Seven Surprising Dangerous Places to Avoid

When it comes to traveling the world, there’s always risk—risk of getting robbed, getting caught in a tourist scam, or being at the wrong place at the wrong time.

That’s why it’s important to exercise caution and know what to expect when travelling to a new destination for your first time and to avoid dangerous destinations. But you’d be surprised that some of these travel destinations are actually more dangerous that you know.

Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea is known as one of the most heterogeneous indigenous populations in the world, with over 700 languages spoke by indigenous groups. It’s also not a tourism destination in a traditional sense, but many travelers visit for a taste of adventure and to experience the many cultures in PNG. In major cities like Port Moresby and rural towns like Tari, Mt. Hagen, and Goroka in the highlands, criminal gangs are known to be active and police presence is minimal or non-existent. Tribal conflict is also known to take place. It’s not a good idea to go out at night, especially for female travelers. Another threat in Papua New Guinea are saltwater crocodiles that grow to 7 meters or more and occasionally prey on humans.

Colombia
In the past five years, Colombia has become a great travel destination for its coffee tourism, Amazon rainforest, Carnival celebrations, the pre-Columbian city of Ciudad Perdida, and high-altitude volcano park, Los Nevados National Park. In the 1980s and 1990s, Colombia was ravaged by violence, had the highest rate of kidnappings in the world and was overrun by the drug trade. Government presence and security has improved drastically but there is still crime in certain regions and some guerrillas still exist in rural areas. It’s best to stay within major cities and in developed areas like Bogota, Cartagena, and Santa Marta.

Laos
Laos is a popular must-visit country for backpackers travelling through South-East Asia (usually en route to or from Cambodia, Thailand or Vietnam). Laos boasts the Pha That Luang in Vientiane; Si Phan Don or the “Four Thousand Islands”; and the World Heritage City of Luang Prabang. Despite being one of the poorest countries in South-East Asia, crime levels are low though petty theft is growing and many travellers don’t venture far at night. It’s dangerous to travel the eastern and northern parts of the country near the Vietnam border where land mines from the Vietnam War kill hundreds of people each year. Sexual relations between locals and foreigners along with drug use and criticism of the Lao government can you get in serious trouble in an arbitrary judicial system.

North Korea
Guided tours are the only way you can travel in North Korea, getting in via China (no entry from South Korea since Dec 2008), thus requiring two visas. All foreigners are monitored in conversations, movement, and behavior—especially involving political or religious activity. There are, however, many sites and monuments to the country that travelers can visit like the Victorious Fatherland Liberation War Museum or the tomb of King Kongmin.

You are never to speak the name let alone speak ill of Kim II-sung, Kim Jon-II, the Juche ideology, the North Korean people or government—lest you face the consequences. If the nuclear weapon testing and the arrest, imprisonment, and trial of American journalists Euna Lee and Laura Ling isn’t enough to deter a visit to North Korea …then perhaps Lee and Ling’s sentence of twelve years of hard labor for undefined “grave crimes” against the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea regime, will change your mind.

Haiti
Haiti is a popular destination along major cruise routes heading to Mexico, the Caribbean and South America. Most cruise ships stop in Labadee, the safest tourist destination in Haiti. The country has been plagued by political violence for most of its history and is one of the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere. So despite a newly elected president in May 2006, Haiti is still quite dangerous with high political tension, lawlessness, crime, roadblocks, armed gangs, kidnapping, assault, and more. Political demonstrations and spontaneous violent confrontations are known to happen in areas like Cite Soleil in Port-au-Prince.

Georgia
Georgia is believed to be one of the oldest wine producing regions and a big drawn for oenophiles. Ancient monasteries, mountaineering, and skiing in Bakuriani are also popular draws for travelers. It is in the separatist regions of Georgia, in Akhmeti, Abkhazia and South Ossetia that pose a danger to travelers. In these volatile areas, Georgian military fight separatists groups partnered with Russia troops. Foreign tourists have been kidnapped, crime is high, and it is advised to bring an armed escort should you decide to visit those areas.

Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe is home to lots of wildlife safaris, ancient African city of Great Zimbabwe, the rock formations of Matobo, and Victoria Falls, one of the most prominent natural attractions in the world. It is also home to a long history of political strife, financial debt, and human rights issues, especially under the current Mugabe administration. With a weak infrastructure and an estimated 80 percent unemployment rate, Zimbabwe is known for outbreaks of civil unrest, political violence, crime, the fourth highest HIV/AIDS infection rate and a new spread of Cholera since late 2008.

The Philippines, Venezuela, and Jamaica are pretty well-developed destinations for tourism but it is still easy for tourists to become victims to robbery, crime, and assault.

In case you’re wondering, the most dangerous places in the world today are those that are fighting wars and are politically unstable: Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia, Pakistan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan, and Yemen. For journalists, tourists, and many innocent locals, the violence, war, and injustices taking place in these countries is life-threatening.

Unfortunately, what most dangerous destinations have in common is that they were all once subjected to colonization by Europeans (while European countries find themselves as some of the safest countries) and have suffered from inadequate development in the aftermath of independence.

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