
The Hardest Places in the World to Visit - antigizmo
http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2015/09/countries-difficult-visas-travel/403267?single_page=true
======
Evgeniuz
I'm from Ukraine and it's interesting to note that people from first-world
countries have trouble getting into third-world countries. Because I certainly
have reverse problem: getting into first-world countries, as I have to go
through extensive background/finance check, prove accomodation and travel info
etc. to get visa. What's even worse: I would like to visit neighboring country
for just a couple of days from time to time, but I can't afford this, because
visa fee is almost same as ticket price. And longer trips are limited by
vacation days.

Anyway, it seems this wall is created on both sides and IMHO, this is sad. We
should collaborate, not create barriers between people.

~~~
photosinensis
I find it distressing that getting to Eastern Europe would be difficult for
me. There are many shrines, monasteries, and associated holy sites that I'd
love to visit--not out of mere fascination, but out of genuine devotion (I've
already checked Mount Athos off the to-do list, but I want to do it again).

But being an American makes that harder than it probably should be.

~~~
morgante
Where do you want to go in Eastern Europe?

As an American, it's honestly quite easy to get into almost any country.

~~~
maaku
Try Iran.

~~~
jahnu
Iran is easy. The only complication for Americans or British is you need a
minder. It's an added expense but pretty straight forward. I totally recommend
it. Most people are so friendly it actually starts to become a problem to walk
down the street without having to stop every 500 metres to talk to someone who
wants to welcome you and ask if you have been to their home town yet, etc,
etc. Bring books though. Not much to do at night in Iran ;)

------
kojoru
If you liked the article, you'll probably enjoy travel notes by Artemy Lebedev
who is just two countries behind:
[http://tema.ru/eng/travel/countries/](http://tema.ru/eng/travel/countries/)

One country he had hard time getting into is Turkmenistan:
[http://tema.ru/eng/travel/turkmenistan-2/](http://tema.ru/eng/travel/turkmenistan-2/)
The visas are declined and the search form on the airline site is actually a
jpg.

The North Korea travel notes are a good read as well:
[http://tema.ru/eng/travel/north-korea/](http://tema.ru/eng/travel/north-
korea/)

~~~
doublec
Artemy's photos of Pitcairn are great!
[http://tema.ru/eng/travel/pitcairn/](http://tema.ru/eng/travel/pitcairn/)

~~~
drited
Omg Bligh...

------
nmcveity
>> U.S. citizens must use an arduous “new form implemented on the basis of
reciprocity” that has 41 often-intrusive questions.

I got a chuckle out of that. Reciprocity indeed! Apart from the military and
charity service question, it sounds like a copy paste of the US' own DS160
form. It does seem to be missing my favorite questions from the DS160 though:
1) are you a terrorist and 2) have you committed genocide?

~~~
grecy
It's hilarious he would complain when it's simply reciprocity. It's almost
like he's clueless that's how many people are treated when trying to visit the
US.

I had first hand experience of this in Bolivia when all the American
backpackers were complaining they had to pay $100USD to get into Bolivia.

Yes, that's because that's how much it costs Bolivian's to get into the US.
Think about how much money that is for these people. Oh.

~~~
greeneggs
What is the logic for reciprocity? Isn't it better to treat tourists well,
regardless of their own countries' policies? By treating American tourists
poorly, do they think those tourists will pressure the US government to relax
its border controls?

~~~
kuschku
Just speculating: Maybe making sure that if a discussion about border controls
comes up in the US, enough people know how bad it is to go through them
themselves and vote against them?

~~~
maaku
Since when did US populace vote in border controls?

~~~
kuschku
Not directly, but if the population doesn’t want stronger controls, no
presidential candidate will pick it up.

~~~
maaku
What matters is what a sitting president will do. Unfortunately that doesn't
correlate very well with what presidential candidates say.

------
disordinary
I don't know how he thinks non US citizens have it easy to go to Russia, I've
been there a couple of times and unless things have changed in the last couple
of years you need to pre-book and pay for all your accommodation, and get
sponsorship letters from each hotel you are staying in. It takes a month or so
to process and takes a couple of trips to the Embassy (each of which is an
hour or so wait).

If you want to visit friends or relatives then they have to undergo a
background and finance check. Not pleasant if they are elderly relatives you
are visiting.

When you get to Russia, if you're staying outside of the main centres then you
need to register in each town (usually at the police station or post office).
Hostels and Hotels really don't like foreigners turning up out of the blue
without being on the itinerary.

This is from New Zealand who has a fairly cordial relationship with Russia and
(before the current boycott) they are one of the biggest consumers of NZ dairy
products.

Anyway good effort by the writer. Some hard and dangerous countries out there.
I wonder how the heck he paid for it.

~~~
probably_wrong
It's a shame he didn't have to enter the USA as a tourist too. The
requirements for Russia seem pretty similar to the hoops I had to jump through
when I visited a summer school in Baltimore coming from South America.

Fun fact: I was told to bring to the Embassy interview a photo of my family,
because by default it's assumed that I'm planning to remain there illegally,
and is my job to convince the employee of the opposite. The photo would prove
that I have a reason to come back.

~~~
disordinary
Yeah that sucks, the US isn't nice to anyone. Although we get a far easier go
of it (just need to fill in an online form every couple of years).

I don't know how people transit in say LAX if they are from countries that the
US doesn't like. I guess you can't.

~~~
nzmsv
Transit is different. Because you never leave the transit area of the airport,
you aren'"entering" the country. This is why Snowden had to hang out in a
transit area of an airport hotel until he could get the paperwork to legally
enter Russia.

You may still need a transit visa, but those should be easier to get.

~~~
jrbancel
There is no concept of transit/international zone in the U.S.A..

This means passengers, even the ones on transit, must have legal right to
enter the U.S..

Going through a U.S. airport just for transit is always a bad idea, as it
takes a lot of time to cross the border.

------
to3m
His talent is not just limited to travelling:
[http://www.blog.sanasecurities.com/stock-talk-with-albert-
po...](http://www.blog.sanasecurities.com/stock-talk-with-albert-podell/)

Here's a Daily Mail link, with photos:
[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/travel_news/article-299015...](http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/travel_news/article-2990153/Imprisoned-
Baghdad-fed-live-monkey-brains-attacked-flying-crabs-Algeria-Meet-former-
Playboy-editor-travelled-country-world.html)

Obviously possessed of good genes - and, perhaps, a supply of hair dye - going
by the North Korea photo! According to his website, he was there in 2010, at
the age of 73.

------
jbuzbee
Saudi Arabia - Been there, done that on a family vacation sponsored by my
brother who was posted to the US Embassy. It was a unique experience! My wife
had to wear the head-to-toe covering, was not allowed to drive, had to eat in
restaurants behind a curtain etc. I have lots of stories. Here's one: We try
and pick up artwork in very country we visit but were initially thwarted in
Saudi by the "Religious Police". The heavily-armed police saw us coming as my
blue-eyed, blond daughter stood out like a sore thumb. They cut us off and
told us that we would not be allowed to enter the gallery we were attempting
to visit because the owner had tried to allow men and women inside for a show
at the same time. They had positioned large curtains around the shop and said
that my wife could enter by herself if she desired. We declined.

~~~
irix
I've been there on business 3 times in the 2010-2011 timeframe. It is fairly
straightforward to get in on a business visa if you have an invitation letter
from a company in the Kingdom - in my case one of the local telecom companies.

~~~
jpatokal
The one quirk about KSA business visas is that they require not just an
invitation letter (which is pretty standard), but Chamber of Commerce approval
for said letter, which usually takes forever... which is why the usual
approach is to go via an agent, who can magically get the approval in a day or
two in exchange for a "facilitation fee" of several hundred dollars. Which was
a handy preview of how a country can be both filthy rich (at least if you're
in the 1% that has "al Saud" in the family name) and still thoroughly corrupt.

------
rspeer
I've been vaguely following the blog called Once Upon a Saga [1], where
Torbjørn Pedersen is chronicling his even more ambitious project of visiting
every country in the world without flight.

[1] [http://www.onceuponasaga.dk/](http://www.onceuponasaga.dk/)

I think being from an unthreatening country (Denmark) and traveling as a
representative of the Red Cross is helping him avoid the distrust,
bureaucracy, and corruption that the author of this article encountered.

~~~
jpatokal
Graham Hughes from the UK pulled this off a few years ago:

[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2239087/Graham-
Hughe...](http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2239087/Graham-Hughes-
British-man-person-visit-201-countries-WITHOUT-using-plane.html)

------
bra-ket
USA should be on that list

~~~
mdpopescu
Or at least "as an american" added to the title.

------
caio1982
I find it odd that he had so much trouble to go to Angola. I have about 5
friends who went there, individually and in different periods of time, in the
last decade without much problem. Granted, we are all Brazilians (which I
suppose would make things easier [at least linguistically speaking] when going
through the whole bureaucracy).

------
whatusername
Chris Guillebeau writes/wrote about similar issues. (see this post on getting
into Saudi Arabia): [http://chrisguillebeau.com/getting-to-saudi-
arabia/](http://chrisguillebeau.com/getting-to-saudi-arabia/)

------
idlewords
I was surprised to see Yemen on this list. It's my understanding that plenty
of people came in on tourist visas from 2011-2015, particularly to the island
of Soqotra, and getting a visa wasn't a hassle.

~~~
photosinensis
That's the only period where it wasn't a hassle. Then everything went to shit
at the beginning of this year, and there's nobody to approve visas (even if
you _wanted_ to visit Yemen now).

------
morgante
By far the most interesting (and "hardest") country I've visited was Sudan. I
should probably write up that story some time (it involved the defense
minister's family).

~~~
robk
Really? I found it surprisingly easy to get the visa with a US passport here
in London. Took maybe 2.5 weeks and zero hassles except just showing up.

------
StillBored
$9000 doesn't sound like much more than he would have spent if he had done the
hajj. The least expensive package in the link below is basically $8k (there
are of course fees).

[http://www.hajjpackageusa.com/index.php?option=com_virtuemar...](http://www.hajjpackageusa.com/index.php?option=com_virtuemart&view=category&virtuemart_category_id=1&Itemid=102)

------
eatonphil
Is North Korea not that hard to get into? I always assumed it was hard (until
recently) because of how often NK is in the (US) news.

~~~
TazeTSchnitzel
It's expensive and a bit of pain, but not really difficult. You can go on a
guided tour. Actually, it's the only kind of visit you can make, as you might
expect.

Irritatingly, a lot of "undercover" "documentaries" about North Korea are
merely the reporters taking the tour and filming it.

------
Grue3
Of the countries I'd _want_ to visit, USA is probably the hardest. Then again,
I'm from Russia and it's considered hard to enter as well.

------
tlow
TUVA OR BUST!

------
touchaddict
Damn!

