As all right-thinking individuals know, almost everyone who travels is bitten by the travel bug. Before last January's trip to Iceland my son had never gone anywhere, but now he talks about travel all the time. We reached the agreement that every two years we'd take off an adventure together, with the only stipulation (his, and I think it's a great one) that it be someplace I've never been so that it will be new for both of us. Almost immediately we settled on Peru, but then he began to backslide, not because he didn't want to travel but because he seems to be drawn to more obscure corners of the globe (not certain where he gets that from). So, recently we're eating late night dessert at Denny's (not usually the environment that inspires adventurous dreams) when suddenly something like this conversation ensued:
G3: "Did you ever stop to think how big the Democratic Republic of the Congo is?"
GS: [sensing trouble] "Yeah . . . it's massive . . ."
G3: "I know, but I didn't know how big it was until I was explaining to a friend the other day how a flat map distorts size. And I really began to look at it. So, what if we went there?"
GS: "Theoretically, sure. They have had a lot of trouble there over the last few decades . . ."
G3: "I know, but that probably means that we'll have the place to ourselves. What other tourists will be there?"
I have to admire his courage, and his contrary refusal to follow the path well-trodden. I tried to find a Lonely Planet Guide the the Democratic Republic of the Congo and there doesn't seem to be one, although I do have my massive Lonely Planet Guide to Africa so there's a start.
We're still considering other options. Today I sent him a link to a BBC story about the pyramids in the Sudan and he immediately jumped all over that option. His logic, which was the same as mine: it would be like going to Egypt, only much cooler since no one goes to the Sudan (and, following his dictate, I've been to Egypt a couple times so we can't go there). Plus, personally, I have this thing about countries that always have "the" included in the title, such as "the Yemen." Now, why doesn't anyone seem to fly into Khartoum - and why is it so hard to find a Lonely Planet Guide to the Sudan? Well, at least we'll have the place to ourselves.
G3: "Did you ever stop to think how big the Democratic Republic of the Congo is?"
GS: [sensing trouble] "Yeah . . . it's massive . . ."
G3: "I know, but I didn't know how big it was until I was explaining to a friend the other day how a flat map distorts size. And I really began to look at it. So, what if we went there?"
GS: "Theoretically, sure. They have had a lot of trouble there over the last few decades . . ."
G3: "I know, but that probably means that we'll have the place to ourselves. What other tourists will be there?"
I have to admire his courage, and his contrary refusal to follow the path well-trodden. I tried to find a Lonely Planet Guide the the Democratic Republic of the Congo and there doesn't seem to be one, although I do have my massive Lonely Planet Guide to Africa so there's a start.
We're still considering other options. Today I sent him a link to a BBC story about the pyramids in the Sudan and he immediately jumped all over that option. His logic, which was the same as mine: it would be like going to Egypt, only much cooler since no one goes to the Sudan (and, following his dictate, I've been to Egypt a couple times so we can't go there). Plus, personally, I have this thing about countries that always have "the" included in the title, such as "the Yemen." Now, why doesn't anyone seem to fly into Khartoum - and why is it so hard to find a Lonely Planet Guide to the Sudan? Well, at least we'll have the place to ourselves.
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| OK, so I lifted this picture from the BBC (http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20160104-the-pyramids-few-tourists-have-seen), but maybe someday soon I'll snap my own. |
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