Least Visited Countries – Mo’ Tourists Mo’ Problems

Stag weekends. Hate them or hate them, that’s not what this article is about. Mystery lady “Sarah James” recently contacted me, and offered to write a free article for Yomadic. “Sure!”. What do I have to lose? My less-than-one-month-old reputation for not only being the hottest destination on the internet for travelling Hand Models, but also the number one site for Burmese Lacquerware searches? Yes, as I said, nothing to lose. Within hours, I received a well researched article from Sarah all about Stag weekends. “yeah, ahh, I’m going to go ahead and say I’m not using that article”. I’ve never been married, and to be frank, Stag weekends? Not my thing. That could have been the end of it, but Sarah was persistent. ”OK, what do you want me to write about?”. “well, let me think about it, I’ll get back to you”.

In the meantime, I googled “Sarah’s” email address. A sneaky, but reasonable, precaution.

There were more than 400 hits – everything from salty pineapple recipes to electronic cigarettes, and yes, stag weekends. I thought about Sarah’s offer some more. Inspired by a ”Top Ten Travel Destinations” list I read recently, I had my idea. “OK, Sarah, I want you to write about the LEAST visited countries”. Sure enough, a few hours later, I had my article. And, you know what? It seemed good. Gary Arndt, Matt Knepes, Chris Guillebeau, no chance they have covered all of these countries. Maybe “Sarah” is actually Sarah Pty Ltd, a Philippine’s based group of 700 writers cranking out article after article, filling the internet to breaking point? I just don’t know.

Yes, this is too good to be true. A well researched article written by an anonymous email contact, for free, in exchange for a single link? No. Another quick google search, and well, the article had been written before, and not by Sarah James. Surprised? So, I decided to run with the list of nations anyway, and make my own article. Sarah, you are a naughty girl.

The Top Eight Seven Least Visited Countries – Not Written By Sarah James.

Tourists. They get in the way of great photo opportunities. Ironically, I spend a great deal of my life being a tourist. It’s the dilemma of a traveller. Naturally enough, the great sites of the world are crawling with tourists. However, there are an enormous amount of beaches, temples, mountains, and even cities, where tourists are few and far between. It’s time to break out. Forget Paris, forget the beaches of Rio. Personally, with the amount of travel media I read every day, I’m looking for a destination that remains fairly unknown to the world at large. Whatever your reason – it is a daunting task to compile an accurate list of “The Least Visited Countries”, but hey, it didn’t stop Sarah, and it won’t stop me.

São Tomé – Pico Cão Grande

Sao Tome and Principe off the West African coast, is a Portuguese speaking island nation. The twin tropical islands remain covered with lush rain forest, and very few tourists make it to Sao Tome and Principe each year. Secluded waterfalls, spectacular volcanic mountains, coral reefs with a rich diversity of sea life, where do I sign up?

Saba is a small principality of the Netherlands, located in the Caribbean. Volcano watching, scuba diving, and studying medicine are popular pastimes on Saba. Indeed, one in every six people living on Saba are medical students. The locals are so friendly that taxi drivers have been known to give free rides to hitch-hiking tourists. Unlike the rest of the Caribbean, Saba doesn’t have sandy beaches. Cliff faces and rocky shores are the standard here. Although it may not be the ideal beach0bum location, it retains a reputation as being one of the worlds top destinations for suba diving.

The coastline of the tiny nation of Niue, in the Pacific Ocean. Surf’s up.

 
Niue became the worlds first “Wi-Fi Nation” in the year 2003. Free Wi-Fi, everywhere in the country.Digital Nomad paradise? Located in the South Pacific, and despite being commonly known as “the Rock” by the locals, more than 20% of Niue is covered with tropical rainforest. The population continues to decline here, with little more than a thousand inhabitants, Nieu has one of the smallest populations of any nation. Pro tip : don’t pay for Wi-Fi when you check in to your hammock.

Marshall Islands. Don’t forget to bring sunscreen. And sunglasses.

Marshall Islands “made up of tiny coral atolls, this place can only be accessed by a long range boat.” So Sarah would have you believe. Seriously? A blurry recollection of 50′s war movies, involving run-way constructions and planes, tells me this isn’t true. Bikini Atol is the most infamous part of the Marshalls, after the US government decided that here would be the best place to perform the largest nuclear test in history. Bring sunscreen. And sunglasses.

Afghanistan ski fields – popular winter activity, along with Snowboarding.

 
Afghanistan holds a lot of appeal to me. Incredible scenery, from deserts to towering snow-capped mountains, and one of the oldest cultures on earth, should put Afghanistan amongst the most popular tourist destinations. However, there is the whole warzone issue. Sending unprepared tourists into dangerous warzones would not be something I wish Yomadic to be known for. One day, I am sure Afghanistan will reclaim its glory days of toursim. Until then, there is always Iraq, just down the road.

Tuvalu probably had it’s luckiest break ever when it was awarded the Internet domain extension “.tv”. Located in the Pacific Ocean, somewhere between Australia and Hawaii, Tuvalu is the 4th smallest nation on earth. In the year 2000, Tuvalu leased the .tv domain for 12 years, at a price of 50 million dollars. With a unique local culture and language, and nothing much to do except laze around under palm trees on tropical beaches, you really should put Tuvalu on your to-do-list next time you’re crossing the Pacific Ocean.

Kiribati a republic nation, and a part of the Micronesian chain of islands straddling the equator, Kiribati uses the Australian dollar. For me, no pesky currency conversions! Despite it’s isolation, Kiribati had enough strategic significance to be the location of some of the hardest fought World War II battles. Remnants of this era remain, making for some interesting site-seeing in between bouts of lazing on the beaches sipping drinks from coconuts. Home to the largest marine protected area on earth, Kiribati is a destination just waiting to be inundated with tourists. Any day now…

Author Bio:

The above article was not composed and edited by Sarah James. She is associated with many dubious travel related companies as their freelance writer and adviser. In her free time she likes to copy articles about “Least Visited Countries”, and pass them off as original material.

No, I will not be giving Sarah’s details to any other travel bloggers. She’s mine. All mine. It rubs the lotion on its skin, or else it writes articles again. No Sarah! It is not time for lunch! Insert evil laugh, here.

Nate.