the map - which site do you use to generate it? Definitely an improvement over the one on my website.

There were several vendors offering rental cars at the port. None of the big US companies though, mostly private owners who rent their fleet of cars.

A lot of them were used Japanese market vehicles, so Right Hand Drive, and a lot of buttons I couldn't read; but there were a few left hand drives as well.

It depends on what you are used to when traveling. I'd say the two hotels I stayed at were comparable to many I've stayed at in Africa - and better than a particularly notorious motel I once stayed at in Michigan.

Of the group I was with (8 total), the only illness involved someone who overindulged in Rum Babancourt.

Are you taking doxycycline as an antimalarial by any chance? I find that if I do so, I need to eat yogurt (or, I suppose, other probiotics would work) to prevent digestive issues.

Thats from travbuddy.com.
http://www.travbuddy.com/world-travel-map

Awesome - thanks! How did you get the two colours though?

Screencapture and mspaint :)