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Didn’t get sick once in my almost 2 months in Cambodia though I did refuse the spiders (quite enthusiastically, if I recall correctly – “Take them away!! TAKE THEM AWAY!!!”).
Had digestive problems in India pretty much all the time which was only aggravated by a friend of mine who lives in Delhi & had a great time making fun of me for not being able to eat all these “great delicacies” – and she is Tibetan not Indian, damn it! Not like rancid Yak butter is a healthy alternative though…
Most of the bad stuff I have come down with in Africa (giardia, dysentry, worms, more giardia, etc) but I think that’s more in proportion to the time spent there ratherthan the place’s general unhealthyness…
For academics I would recommend the American University in Cairo which is also a pleasant enough place to hang out in (great coffee & sheesha!).
For good Farsi courses you will be forced to go to Tehran which is probably my favourite city in the ME (the North!) though you will find the quality of any poltics faculty verging on the abysmal – not much you can study except for the various crimes of the Great and the Little Satan. Farsi is a lot easier to learn than Arabic though if you are used to the classical Western languages.
Finally, Jordan is also worth thinking about.
No, nothing like having to stop at the scene of an accident – you could watch a blind man walk over a cliff right next to you & incur no criminal liablity whatsoever. Talk about British politeness…
Lee, depending on just how worried you are about the criminal conviction either get a really good lawyer who ought to be able to avoid one or just do it your way, hope for the best & be really really friendly & apologetic with the magistrate – explain your reasons: they’re not an excuse but might very well be perceived as mitigating (especially by a magistrate)… Lay jurisdiction all the way!
@SRR wrote:
If I can’t make writing interesting for myself then there’s no point in writing, really.
And the same goes for reading…?? I guess it’d require going somewhere far away (in business obviously!!) to discuss extensively…
I went to Afghanistan without most of my usual equipment, promptly got very very ill & regretted it. Nowadays I generally lug around half a pharmacy’s worth of prescriptions + lots & lots of other stuff including such dire necessities as whisky, chocolate and MANY books… screw travelling light – if you really have to walk you can always leave the stuff somewhere and only take a day-pack or get a porter.
PS: I somehow recall being told that SRR tends to lose most of his books as he goes along… might just be a myth though.
Yeah, apparently Afghan embassies are scarily efficient! When I got my visa in Ankara last year the procedure was exactly the same (with a slightly more detailed interview) and I’ve also heard good things about the embassy in Tehran. I just spoke to a friend in Herat so if you do go let me know and I’ll give you his contact details.
The question is quite extensively discussed in Adam Sandler’s book “King Leopold’s ghost” (try pp. 142-46). Sandler traces Joseph Conred’s own journey through the Congo and quotes the impressions from his diaries. Then he considers the people Conrad might have met and their relative reputations and concludes that Colonel Kurtz prototypes might have been: Georges Antoine Klein, Edmund Barttelot, Arthur Hodister & especially Captain Leon Rom.
My standard advice is getting in touch with Sireh tours http://www.sireh-agency.com who so far have managed to arrange an invitation for everyone I have recommended them to as well as 2 for myself. I think kramer used them recently even though he ended up not needing their invitation.
If you’re getting a visa before leaving you will.
