Backpacker Fiction

Iraq Rising

And if there were any doubt that Iraq is our generation's Vietnam, the New York Times posted this article about a tour group in Baghdad. The article doesn't simply illuminate the fact that in about ten or fifteen years, Baghdad could easily have its own Bui Vien or Pham Ngu Lao, (my predicition - and watch for Iraq to become a center for eco-technology,) but it highlights both the eccentricities and relative normality of the people who believe Iraq is now a viable place to travel.

David Chung, a 36 year-old tourist on the tour, says, "I get my best travel ideas from the State Department's travel warning list." He's been to Algeria, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Eritrea and Pakistan. Nearly all of the eight people on this tour have been to Afghanistan.

This is the traveler's conundrum. Some of the best and most authentic places in the world are those that haven't been superficialized through tourism. In a few years, trekking guides will not be able to resist the pristine wilderness of northern Afghanistan. But these countries can also become hosts for 'Disaster Tourists' - and quickly establish a market for horror as regular travelers want their token taste of authentic suffering.

I would love to go to Iraq. A Singaporean guy named Jack, whom I met in Burma, had already been able to convince me to put Pakistan and Iran on my short list. But I wonder how the country will market itself, and if, like Cambodia, it will turn mass graves into tourist 'must-sees'.

*Also check out the Times' slide show titled "Why We Travel"

Posted by Matthew R. Loney at 6:19 AM