‘Unless you have a death wish’
A record-breaking traveller who has visited every country names the 10 places tourists should never go.
Lexie Alford is the Guinness World Record holder for being the youngest person to travel to all 196 countries in the world.
The 25-year-old from California has over half a million subscribers on her YouTube channel Lexie Limitless.
She recently created a video sharing a list of 10 countries the only the most intrepid of travellers should dare to go to.
In these countries, there’s a risk of kidnapping, where violent crime is rife, and where armed guards are mandatory.
At number 10 on Alford’s list was North Korea, a country ruled by the Kim family dictatorship since the 1940s.
Travellers can visit the country via a ‘highly-supervised’ government-organised tour but Alford warned that it is full of pro-government propaganda.
She warns if you ‘step out of line in the eyes of the government minders, the consequences are extreme’.
Surprisingly, Bangladesh is ninth on the list with Alford explaining that it made the list because of its high rate of crime.
She said: “Unfortunately there’s a very high rate of petty crimes and violent crimes like pickpocketing and robbery. This happens in every country, but keep in mind that since there are hardly any other tourists here you’re going to attract a lot of attention every time you’re on the street, making you an obvious target.”
Libya is eighth on the list because as Alford explains you cannot visit without hiring a tour company because Libya doesn’t currently issue tourist visas.
The country is also in the grips of political-military instability and has been since 2011.
Yemen, Mali, Syria, Somalia and the Central African Republic all made her list as well as South Sudan with safety concerns and lack of infrastructure the main reasons to stay away.
Number one on Alford’s list of most dangerous places to visit was Afghanistan.
She explained she stayed in a hotel with armed guards and security checkpoints to secure her safety but it wasn’t all doom and gloom as she claimed she ‘loved’ her time in Afghanistan.
She said: “Afghanistan has all the makings for a world-class tourism destination – there are colourful traditions, amazing local foods, historic monuments dating back thousands of years and more importantly, kind people at every turn who had so much hope for their country.”
However, since the Taliban returned to power in 2021, the ‘situation has changed completely’.
She warned: “This country is now totally inaccessible for the foreseeable future, even for the most extreme traveller. Unless they literally have a death wish.”
