maracle

Report: 3 American hikers arrested in Iran | Freep.com | Detroit Free Press

And Lisa Ling's sister was sentenced by North Korea to 12 years of hard labor when she accidentally crossed over from China (though in that case she was a journalist investigating NK).

Point is: No matter where you are make sure you've got your visas in order and don't fuck around with borders cuz some places don't play around when it comes to that!

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Flickr!

ajb3000

Whenever people ask me if it's safe to visit northern Iraq, I always say that I never felt like I was in any danger, but you need to have a lot of common sense to go somewhere like that.

There have now been two recent cases reported of foreigners getting into trouble in the region, this one where they were hiking without a guide or adequate maps in a sensitive unmarked border area which is probably mined in places as well, and against the advice of locals. The other was the Italian who thought it would be a good idea to travel down to Baghdad on his own when he had permission to visit the Kurdish region only. These people have no common sense. That or they're actually spies who got caught...

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Where I've been: Albania, Australia, Belguim, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Canada, Colombia, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, Ethiopia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Holland, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Jersey, Jordan, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Latvia, Lebanon, Macedonia, Malaysia, Mexico, Moldova, Monaco, Morocco, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Seychelles, Singapore, Slovenia, Somaliland, Spain, Sudan, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, Thailand, Transnistria, Turkey, Turkmenistan, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Ukraine, Uruguay Uzbekistan, Vatican City, Vietnam, Yemen

Where I'm going: Cyprus (June 2013)

Dig

I agree with using common sense. These 3 people went against local advice, as you stated ajb300. When you are in a war/conflict zone be very aware.

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Czech Republic, Austria, Slovakia, and Hungary FALL 2012!!!

expatben

I think we all need to be wary of international borders as if there is 1 thing I have learned its that customs agents have no sense of humour.

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I have been to: Canada, USA, Iceland, Britain, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Poland, Germany, Sardinia, Switzerland, China, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Uruguay and Morocco.

Do to list: [color=blue][color=black] Australia, New Zealand, Austria India and Bolivia.

[color=blue][i][font=Verdana][color=black]"I'm just another stranger lookin' for the promised land"

Canadian Bacon

I think you should always be careful around borders... conflict zone or not. Especially North American borders, as they are the toughest.

My general rule is to speak to customs officers as if you are a cadet and they are the drill sarge and say SIR a lot. And stick to one simple story.

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Vincent: "So what you gonna do?"
Jules: "Well, basically, I'm just gonna walk the earth."
Vincent: "What you mean 'walk the earth'?"
Jules: "You know, like Kane in 'Kung Fu'...go places...meet people...get in adventures."

Trips (only counting recreational travel):
FIRST TRIP (2005): FIRST EUROTRIP EVER! UK, France, Spain, Italy, Germany, Holland
SECOND TRIP (2007): First Solo Trip! Greece, Turkey, Syria, Spain
2008: China (Beijing, Shanghai, Yangshuo) ...right before the Olympics!
2009: Japan & HK, Southern Spain
[size=1]2010: All over Lebanon, Ibiza (Spain), Oktoberfest (Germany), Thailand.
2011: India (Goa), Jordan, Jerusalem, San Sebastian (Spain), Amsterdam (again), London, Driving from Vancouver to L.A. (stopping in Portland, Seattle, San Fran and all the little stops), Montpellier (France), Geneva and Lausanne (Switzerland)

"Bite off more than you can chew, then chew it."