Traveling in a Complex World

Home | Site Map | Contact

Posted: July 7, 2004

Things seem to be more complicated around the world these days, at least compared to a few decades ago. The threat of terrorism seems to be heightened and there are always uncontrollable circumstances that could affect travel plans at any time. In addition to international travel advisories and reports from fellow travellers, we used a decent dose of common sense to choose where and when to travel. However, we certainly don't believe in living in a shell and giving into fears generated by terrorism; we definitely feel that sometimes things occur that are beyond your control, but you simply can't put your life on hold because of this.

The list below does paint a pretty bleak picture of certain parts of the world. However, the purpose of this column isn't to recognize ourselves for being risk-takers or to discourage people from traveling. We simply want to illustrate the point that while the world is an amazing place, there are serious problems that people face on a daily basis; these are often things that we could never even imagine at home. We've taken wonderful pictures and have great stories to tell from our travels, but we also know that every day there are people suffering in some part of the world. Being in these places ourselves seemed to drive this point home much more than seeing a 30 second clip on the evening news.

Mombassa, Kenya	Bombing and Missile Attack - November 2002 The car bombing attack on the Paradise Hotel in the resort town of Mombassa killed 16 including 10 Kenyans, three Israelis and the three bombers. About five minutes before the hotel explosion, unknown attackers fired two missiles at a Boeing 757 Israeli charter aircraft owned by Arkia Airlines as it left Mombasa airport bound for Tel Aviv, Israel. The pilots avoided the SA-7 rockets and landed safely in Israel with all 271 passengers and crew unhurt. We had visited Mombassa two years prior to this attack on a separate trip.
Syria, Lebanon, Jordan	Invasion of Iraq - March 2003 Because of the US decision to start bombing Iraq and the uncertainty of traveling to a region made unstable by war, we decided to remove Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan from our itinerary. But with the benefit of hindsight, we wished that we had not made the decision to not go, as we encountered several travellers who had visited these three countries in the last year with no incident whatsoever.
Nairobi, Kenya	Terrorist Threat - June 2003 British Airways had cancelled their flight from London to Nairobi, with terrorists apparently threatening to shoot down a BA flight over Kenya. We had been making alternative arrangements to get to Nairobi, but the flight ban was lifted just before we were scheduled to depart for Kenya. We were on the second flight out on July 4, 2003. We saw no visible indications of any terrorist activity in Nairobi, aside from reduced tourism.
Casablanca, Morocco	Bombing - May 2003 Five explosions, including three car bombs, went off at night in Casablanca killing at least 20 people and injuring several others. Three booby-trapped cars exploded in front of the Belgian consulate, according to MAP, and another bomb exploded near Casa De Espana, a Spanish social club and restaurant. Spain was an ally of the United States and Britain in the war against Iraq; Belgium was not. We did not see any signs of unrest when we were in Casablanca.
Lisbon, Portugal	Forest Fires - August 2003 A tremendous heat wave hit southern Europe in August 2003, with thousands of people killed in heat-related incidents. While traveling through Spain and Portugal at that time, we experienced temperatures in the mid-40's. We saw several forest fires in Portugal while driving from Porto to Lisbon. At least 11 people were killed in the fires as thousands of firefighters and soldiers attempted to contain 72 blazes caused by high temperatures and fanned by strong winds.
Istanbul, Turkey	Bombings - October 2003 There have been several bombing incidents in Istanbul in the past year, one occuring on a street we walked down just a month after we were there. Turkish authorities blamed the attacks on the al-Qaida network and several arrests have ensued. Friends we made in the hospitality industry in Istanbul have told us that customer activity has dropped so much that their lack of bookings is jeapardizing their ability to stay in business.
Mumbai, India	Bombing - November 2003 We visited the Gate of India, the monument in Mumbai that was the site of a bombing incident in August 2003, just three months prior to our visit. We did not know that this was the site until after we visited; as there were hundreds of people walking around the area, there was no indication that anything untoward occured there. A pair of car bombs exploded in lunchtime crowds killing 44 people and wreaking havoc at a crowded jewelry market and the Gate of India. More than 150 people were wounded.
Nepal	Civil War - Ongoing Six years of rebellion by Nepal's Maoist guerillas has cost the lives of more than 3,000 people and battered the Himalayan kingdom's already weak economy. The government calls them terrorists, but Maoist leaders say they are fighting on behalf of the majority rural poor to rid the country of a feudal system that favors only a small urban elite. We were also stopped by Maoists while trekking in the Annapurna region; our guide paid the "tourist donation" tax with little incident. In addition to seeing armed forces in the streets, Winston was once frisked in Pokhara one night by government troops. Unfortunately, the situation deteriorated since we left in November, but there appears to be a cease fire at the time of writing.
Northern Morocco	Earthquake - February 2004 An earthquake measuring 6.3 on the Richter scale struck the small towns of Imzouren and Ait Kamara in the north eastern province of Al Hoceima. The village of Ait Kamara was completely destroyed; over 600 people died. We visited a town just a few hours away from there six months prior to this natural disaster.
Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia	Avian Flu - February 2004 An outbreak of "Chicken Flu" in South East Asia in January 2004 resulted in thousands of chickens being removed from market and slaughtered. Several deaths resulted in Vietnam, Thailand, and China, sparking fears that a worldwide pandemic similar to that in 1918 could result. We stopped ordering chicken in southern Vietnam, but ate a fair bit of chicken in Cambodia. In Thailand, we made some effort to avoid it, but inevitably had a few chicken dishes and eggs once in a while. There was no evidence that people contracted avian flu from eating cooked chicken.
Sipadan Island, Malaysia	Kidnappings - April 2000 A Phillippines-based terrorist group called Abu-Sayyaf kidnapped several foreign tourists at a dive resort in Sipadan Island, Sabah. When we were there in February 2004, we saw obvious signs of security, with a patrol boat offshore and plainsclothes policemen on the island. Incidentally, the Malaysian government has recently ordered all the dive resorts on the island to vacate and close up by the end of the year for conservation reasons.
Madrid, Spain	Bombing - March 2004 Several months after we visited Madrid, a terrorist bombing occured in several train stations around the city. We were quite familiar with the Atocha train station, the site where many people were unfortunately killed, as we had been through that station several times ourselves.
Bali, Indonesia	Bombing - October 2002 A nightclub in Kuta was the scene of a bombing that killed several foreigners, including several Australians. We did not see Kuta itself, choosing to stay around the less noisy town of Ubud. There was another bombing at the Marriott in Jakarta in August 2003. The Al Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiah is accused of staging both attacks to avenge perceived Western oppression of Muslims worldwide.
Bolivia	Civil Unrest - May 2004 Political unrest and protests in Bolivia closed one of South America's busiest and most popular tourist routes between, stranding many travelers in the capital La Paz and other parts of the country. This route goes between La Paz and Cuzco, and was the route we were planning on taking to go to Bolivia. When we were in Peru we had talked to several people who had been to Bolivia recently but provided us with conflicting stories; some had a fantastic experience there with no problems whatsoever; others had been delayed by the riots and demonstrations. We eventually chose to forego Bolivia and visit Buenos Aires instead.
Ayacucho, Peru	Riots - July 2004 Thousands of protesters have overran the southern Peruvian city of Ayacucho, setting fire to government buildings and hotels after police used tear gas to break up a protest by teachers. At least 39 people were hurt and 15 were arrested. Television pictures earlier in the day showed crowds running wild in the narrow streets of the Andean city and witnesses said buildings had been burned and bank teller machines ransacked. We were visiting our friend Donna in Ayacucho just two days earlier before leaving Peru to return home.

< ALL COLUMNS >