Does anyone in this forum have any opinions on climbing in regions that have only recently opened up or would like to climb somewhere that is currently off limits?

Last July we ran an expedition to the Wakhan Corridor in Afghanistan and have only recently returned from a successful expedition to the Zagros Mountains in Northern Iraq.

Myself, I climbed in Peru at the downfall, and just after the fall of the Sendanero Luminiso (Shining Path) in Peru years ago. I go knowing the full risks I am taking. After the fall of the Shining Path, I found the country to still be depressed but a fascinating place. Would I run a commercial trip to an area that was a conflict zone, #&!! no. Some of the clients may fully comprehend the risk they are assuming. Some would be like, "hey, its gotta be safe, they are running a tour there."

Hi CClaude, thanks for the response. The Wakhan Corridor in North East Afghanistan is a world away from the troubles in the rest of the country. Its mountains have created natural barriers preventing trouble reaching there and it is a region now opening up to tourism. We had such a great time last time that we are going back in June.

We also felt very safe in South Sudan and Iraqi Kurdistan and the kindness and hospitality of the people in each country has resulted in us planning to take our clients back there next year. Within the borders of each of the above can be found relative safety for tourists. Definately worth checking out!

There's the Ruwenzori in Uganda, although Kony and the LRA are no longer the threat they used to be. The Balkans aren't quite a danger zone anymore. [Sigh] I guess the world is not quite the exciting place it was even just a decade ago. At least the Alborz Mountains in Iran should meet your criteria shortly.

blazin thanks for your reponse. We enjoyed the Zagros Mountains in Iraq so much we are going back next year. You can see Iran from there. Will look into the Alborz Mountains. We are also about to do a recce to DRC so that should be an interesting trip as well!

I have to say, that in most of the places, I've felt safe, especially with the hospitality of the people from the regions. I have to say that their were areas in the 1990's in NYC where I'd be more afraid, then in some of the world hotspots where you see kids patrolling the streets with AK-47's.I love the areas, and some just have some "issues", but in some cases I'd go there on my own. The Wakhan Corridor in Afghanistan would be one of them that would be amazing to go see as an individual.

But if I was running a commercial tour I still wouldn't bring clients to the areas.

I came across this link
http://www.travelthewholeworld.com/most ... tries.html

Interesting subject.

I did not climb, and my experience is no longer recent, but I've traveled and spent time in a few places following, and in some cases, during civil wars and or other major, violent disruptions. Assuming your backcountry/wilderness destinations are themselves relatively conflict free, I'd say that the far riskier aspect of travel in such places are in the cities or district capitals of the affected areas, due as much to accidental proximity to some really shady people and groups as to yourself being any kind of a target. Anywhere where there is weak to absent government/security, and an abundance of weapons, grudges, and lack of responsibility, there will be awful things going on in the shadows, and I've seen foreigners get caught in that--some died.

I've also been within a few miles of groups of foreigners and locals (specifically, mine-clearing groups in Cambodia) who were very specifically targeted by the Khmer Rouge. This included Brits and I think a Canadian if memory serves, along with local Cambodians. They were abducted and held for weeks; two captives died, the others were eventually released in some sort of deal.

At that time, areas adjacent to towns like Battambang were considered sure death if you took the train there from Phnom Penh, especially if you were foreign.

Obviously, none of this is the case there now, but I throw out a few of these anecdotes as examples of what could be going on in recent post/current conflict zones.

Other liabilities: unexploded ordnance, which you could all too easily--literally--stumble on in places with heavy overgrowth, as I and a friend did off trail in the northern hills of Laos. Aside: although not dangerous, finding remnants of US ammunition up in the hills was very, very weird.

Characters you might like to avoid: arms dealers/smugglers, drug dealers/smugglers, human traffickers (and, sadly, their traffic), gang members, factionalists, underpaid, undersupported "government" security forces who like to shake down foreigners for their money, passports, or just cigarettes, if you can talk them down to that (as I did once with an AK47 in my face; again, Cambodia during the civil war); bandits (rural travel can sometimes involve random strafing of vehicles, armed convoys, etc.), other various and sundry lowlife predators, etc.

And all of that is to say nothing of the potentially lethal, wild nature of simple traffic and highway driving. I've seen way too many dead people on highways in developing and/or war-torn places, and survived two bus crashes myself, one, with two fatalities (first in China, second in India).

There's also disease and a lack of mitigation, especially as it relates to Malaria (had it...it really sucks...don't get it).

In short, be careful. By all means, go, learn about the culture you're visiting, be respectful, try to make as small a footprint as possible (think of it as cultural LNT), but just be careful and get educated on what you're potentially getting in to.

Having travelled and worked in Sudan, Nigeria, the Danakil and some of the Stan's the single most important thing that I have learned is to have knowledgeable trustworthy local partners. Knowledgeable locals that you can trust are worth their weight in gold and do more for you than money or diplomats. The key though is to actually ask for, understand and follow their advice.

I had a similar experience when I visited the southernmost parts of the Philippine Islands.

I had some very knowledgeable companions who were natives of the area, and had a unique and honest understanding of dangers in the political world.

They could tell you which places to visit, and which places you could come face to face with TROUBLE.

Although I was not climbing I spent about 9 months living in NE Mozambique running a beach lodge. Stunningly and very remote part of the world. Nice to live somewhere where electricity has not reached. The place looked like it must have hundreds of years ago. Anyway that part of Mozambique only came out of Civil War a few years after the ceasefire in 1993. Now it is completely safe for tourists and I really recommend it as a place to check out!

How did you get to places like Kurdistan or Afghanistan? I can see how some parts of Iraq or Afghanistan could be safe but I am curious how you got to them. Was there ground travel involved or small aircraft?

You can't just easily book a trip to Iraq I imagine?

With Iraq we flew to Erbil via Frankfurt. We climbed in the Zagros Mountains in Kurdish Northern Iraq (Iraqi Kurdistan). The Kurdish part of Iraq is like a country within a country. Its very safe and the people were wonderful. Re Afghanistan we went to the Wakhan Corridor which is cut off from the rest of the troubles by natural (and stunning boundaries). We crossed the border from Tajikistan. Again we were perfectly safe while there. Going back to both this year and next!! All in country travel was arranged in country. When we needed to get to our start points we hired 4x4's locally but once we started it was all trekking from there!!