¶ … 21st century unfolds, we are told that the world is embracing globalism -- a key change in the economic, political and cultural movements that, broadly speaking, move the various countries of the world closer together. This idea refers to a number of theories that see the complexities of modern life such that events and actions are tied together, regardless of the geographic location of a specific country (political unit). The idea of globalism has become popular in economic and cultural terms with the advent of a number of macro-trade agreements combined with the ease of communication brought about with the Internet and cellular communication. Would we not logically think, then, that countries in the developing world would be doing their upmost to encourage global thinking? There are two conundrums regarding tourism within the developing world: 1) many first-world tourists want to experience something different, something more native and less urbanized when they tour a country in the developing world -- yet at the same time there are a set of expectations they have about infrastructures, transportation, medical care, and basic standards -- even when they consider themselves "roughing it.: 2) it is actually quite complicated to set up and maintain a legitimate eco-tourism or sustainable tourism in an underdeveloped country due to the complexities of transportation, sophistication of guides, and necessary materials and structures in place to service an adequate population base to make eco-tourism, as opposed to safari, profitable. Of note, as well, when dealing with sustainable issues like wildlife, as opposed to flora there is the issue of unpredictability coupled with poaching and the black market. There are several positives associated with this: advancing ecological awareness, promoting sustainable biodiversity, and sharing economic benefits with indigenous populations (Higham (ed.) 2007).
Despite these trends, one of the more interesting places that has not yet been overly developed through eco-tourism, would be a retracing of the famous Silk Road that allowed trade between the east and west for over 2000 years. Of course this trip could begin...
More than anything, though, the allure would be to reflect on the importance and extraordinary tenacity it took to attempt such a journey over 800 years ago. Finally, in this era of globalization, retracing Marco Polo's trip would have a dual purpose of educating the traveler about the similarities and differences of Central Asian and Eastern Culture, but also to hopefully help those individuals encountered understand more about the West, and to remove some stereotypes along the way.
The Polo brothers (Nicolo and Maffeo) were Venetian traders who had families back in Venice, but worked more out of Acre (now Akko in Northern Israel) and Constantinople (modern Istanbul). The first trip took nine years, and on the second trip, beginning in 1271, the brothers brought Nicolo's teenage son, Marco (Otfinoski). Thus, the trip should start in Acre (northern Israel) and then a short jaunt to Jerusalem. The Polo brothers visited Jerusalem to get some oil from the Holy Sepulcher as requested by the Khan of China. From Jerusalem, we would travel east, if possible by camel caravan, if not by motor vehicle, through the Hormuz area of the Persian Gulf to the modern city of Bandar Abbas, capital of the Hormuzgan Province of Iran. The travelers took an indirect route, and from Bandar Abbas, we would travel north into what was the Persian province of Khorasan which was the main departure point of the Ancient Silk Road (See Figure 1).
From there, we would either travel by camel caravan or jeep through what is now the regions of the former USSR: Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. This would be a particularly insightful and valuable portion of the trip since it would also have historical significance from the…
