The one that got away [Country I Want to Visit but Can't]

[Forg]

So glad I managed to get there before all the current cough. The museums full of (largely stolen) artifacts and palaces are amazing.

It’s unlikely I’d ever travel to Russia without my wife … and she was traumatised enough by working there for 4 weeks in 2014 that she would refuse to ever go back. So нет for me, too.

 

[Tiki]

You cannot visit! When I have decided I no longer want to visit the US (can't get ESTA after going to Iran), I will go to Iran. Does crossing over the DMZ line onto the North Korean side count as having been to NK?!

I did a USO tour of the DMZ which visited that room which straddles the border. I took a few pics in North Korea and hopped over the line a few times for good measure! Back in the 90's when I lived in Dubai I was in a small Iranian island called Kish Island which is sort of a weekend break place for people who live in Dubai. I would have loved to go to mainland Iran but that was the best I could do on a US passport at the time. I also made it to Afghanistan mid 90's on a journalist visa using a press card I bought on Khao San Road, BKK! I spend a few days in Yemen in the mid-80's, backpacked all over Africa which was much easier back then and visited Syria and Lebanon in the mid 90's. I was in Iraq for a week when they were briefly handing out tourist visas in Jordan 1989. Right place, right time!

The only countries I haven't set foot in (legally or illegally) are Libya and Timor L'Este. The latter should be doable, hopefully with QF points in the next year or so.

 

[VPS]

Include Moscow if and when you do go,,,,we went to StP and Moscow in 2014...StP is beautiful and some call it the "Venice of the North" but we felt it was very European and we could have been in any European country. In Moscow, we felt we were really in Russia and loved it once we overcame (sort of) the language barrier

I enjoyed Moscow much more than St Petersburg apart from the Hermitage of course

 

[AustSerbKor]

I want to visit North Korea mainly because I can't go, although taking my wife and daughter to Mt Baekdu would be cool.
In 2006 some friends were doing a bus trip from Seoul to Mt. Gumgang in North Korea. I got ethical qualms and didn’t go which was probably just as well as my friends bought North Korean Soju not realising it was 40% rather than under 20% alcohol like the Southern ones. Not the ideal place to get overly drunk.
I've offered to visit Russia for work on my Serbian passport but apparently we aren't actively recruiting students from there at the moment.

 

[VPS]

Quite a few that I don't think I will get to now - getting old and not as mobile as I was.

African Safari - just don't think I could do the early morning starts and long days
Vietnam and Japan- severe fish allergy travelling alone is probably not going to happen
India - just don't think I could handle all the people although I know from many of the TR that people can get out of the cities but I like travelling alone and don't want to do a tour

I always had a fascination with going to Afghanistan but guess that's not going to happen.
Petra is probably not going to happen either.

The stans - still haven't given up hope of visiting them and Georgia

Having said that there are a multitude of places that I still want to visit and will be able to do

 

[VPS]

Quite a few that I don't think I will get to now - getting old and not as mobile as I was.

African Safari - just don't think I could do the early morning starts and long days
Vietnam and Japan- severe fish allergy travelling alone is probably not going to happen
India - just don't think I could handle all the people although I know from many of the TR that people can get out of the cities but I like travelling alone and don't want to do a tour

I always had a fascination with going to Afghanistan but guess that's not going to happen.
Petra is probably not going to happen either.

The stans - still haven't given up hope of visiting them and Georgia

Having said that there are a multitude of places that I still want to visit and will be able to do

I shouldn't really say old - just older

 

[zig]

Russia for me.

 

[Happy Dude]

In 2001 I went to the first test in Mumbai. We won within three days and I subsequently decided to not bother with the rest of the series and continued my backpacking around India, Bangladesh and Pakistan. Whilst the Pakistan leg was incredible travelling, I still agonise over missing the Chennai and Kolkata tests, two of the greatest ever played.

Similarly, in 2010, I can look back and say that I had an amazingly well timed "honeymoon" in Libya just before the Arab spring and weeks before Gaddafi was pulled from his hidey hole and shot. Just prior to that trip, I was in Amman trying to figure out how to go about getting to Petra, Wadi Rum etc when I decided that Syria or Iraqi-Kurdistan would be better. So we basically flipped a coin and booked award tickets to Erbil. It was terrific travelling - experiencing the emergence of tourism/consumerism and joy of expats returning to resume their lives are so many years of exile.

But it did mean that I missed Syria the way it was, pre-ISIS and the Arab spring, the highlight of the region I was told. It'll never be the same so that remains my "one that got away". So close yet so far!

I am, however, very glad that we didn't continue the plan to stay in Jordan. Went there for our 10th anniversary in February 2020 because the trip we had booked to HKG seemed too close to China where some virus was causing issues. Thankfully SQ were doing free ticket changes. Although this can only be said with clear 2020 hindsight, I'd have been mighty annoyed to have missed Iraq or Syria for plain old Jordan.

 

[Cossie]

Quite a few that I don't think I will get to now - getting old and not as mobile as I was.

African Safari - just don't think I could do the early morning starts and long days
Vietnam and Japan- severe fish allergy travelling alone is probably not going to happen
India - just don't think I could handle all the people although I know from many of the TR that people can get out of the cities but I like travelling alone and don't want to do a tour

I always had a fascination with going to Afghanistan but guess that's not going to happen.
Petra is probably not going to happen either.

The stans - still haven't given up hope of visiting them and Georgia

Having said that there are a multitude of places that I still want to visit and will be able to do

Jordan should be doable, there are several options for getting to the main site, really worth investigating imo. Also, imo, Madaba is a good place to stay, rather than Amman, and it's not far from the airport either.

 

[offshore171]

Yeah another vote for Russia here, St Pete’s and Moscow in particular.

But it’s a hard no while Putin remains in charge

Ditto for Turkey and Erdogan.

I also have a bit of a curiosity factor to see North Korea after visiting (but not crossing) the DMZ last year.

Again a hard no unless it miraculously falls like East Germany in 1989

 

[k_sheep]

I'm so lucky that I did Russia and Myanmar already.

Iran is the 'missed it by that much' one for me ... was in Jordan in 2018, had full intention of hopping over shortly after but ... argggh.

 

[moa999]

Been to Moscow, back when it was crazy expensive. But St. Petersburg definitely.

North Korea was always a place I'd thought about, but glad I didn't given the issues it now causes with US travel.

Cuba probably another one.

 

[JohnM]

Been to Moscow, back when it was crazy expensive. But St. Petersburg definitely.

North Korea was always a place I'd thought about, but glad I didn't given the issues it now causes with US travel.

Cuba probably another one.

I don't know whether visiting North Korea causes extra difficulties with visiting LOTFAP, but I had been to Iran, Sudan, Cuba, Russia and I was granted a US B1/B2 visa very promptly - to the extent that, after telling me a day or so wait, the US Consulate in Perth granted it and informed by SMS while I was on my bus ride home (barely 20 minutes from the city). I had lunch and then turned around and went back to collect my PP with visa the same day.

 

[OZDUCK]

Like a number on here - Russia and specifically St Petersburg. Either via a Baltic cruise or the Volga River cruise from Moscow.

We were actually booked to spend a couple of days in Moscow in 1976. It was part of a Ship/Jet trip to London. The Moscow stopover was cancelled due to a claimed lack of hotel rooms. Instead of flying Aeroflot we eventually flew British Caledonian.

 

[moa999]

whether visiting North Korea causes extra difficulties with visiting LOTFAP,

Backdate exclusion to ESTA qualification in 2017, for any visits since 2011

travelers who have visited North Korea since March 1, 2011 are no longer eligible for the U.S. Visa Waiver Program (VWP).

Cuba was also added in 2021 but not backdated.

Current ESTA ineligibility:

Countries of concern
Travelers who have been to Iran, Iraq, Libya, North Korea, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, or Yemen on or after March 1, 2011 are not eligible.
Cuba
Travelers who have been to Cuba on or after January 12, 2021 are not eligible.

 

[kileskus]

I also made it to Afghanistan mid 90's on a journalist visa using a press card I bought on Khao San Road, BKK!

I would like to hear more about this if you have a TR/blog post somewhere on it. Doubt this could be done now but just in case

Interesting thread topic too.

I'm going to Turkey for the first time this month but I've missed the Hagia Sophia when it was a museum (I got a tattoo of it years ago). Or Syria - I'll probably visit it in my lifetime but Palmyra and Damascus won't be what I read and dreamed about as a kid. They will rebuild once there is more stability in the country but I'd imagine that some of the archaeological and cultural heritage (the Damascene oud workshops!) are irrevocably lost.

 

[drron]

We have done all we wanted in Russia - Moscow, St.Petersburg twice, Archangel, Murmansk, Sochi and Petropavlovsk.
Also have been to Sevastopol and Yalta when they were still part of Ukraine plus Odessa.
Have been to Myanmar but would love to go back but that is unlikely at the moment.
The places I wanted to see but almost certainly wont are Israel, Lebanon. Mongolia and the Stans and North Korea.

 

[RooFlyer]

When I have decided I no longer want to visit the US (can't get ESTA after going to Iran), I will go to Iran.

Go if you can! Wonderful country, wonderful people. I got a B1/B2 Visa for the USA after visiting, which was a bit of a hassle compared to JohnM but it’s allowed me to go back to transit which I had to do on my present trip.

India - just don't think I could handle all the people although I know from many of the TR that people can get out of the cities but I like travelling alone and don't want to do a tour

I had the feeling about all the people at first, but several of us here on AFF have used private tours organised by a guy there - @RB only recently. Just you and a very good driver in a vehicle of your choice. pm me for details if you like.

Petra is probably not going to happen either.

Again I did this by private tour. It was awhile ago so the contact probably isn’t relevant any more but it can be done.

 

[drron]

We were very lucky in Jordan. The taxi from the airport to our hotel was a tourist guide. So we ended up hiring him for the rest of our trip including a great day to Petra starting off at OMGam but literally first in so had time for a scenic diversion back to Amman. Including coffee stops fresh fruit and dates.
He was still around in 2020 but he has totally disappeared after the pandemic.

 

[love_the_life]

I know that the Middle East is on many people's wish list but I honestly have no desire to visit there at all, even if I could. I had a brief 3 days in Dubai a few years ago and that was plenty.
No wish to go back to Paris though other France is OK - been there many times.