Conflict Tourism

>>1229925
Most easy is probably Ukraine conlfict.
If you want to document both sides you have to go to Ukraine first because you'll get problems getting into Ukraine if they know you were in Donbass
To Donbass you can get through Rostov, Russia.

Assad and Kurd held Syria are pretty safe to as long as you dont get to close to the front. The front is also most times not dangerous but there is always a possibility for a major offensive in this area. This would be very dangerous.
You can get there through Libanon. You can visit Damsascus, Homs, Latakia, Hama. From Hama you can get to Aleppo (this is a dangerous road because on one side there is ISIS and on the other Rebels but most times its calm. Recently there were some attacks and the road was closed but its open now.
From Aleppo you can get to Kurdish territory.

Also you could keep an eye on Belarus and Macedonia. There is a possibility of a Maidan tier coup. But most likely it will fade away.
If you stay ready to go there (visa etc) you could be one of the first foreinger there.

>>1229936
Thanks for that information. I will read into it all.

>>1229925
I wish you luck in your endevour, and have nothing to contribute, but it seems what seperates the really great people from the rest of the pack in your field is that some are willing to go into those level 1 danger areas and risk it all for their craft.

>>1229942
I appreciate your kind words. Unfortunately, it is a dying profession due to the democratisation of photography (not that I'm against it as it means more stories are being told and more truth is coming to light in the world). I'd love to visit areas that have a higher level of danger, but alas, it costs more - I'd need a fixer, a driver, etc. It becomes very expensive unless I was being commissioned.

>>1229925
I was thinking about doing something very similar on my own.
I'm a polish hitchhiker, 24, cognitive science student(so I know this and that about communication with other people) and i know communicative russian and good english.

Answer me if you could be interested in doing this stuff together

>>1229944
Fair enough. I suppose I never looked at it from that angle.

>>1229925
>>1230037
Hey, jumping in here - 3rd person, slight experience in this area, been thinking about it for a while, brit, just about to graduate, some arabic.

Strength in numbers eh?

>>1230105
sure thing. Add two girls and a dog and we can make a party van

if you think more seriously about traveling together and photographing/interviewing some people in strange/dangerous places, then write me an email
[email protected]

OP, you are invited to do so as well

>>1230111
(I'm that polish guy from above of course)

>>1230111
I'm pretty interested, do you have any ideas of where we'd go? I'm OP btw.

>>1229925
>West Bank
Piece of cake.
>Ukrainian-Russian conflict
Not a danger zone but paperwork might give you a headache.
>areas that are occupied by ISIS
Srsly?

>Can you guys suggest some places that I could potentially travel to?
Karabakh, Uzbek/Kyrgizstan border, civ war Africa, Philippines have ISIS on southern islands.

>>1230357
Yemen would be a good bet.

>>1230337
Somewhere that I can get visas easily enough. As somebody noticed in one of the earlier posts, it may not be the best idea to go for the biggest shit right off. Yugoslavia comes to mind, but that's already partly forgotten stuff and it's mostly about old wounds.
I've heard really conflicting accounts of what is going on in Donbass. Some russians claimed the situation to be similar to some hardcore mafia rule. The others said the only actual problem there is economy now. So I would be quite interested in checking what's actually going on.

There is that old stuff with Moldova being in fact two countries

Then we have Georgia, though it seems the most dangerous of all the options - the only people involved in anything are the people hunting you with kalashnikovs. Or so I heard 3 years ago.

Finally Kurdistan in Turkey. Kurds were genocided and still want their land back.


Those are the options I know of. I'm up for any of those. Keep in mind that I know russian, but not arabic (though maybe the brit guy would join us as well?).
I have no real prefferences for any of those options, Moldova and Ukraine seem especially interesting I think.

Where are you from?

>>1230460
>Moldova being in fact two countries
What the FUCK
p.s. was in Turkish kurdistan a year or so ago but now things are too dangerous

>>1230484
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transnistria

Also, I guess it's time we define what "too dangerous" means. Nobody never pointed a gun at me. I'm not scared of such a situation now, but I can't tell what will happen once I actually live through that. Mostly, I really don't want to get to any kind of prison or be denied entrance to any country

>>1230460
OP again.
I like the idea of visiting Donbass and then perhaps visiting Rostov. Your Russian would obviously help us a lot so it's probably the way to go.
We could build a series of work that includes both photographs and text from interviews.

Where do you think would be the easiest to go and pull this off?

I'm from Australia and know no second languages.

I just got back from eastern Ukraine. You could stay in Kharkov and use that as a basecamp, that's where I was. The conflict isn't far from there, but in the city itself you wouldn't know there was a war going on very nearby.

Definitely you will need to speak Russian or Ukrainian or hire a translator. Any questions I'll try to answer.

I was thinking of visiting North Korea since it seems very easy to go to now days, but I wouldn't see anything different that anybody else sees and so it would be the same photos we're all used to seeing of North Korea.

>>1230612
How well do Ukrainians understand Russian?

>>1230614
pretty much. the whole tour is whitewashed and you will only see what they want you do see. if you wanted to do an interesting north korea documentary you would use actual footage from inside, obtained from people who have smuggled it out.

>>1230617
I thought it may have been so.

>>1230616
Well. Everybody speaks Russian pretty much, even in the east where Ukrainian is more prevalent everyone still speaks Russian usually as the primary language. For example I only speak Russian.

>>1230612
Since I know both polish and russian - in which language is it safer to start a conversation? Does it differ depending on the part of Ukraine you're in? Are there places where I should never mention knowing russian or visitng Russia?


>>1230611
keep in mind that my russian is very communicative (I had no problems with conversations hitchhiking from Latvia to Mongolia), but it's also primitive. Don't expect too much

Do you have skype?

>>1230617
do they even have cameras there?

>>1230627
they smuggle them in

>>1230614
I've considered going to the north-eastern region with young pioneer, but then again i'd honestly feel really bad about helping the regime get in much needed foreign money

File: Flag.png (871KB, 666x519px) Image search: [Google]

871KB, 666x519px

>>1230460
>>1230337
>>1230111
>>1230484
>>1230525

Cypriot here.

Well if you want a safer alternative to visit a conflict area why not consider Cyprus?

>Isolated villages of Greeks at the north
>Last divided capital of Europe
>Armies a mere 5 meters off each other
>DMZ similar to Korea
>Easy to enter
>Safe af
>Interesting cultures
>this abomination (pic related)

>>1229925
You might consider checking out the Nuba Mountains conflict in the Kordofan provinces of Sudan--basically just East of Darfur (remember Darfur?). It'll be relatively easy to get into the region from northern South Sudan, harder from Sudan, where lots of nationalities have a hard time getting visas (if you are American, forget it--they hate Yanks and journalists in equal measure). It's really undercovered but a famine is breaking out, politics is making it worse, etc. Check out Nuba Reports for some great blogging by professional journos (it's all anonymous, no bylines, but writers are all successful stringers for a bunch of global outlets). Juba, South Sudan, is crazy expensive (the U.N. set local prices), but safe, and easily accessible from airports including Nairobi and Johannesburg. Local English is pretty good, fixers easy to find on the street.

>>1231634
I might be going there for business for some months/a year. Any advice or things I need to check out before going?

Me and 2 others are travelling via Odessa through Eastern Ukraine (undecided on the specifics yet, but we will drive into the affected areas) then into Kiev and Chernobyl, we have about a week to pull it off


This will take place within the next month or two and will probably be a first trip of many (for me anyway)


Car will have room for 2 more people in theory - anybody interested in joining? Crew consists of a Russian driver, a Bulgarian and an Estonian
We considered driving from Crimea into Ukraine but this is not allowed apparently

>>1230612

anon please share any and all pro-tips that come to mind, already took note of where you made camp

did you go closer to the actual conflict zone or did you stay in the inactive fringes?

>>1231634
>Safe af

that's the problem. But hell, I'll consider it. How much for the cheapest transport to the land? Is yacht-hitchhiking possible?


OP, are you still here? I still didn't get any messages from you
~polish guy

>>1231661
to OP:

I am heading over there for the purposes of photography as well although I am more of an amateur at this stage

Should we touch base for future reference as you might not make it for this particular trip I am going on now?

>>1231642
Restaurants in Nicosia are pretty good because they are not marketed towards tourists, but locals.
Seaside restaurants are shit a lot of times.

The island has a pretty diverse range of things to do so it depends on what you into.

>>1231669
Yacht hitchhiking? from another country to here? Never heard anyone doing it before.
Seriously you can find super cheap flights here with easyjet, ryan or wizz air.

>>1229925
Why don't you establish yourself first, before this idea, so you have some kind of credible portfolio, web presence, professional page, something online, so that IF you do end up somewhere where chaos has broken out, major media would do a quick google on your credentials and then decide to go with your photo reports. You have a better chance of going viral, I'd say.

I don't think there's any money in war correspondence without a journalistic background. Or some kind of real credentials. Have you considered courses, like even national geographic travel photography classes?

Do you have kidnapping insurance? Your own savings? Or any kind of network of family with influence that would save your ass? It's pretty common that people get into trouble when they start taking pictures of people. Criminals don't care for it, for one thing. I can't see you going snap happy even in the West Bank. It draws attention even in touristed areas. I think you'd be more successful focusing on some travel guides you write, comprehensive stuff. They get a lot of hits and advertising monies.

>>1231695
>super cheap
I'm a poor guy though. Anything over 20 dollars is way too much for me and I'd rather consider hitchhiking

>>1229925
Come to Venezuela

>>1231757
Where are you from? I could find you a less than 20 dollar flight to here.

>>1230624
Russian definitely if you're in Ukraine. Everyone speaks Russian. Shouldn't really matter where you are in the country. My parents are Ukraine natives but I've been visiting since I was very young (I'm in my 20s now) and their advice is just don't present an opinion to anyone unless you're close with them. Couldn't really tell you about the visiting Russia part, I would probably avoid mentioning it in the far east and definitely don't bring it up in conflict zones.

>>1231661
I wasn't visiting for conflict, I was helping my dad with a matter there. We're Canadians now but we had some business to take care of. One thing I noticed was that they're really having a "fuck the USSR" type wave of culture. They've taken down a lot of really cool statues (i.e. statue of Lenin) that I enjoyed climbing and seeing when I was there last around 13 years ago.

With regards to the actual conflict tourism part, I couldn't be of too much help, but it is something that I would love to do. In theory. In reality being shot at is fucking horrifying.

>>1231794
If you're this nice, just tell me what is some lowest price I can actually get. Preferrably from EU, but it's not a must. I have absolutely no idea when exactly I could go there, though I'd try for a bit colder temperatures.

I'm from poland

>>1229925
I hear Afghanistan is actually fairly safe these days as long as you stay out of certain problem areas, but that's an option. Pretty beautiful landscapes too if you're into that kind of thing.

>>1229925
It doesn't really matter where you go, there is conflict everywhere in the world, whether it is in a war-torn village or a preppy youth trying to fulfill his parents' aspirations in Harvard. As long as you see it and frame it for others to see, it will be equally captivating. That is why HONY was so successful.

>>1232184
Lol man what a coincidence. I am coming to Poland for 8 days in the summer (Krakow-Warsaw maybe Katowice)

Well wizz air does super cheap flights directly from Katowice to Cyprus and Ryan air from Krakow to Cyprus as well.
You can regularly come across 20ish euro ticket prices.

Monday 8th of May: 119 zl one way ticket

>>1230460
Why not northern Iraq?
It's Visa on Arrival for the kurdish territory, the frontlines are well defined and potential risk is well quantifiable.
If you go to Ukraine just be prepared for extreme corruption, on both sides. They will milk you for money incessantly, especially if you seem 'green'. You'll be accused of being a spy etc.
Neither side wants journalists there.

>>1229936
>Keep an eye on Belarus

I'm betting money it'll be next year, March 25th. That's the 100th anniversary of when they declared independence from Russia, and remained independent from the communists for a single year. When the Baltics were gaining independence, Belarus did too -- but it elected a pro-Russian after things went south with its newly independent bureaucrats. Next year will be 100 years, and the central square in Minsk will be full of protesters. You saw a near-Euromaidan vent this year for the 99th, imagine 2018.

OP get pics.

>>1232429
This year I may need to cross Iran, so I'll likely need to have a Iraq-stamp-free passport. But maybe next year? What exactly do you mean 'quantifiable'?

>>1232322
well, 120zł is twice my highest limit, but thanks anyway.
I live in Kraków, so AMA

>>1232481
Explain to me how you cant afford 120 zl but can afford to go to fucking Iran

>>1232527
extreme hitchhiking.

But it is not actually a matter of me not having this money in my pocket, it is about a certain mindest I learned to maintain that makes it possible for me to never run out of money.
I always think that I have no cash at all and I only agree for the truly cheapest option possible. This has two benefits
-By not spending the cash I can keep it. If I were to pay "normally" for the trips I made until now, I would already be in a serious debt, even though not a single one of those trips could clean my account entirely.
-Being in trouble/being forced to improvise pushes me into strange situations and therefore adventures. I have tons of fantastic experiences aquired exactly because I was determined not to pay for some stuff

Also, though it may be considered a bit hypocritical, I make exceptions for things I cannot avoid. This is mostly visas.
All in all my trip to Iran (getting inside the country. I can't estimate the costs of living there and seeing places) should cost less than 10 euro+visas

>>1232538
ok, that's pretty thorough - out of interest how do you go about these hitchhiking trips? Standing at the side of the road like in films? Approaching people in certain places?

>>1232549
You do everything, it's freestyle all the way. Yes, the best I like it is by simply wayving at them (although in the movies you usually see pretty unusual hand gestures). Asking on the gas stations is also an option, even better in terms of percentage of people who will take you, but it's also way more tiresome, especially psychologically. I had some days I was bordering on a nervous breakdown (if you don't get it, imagine really needing a 5$ immediately, asking a lot of people for it and getting turned down every time. It may wear you off, especially if you're overally tired already)

That's mostly it, the other places don't really give you enough oppotrunities.


But in the end it's fantastic. People are all sorts of great - kind, interesting, caring, insightful. Sometimes they'll go off their way just to take you to some better place, sometimes they give you food or even money (and they simply won't take 'no' for an answer, even though I could make just fine without it)

>>1232559
That sounds really interesting - how did you get started? I'd like to give it a go. Maybe this isnt the right thread, but any stories from your travels? Best trips, furthest travelled, nearest misses etc?

Are there any interesting places/conflicts/peoples/happenings in East Asia that could be documented?

Maybe illegal animal trade in SE Asia/China? Although it has been done to death already.

>>1232576
>China
Do not, I repeat DO NOT, try and sneak into China and start doing anything that could be construed as 'investigative journalism'. If it is anything serious, and you dont have a journalist visa, they will come down on you hard.

>SEA
All the usual. Several secessionist or jihadist movements, pretty much every country has slavery/prostitution rings. Then there's govt and police corruption galore

>>1232571
That's right, let's not spam the thread here. I made a new one for us
>>1232587

Will post there in a couple of minutes

>>1232481
Man I think I have come across you several times on /trv/?

Are you the guy who doesn't go to restaurants?

Basically I hear that Auschwitz camp isn't so worth it.
Just recommend anything (food, bar, sight, museum) you like

>>1229925
>Hi guys, I'm an aspiring documentary photographer

How is this still a thing when everything everyone does is covered by hundreds of cameras at all times, and everyone has one in their pocket?

Did you just imagine it's 1972 or something?

>>1232843
>how can you be valued as a good writer when basically everybody nowadays can write whenever and wherever they want?
Do you imagine it's medieval again?

>>1232877
>how can you be valued as a good writer
By sucking cock mostly, did you somehow miss that the whole "writing as a profession" thing is dead, in journalism, fiction, and even academia?

>>1232878
yeah, I missed it entirely. Have never heard of it in my whole life.

>>1232801
Yeah, that's me. I've been active lately.

That's right about Auschwitz (although of course you still may find it worthy. Just expect a lot of propaganda and stories you have already heard hundreds of times. But if visual stimuli affect you much, you may get pretty thrilled there at some points)

The thing about Kraków is that there's a lot of interesting nuances, but you need to be shown them. For example right before the entrance to the cathedra on the Wawel hill, there's a mammoth tusk they dug there.

It's nice to get lost and wander around Kazimierz (the Jewish district)

There's a nice pharmacy museum at Floriańska street

we have a lovely post-ore mine lake called Zakrzówek

Near Kraków we have Wieliczka - the salt mine
and Ojców - a region with a lot of limestone formations. Some caves there as well as nice places to climb. There is one or two castles as well.

For me, the best part about Kraków itself is the views from the roofs. Of course it's unlikely you'll be lucky enough to find one on your own..

We also have marketplaces where folks come to trade some old stuff. You may like to visit those (the biggest ones are Hala Targowa and Nowy Kleparz). The best of the best stuff can be found at the former at Sunday at 4AM (sic).

Finally, read about the city legends. We have a lot of them and they really add some atmosphere.


As for the food - find some bar mleczny - a place with very chep home-like meals. There you can really taste some actual polish dishes. Bigos and kasza gryczana z masłem spring to mind.(For pierogi try some better place). Just make sure you find such a bar outside of the center.

>>1232889
What's a good salary over there? How much do you have to have per month to live a decent life?

I'm asking directly instead of consulting numbeo because for example you get that the average salary in Czech Republic (just an example because I asked a guy recently) is less than 1k, and then a guy said that there's no way to live in Prague with less than 2k, and that you get like 30k per year for a stupid IT helpdesk job and even more for programming, so...

>>>1233333

>>1234250
Well, I don't know this much about all this cash stuff. I still study and thus my parents pay me for accomodation and I mostly dumpster dive or eat really cheaply.
But let's think.

The minimum salary is ~1400zl
the average netto is ~3300zl
of course this includes all those politicians, businessmen and alike. So I guess 2500zl is closer to the actual average.
New nice flats start from ~3500zl per square meter in Kraków, renting a flat with one or two people should cost between 400-600zl.

If you want to eat normal food, 15zl per day should suffice. This is obviously without eating out and drinking in bars.

The clothes in the shops start from 50-60zl and more expensive, but still middle-class are 150-200zl.
Of course you can just go to the second hand and buy something way better for 5-10zl.

So that's basically it, if you want to live "normally", a thousand should stand as a bare minimum, without a possibility of saving anything, buying furniture, paying for any medical stuff, etc.
(btw, we of course have a social health service, but you will never be able to visit a doctor quick enough. And socially paid dentist cabinets are basically torture chambers. So in the end if you have a worse problem, you pay for the doctor anyway)


Of course everything I said is about Kraków. It's quite expensive city to live in, especially housing prices are high. Still, it's nowhere near Warsaw, for which you should multiply it all by 1.5 or even 2.

As for what constitutes a good salary - I have no clue, really

>>1232576
South China Sea if you want to join some Vietnamese fishermen and see if they get attacked by Chinese navy

>>1229925
Asking mommy for money or begging on the internet isn't self funding

Get a job you self aggrandizing slacker

Was in Syria fighting with the kurds for half a year or so some time ago. There I talked to this war photographer, Sebastiano Tomada, a guy from Getty, whos been in Yemen, afghanistan, syria, ibya, you name it. When one of my mates down there asked him how to get into it, he said dont, its just not worth it. Its just not that difficult to get into combat zones anymore, and there are too many people with amateur cameras, and too many outsiders willing to go into conflict zones in the hunt for a pullitzer.

If you just spend 5 mins on youtube you can find dozens upon dozens of short, fairly amateurish docus from Syria, and Donbass. Its not worth the monies/time, as it does not pay off economically, nor status wise.

The only place that I know of that is very difficult to get in to, and where very few nes get out of, is Yemen. It is almost (almost) impossible to get in due to the saudi blockade, so you need to go by sea on a fishing vessel etc, dodge american and saudi warships, and then enter. Then again you will need loads of cash or be fluent in arabic, have contacts, to get into the conflicted areas get access to the houthis etc. Its not worth it for a mere amateur m8. You will most likely just end up in saudi prison or something. When its very difficult for people with backing from one of the largest picture/news firms in the world, it is almost impossible for a guy like you.

>>1230460
Not an expert or anything but I met a Moldovan in Spain and asked him about Transnistria. When I asked about it, he almost seemed annoyed I'd heard of it. He used to live there, but said the whole thing was pretty stupid. Not sure how exciting that would be.