Destination: Iraq
Back to Iraq?
by Michael Yessis | 07.15.03 | 11:34 PM ET
Are people ready to travel to Iraq? Absolutely. Travel + Leisure reports that some adventure travel tour companies are already taking reservations for future trips. “A bunch of people have already signed up for a tour that doesn’t even exist yet,” Geographic Expeditions spokesman John Sugnet told T+L’s Bonnie Tsui. This September, the company will make an exploratory trip to gauge the situation. They hope to begin tours in spring 2004.
UPDATE: The U.S. State Department today lifted its 12-year-old restriction on visits to Iraq, according to USA Today. “[W]e still don’t think it’s a good idea to go to Iraq right now,” one official said. Duh.
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Yahoo! BuzzTalking About ‘Baghdad Without a Map’
by Jim Benning | 04.09.03 | 3:49 PM ET
Tony Horowitz, the journalist and travel writer who wrote ‘Baghdad Without a Map’, fielded questions from a Los Angeles radio show host Tuesday about his experiences in the city now under seige. Host Kitty Felde had an old map of Baghdad and was hoping Horowitz could describe the city’s layout and landmarks. But as Horowitz explained by phone, he never had a map of Baghdad. They’d been outlawed during his visit. (Hence, of course, the title of his book.) So he could only recall what he had seen. To hear their conversation, click here and scroll down to “Iraq 101: An Audio Tour of Baghdad.”
Jeff Greenwald: Travel During War
by Jim Benning | 04.01.03 | 8:17 PM ET
As war rages in Iraq, Jim Benning speaks with the travel writer about his anti-war stand, his call for Americans to journey abroad, and his new organization, Ethical Traveler
Iraq Guidebooks are Selling Like There’s No Tomorrow
by Jim Benning | 02.26.03 | 3:36 PM ET
That’s according to UK publisher Hilary Bradt, who told This is Local London that Bradt Travel Guides’ Iraq book has sold all 4,000 copies that were printed last May. The article also contained this intriguing line: “Bradt Travel Guides was also contacted by an official from Washington who requested a copy of the book.” Does the U.S. have the best damn intelligence-gathering force on the planet or what?
Holiday in Iraq
by Jim Benning | 12.20.02 | 3:44 PM ET
Believe it or not, Johann Hari recently signed up for a package tour to Iraq (yes, they do exist). In a thoughtful story about his trip in The Guardian (UK), he describes the surprisingly warm reception he received. “Again and again, it was startling how little anger there was towards Brits and Americans,” Hari writes. “[Fellow package tourist] Sean walked about rather indelicately wearing a New York City T-shirt and Nike trainers, yet received nothing but friendly hellos and waves in Baghdad. In Basra, one person asked nicely where he was from, and when he said the U.S., the man recoiled and said, ‘Goodbye, sir.’ That was the full extent of the aggression we received from the Iraqi people.”
The Critics: The Carpet Wars
by Jim Benning | 06.01.02 | 1:05 AM ET
In “The Carpet Wars,” Australian writer Christopher Kremmer travels a route through Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Iran, India and other countries to investigate the region’s carpet trade. Morag Fraser of The Age raves,”[It’s] a source of vivid, unexpected pleasure—sharp as the air in the Afghan mountains.” Washington Post reviewer Tracy Lee Simmons is a bit more subdued with her praise: “This book, in its sobriety, puts a human and—despite the random, ritualistic violence—oddly sympathetic face on a part of the world that history, ancient and modern, has brought home to all of us.” Simmons also reviews Tony Perrottet’s “Route 66 A.D.” She notes that it’s “a splendid trip with two gutsy companions, and, by the end, the reader needs a shower as much as they do.”
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