Worst Journeys in the World

Scott's fatal journey to the Antarctic notwithstanding, I've collected a few books on ill-advised itineraries.  Intrepid and foolhardy travelers who seek out the bad destinations.  Here's three to enjoy by the fire to make your drink taste better:

1.  Utopias Elsewhere: Journeys in a Vanishing World: North Korea, Cuba, Albania, Romania and Vietnam, Anthony Daniels (1991).  Written before the end of the Cold War, Daniels status as a medical doctor allowed him to travel to the world's worst dictatorships as an aid worker.  Daniels collects them in one book.  One dictatorship more strange and miserable than the next.  Bought new.



2.  Holidays in Hell, P.J. O'Rourke (1988).  P.J. O"Rourke seeks out some Hellish spots in a few obvious places but in more unlikely places--war torn Lebanon, cold-war Eastern Europe, Heritage USA amusement park and the America's Cup.   Irreverent, humorous and probably guaranteed to offend and entertain.  Bought new.  


 
3.  The World's Most Dangerous Places, (2nd Ed.) Robert Pelton Young (1997).   A wickedly funny travel guidebook.  Includes dangerous places, criminal places and forbidden places.  Gift 1997.