Monthly Archives: September 2024

Bhutan, the world’s most mountainous country, covers some 15,000 square miles in the Eastern Himalayas.  Bordered by India and China's Tibet Autonomous Region, landlocked Bhutan is 98.8% mountains and more than 70% forested.  Officially the Kingdom of Bhutan, the country is known locally as Drukyul.  Bhutan is a constitutional monarchy with a king serving as head of state and a prime minister leading the government.  Bhutan is home to some 778,000 residents, ranking it 165^th among the world’s 234 countries and dependent territories.  By comparison, the population of the metropolitan Denver area is nearly four times the size of Bhutan.

Bhutan and Tibet were among the first countries where Buddhism spread from India in the Seventh Century AD.  Vajrayana Buddhism, Bhutan’s state religion, is led by the Zhabdrung Rinpoche, a spiritual leader similar to Tibet’s Dalai Lama.  The “land of the thunder dragon” is “a place where people can find peace and do business, experience living traditions, and discover wilderness teeming with life,” according to the official Bhutan Travel website (https://bhutan.travel). “In a world that is always on the go, Bhutan provides sanctuary.  Here, you can find earthly pleasures: archery and age-old crafts, dishes of home-made cheese and fearsomely hot chilies, breathtaking treks and restorative hot-stone baths.” Prayer flags are strung across gorges and dot every hillside, Bhutan Travel continued. “From storied cities to soaring mountains, the door to the kingdom is open once again to old and new friends.”

The north-central African nation of Chad is not a common destination for casual tourists from Los Angeles and the Southern California region -- even with considerable natural attractions and cultural treasures. “Despite being one of the poorest countries in the world, Chad is home to a variety of ecosystems, ranging from deserts to savannas to wetlands, making it a treasure trove for nature lovers ,” according to the travel site Mister Story (https://www.misterstory.com/p/discovering-the-natural-wonders-of-chad-a-journey-through-its-diverse-ecosystems/). “Chad is a country with a rich and diverse natural landscape that is waiting to be discovered.”

The Republic of Chad is the fifth-largest country by size in Africa yet ranks 18^th in population at 18.3 million.  The landlocked nation is bordered by Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Libya, Nigeria, Niger, and Sudan.  The country is home to some 200 ethnic and linguistic groups.  Its official languages are Arabic and French, while the main religions are Islam (55%) and Christianity (41%).  Conquered by France in 1920 and merged into the colony of French Equatorial Africa colony, Chad gained its independence in 1960.

Residents of Orlando and the Central Florida region who want to experience the biodiversity of the Amazonia rain forests and businesspeople seeking access to natural resources are the top visitors to Suriname.  Once known as Surinam, the nation just north of the equator borders Brazil, French Guinea, Guyana, and the Atlantic Ocean.

“South America's smallest country, Suriname is a warm, dense convergence of rivers that thumps with the lively rhythm of ethnic diversity,” Lonely Planet reported (https://www.lonelyplanet.com/the-guianas/suriname). “From Paramaribo, the country's effervescent Dutch-colonial capital, to the fathomless jungles of the interior, you'll get a genuine welcome to the country – whether from the descendants of escaped African slaves, Dutch and British colonialists, Indian, Indonesian, and Chinese indentured laborers, or indigenous Amerindians.”

During the 19^th and 20^th centuries, the region was a Dutch plantation colony that primarily produced sugar.  Dutch Guinea became a country under the Kingdom of the Netherlands in 1954, and then gained independence in 1975 as the Republic of Suriname.  Still, the legacy of Dutch rule remains strong in Suriname’s society and culture.  It is one of the most ethnically diverse countries in the Americas, as most of its 600,000 residents are descendants of African and Asian slaves brought to the area by Dutch settlers.  Suriname is the only country outside of Europe where Dutch is the official and primarily-used language.

Libya, the North African nation plagued by civil war and political unrest for more than a decade, has recently begun promoting foreign investment and tourism as it struggles towards political and social stability.  In early 2024, the Libyan government launched a strategic initiative to boost business development to help it achieve long-term economic stability.  Despite some progress, armed conflicts between rebels and tourists continue to plague the country, making this an unlikely travel destination for most people living in Houston. “Do not travel to Libya due to crime, terrorism, unexploded landmines, civil unrest, kidnapping, and armed conflict,” the U.S. State Department warns on its website. “Crime levels in Libya remain high, including the threat of kidnapping for ransom.  U.S. citizens have been targets of these crimes.” (https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/traveladvisories/traveladvisories/libya-travel-advisory.html

Bordered by Egypt, Sudan, Chad, Niger, Algeria, Tunisia, and the Mediterranean Sea, Libya has a population of almost seven million people, which is about the size of the Greater Houston area.  The vast majority of those people are Islamic Arabs who live along the coastline.  It is the fourth-largest African country and is largely covered by the Libyan Desert.  The regions known as Libya have been inhabited since ancient times, ruled by the Greek, Roman, Spanish, and Ottoman empires before becoming an Italian colony in the early Twentieth Century.  The State of Libya became an independent country in 1951.  The 2011 Libyan Civil War that overthrew dictator Muammar Gaddafi began a decade of armed conflict that largely ended in a 2020 ceasefire.  However, parts of the country remain until rebel control.

The Republic of Mali -- a landlocked former French colony in West Africa -- is better known today for its continued civil strife than as a tourist destination.  The U.S., British, and other governments recommend citizens do not travel to Mali because the risks of crime, kidnapping, and terrorism remain high.  While civil unrest has closed some popular tourist destinations to the public, many other attractions remain open for cautious, adventurous travelers from the San Francisco Bay Area.

Mali is one of the most remote countries in the world and one of the hottest.  Covering 480,000 square miles, the country stretches from the middle of the Sahara Desert in the north to the more heavily populated Sudanian Savanna to the south.  Drained by the Niger and Senegal rivers, the remote country offers travelers cultural treasures, desert sand dunes, rolling plains, tropical savannahs, and woodlands.  Mali’s largest metropolitan area, the capital city of Bamako, offers a more Westernized alternative to the traditional villages found across the country.  

Azerbaijan – the South Caucasus country at the crossroads of ancient empires that once ruled Eurasia – is coming into its own as a travel destination for visitors from the Oklahoma City area. “Having long been overlooked by visitors, Azerbaijan's new easy visas, bargain-value hotels and close-packed range of beautiful landscapes are starting to attract significant flows of tourists, though as yet few of them from Western countries,” Lonely Planet reported. (https://www.lonelyplanet.com/azerbaijan )

Stretching from the Caspian Sea to the Great Caucasus Mountains, the culture of Azerbaijan reflects strong Turkish, Iranian, and Russian influences that span centuries.  The ancient Silk Road trading route that connected Europe and Asia runs through Azerbaijan.  During its long history, parts of the country had been ruled by Iran, Turkey and Russia.  After the fall of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s, the country gained independence as the Republic of Azerbaijan.  However, since then, an extended border war with neighboring Armenia and conflicts with separatist forces in the Nagorno-Karabakh region have plagued the republic.

The biodiverse mountains and modern infrastructure of Rwanda have made the country one of the fastest-growing tourism destinations in Africa.  From gorillas of the volcanic Virunga Mountains and the Great Rift Valley to the savannahs of Akagera and the African Great Lakes, “the land of a thousand hills” provides a variety of man-made and natural experiences for visitors from Sacramento.

The landlocked Republic of Rwanda in Eastern Africa was formed in 1962 after decades of German and Belgian rule.  Following civil unrest and war with neighboring Congo during the l990s, Rwanda evolved into one of the safest and most progressive nations in Africa.  The country of almost 13 million is composed of one cultural and linguistic group, the Banyarwanda, and the largest religion is Catholicism.  While the principal language is Kinyarwanda, English, French, and Swahili are also official languages.  However, Western languages are more commonly spoken in cities rather than rural villages.

The northeastern African nation of Eritrea is not a common destination for casual tourists from San Francisco and the Northern California region -- despite its historic cultural treasures and widely diverse natural attractions.  One of the least developed countries in the world, the State of Eritrea is known as one of the most difficult jurisdictions for obtaining a visa -- and for its many undiscovered treasurers. “For such a small country, Eritrea offers an astonishing variety,” World Travel Guide stated (https://www.worldtravelguide.net/guides/africa/eritrea/). “It tends to attract a motley crew of visitors: from archaeologists to architects; scholars to scuba divers; historians to hikers; and cyclists to steam railway buffs.” 

Located in the Horn of Africa, Eritrea is bordered by the Sudan, Ethiopia, and Djibouti.  The Red Sea forms the country’s 1,212-kilometer eastern border. “Eritrea is known as a land of contrasts, with a diverse range of cooler highland escarpments, arid lowlands, humid coastal plains and desert islands all converging within the 122,000 square kilometers that is home to an estimated 3.5 million people,” according to Peace Through Commerce: Tourism and Development in Eritrea, a government assessment of sustainable tourism opportunities (https://www.iwa.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Aman-Haile-Sustainable-Tourism-Report.pdf).

Thailand’s popularity as a retirement destination for foreigners has been boosted by the recent addition of a 10-year long-term retirement visa.  Warm weather, majestic mountains, sandy beaches, lush tropical jungles, vibrant marketplaces, spicy food, state-of-the-art healthcare, and low prices make this exotic Southeast Asian kingdom an attractive destination for retirees in Houston and the Southeast Texas region who are ready for the next chapter of their lives. 

More than 70 million people live in Thailand, including three million foreigners -- with retirees making up a significant percentage of those expats.  The U.S. State Department estimates that some 30,000 American expats live in Thailand (including retirees).  A U.S.-Thailand tax treaty that avoids double taxation exempts Social Security and other U.S. pension payments from Thai taxation.  Discounts on already-low prices for seniors on public transportation, museums, and some tourist destinations add to the appeal for those living on fixed incomes.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) – the second largest country in Africa and fourth most populous – offers Salt Lake City tourists and business travelers a range of natural tropical settings, unique wildlife, and cultural diversions not found in other parts of the continent.  From the mountain gorillas in the rainforest along the Congo River to its active mountain volcanoes, the DRC is one of a kind.

Formerly known as Zaire, the DRC (also referred to as Congo-Kinshasa) covers more than 2.3 million square miles—roughly the size of Western Europe.  It borders Angola, Burundi, the Republic of the Congo, the Central African Republic, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia, as well as the South Atlantic Ocean.  With more than 96 million residents, the Central African nation is also the largest French-speaking country in the world.