A book I read...."Bad Lands" by Tony Wheeler of Lonely Planet

A book I need to read..."Bad Lands" by Tony Wheeler of Lonely planet..

'You guys really are the axis of evil', our guide splutters over his stein of beer in the Pyongyang duck restaurant. 'You're always leaning out of the windows and taking photographs when I tell you not to.'

In an age of plastic knives on planes, Tony Wheeler can make the extraordinary claim of having visited all the rogue countries currently on newsreaders' lips. Bad Lands is a witty first-hand account of his travels through places often perceived as having some of the most repressive and dangerous regimes in the world: Afghanistan, Albania, Burma, Cuba, Iran, Iraq, Libya, North Korea and Saudi Arabia. Taking into account each country's attitude to human rights, terrorism and foreign policy, he asks 'what makes a country truly evil?' and 'how bad is really bad?' - all the while engaging with a colourful cast of locals and hapless tour guides, ruminating on history and debunking popular myths.

Written by the founder of Lonely Planet, this fascinating account of life in these closed-off countries will appeal to anyone with an interest in the state of the world today.

Who's Bad? Download the free 'Axis-of-Evil'-meter screensaver HERE.

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I have ordered it, along with "The Lonely Planet Guide to Syria and Lebanon"
While in Rajasthan, on a bus full of Khalbeliya gypsies and dark skinned Muslim men with little golden rosette shaped ear rings as the only foreigner, hiding half my face behind my silk scarf against the desert wind blowing into my bus window and to make myself feel a little safer and stand out less among the women, I often asked myself:"What am I doing here? In this strange place, among these strange people, where nobody knows me and I barely know where I am going?" Whatever took me there, on that journey, I find I have come out feeling stronger, clearer and more at peace with myself. A small less dramatic version of bathing in dragon blood? ; ) So, I am ready for more, and am raising the bar next time. Just enquired with Mishaal whether it is possible visa-wise to cross the border from Turkey into Syria and from there into Lebanon..Or the other way round? She says, yes, it is...

Sun, October 11, 2009 - 1:54 AM