The world's 6 most dangerous countries becoming a haven for dark tourists

For many people, countries such as and are viewed primarily through a television screen, where war and violence can be seen from a safe distance. It is hardly surprising that countries currently best known for conflict are not high up on the travel itinerary of most people. Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq Ukraine, Congo, and North Korea are among those countries seeing more dark tourists. However, many other dangerous countries are also attracting visitors.

But for an content creators, these tourist-sparse destinations with fascinating and intriguing recent histories are at the summit of their bucket lists. Traveller Eli Snyder has amassed over 200,00 followers on TikTok as users flock to his page to watch his adventures which include travelling through and . He said: "I live for visiting places that are dissimilar to the ones I grew up in.

"Travelling to countries where every aspect of life is completely foreign to me is my favourite thing to do on earth."

Through his blogs, Eli shows his followers his daily life in several Afghan provinces and documents his accommodation, shopping experiences, barber shop visits, and travel around the country.

On travelling to , Eli added: "I knew that with the right amount of preparation and anonymity I could execute a safe visit.

"A lot of people seem to think that I just took some whimsical, ill-advised trip to , but that actually couldn't be further from the case.

"I did months of research and preparation and it allowed me to connect with the Afghan people who are truly the most relentless people on the face of the earth."

Afghan tourism has increased significantly in recent years, rising from 691 visitors in 2021 to more than 7,000 last year, according to AP news agency.

Throughout his travels, Eli has visited Iraq and several African nations and recently took the opportunity to head to shortly after the fall of the Assad regime as the country came to terms with the responsible for hundreds of thousands of deaths.

He said: "As soon as we entered Syria we were met with the harsh reality of how much the buildings have been painted with bullet holes or leveled to rubble."

Many might question Eli's sanity or at least his decision making, but the American is unconcerned about people's views on his travel habits, which he feels is outweighed by the unique experiences he is able to enjoy.

He said: "You probably think I have poor judgement over what is safe and what is dangerous but the reality is that this is not a binary subject.

"Information online is often tragically misleading and is not the experience of visitors."

Eli is not alone, with social media awash with travellers documenting their journeys to places such as Ukraine, Congo and .

Will, a TikTok user who uses the name @travelingmiles is currently documenting his trip around Ukraine as it continues to repel the Russian invasion.

He said: "People keep asking me why are you out there, what's it like but it is like any other place, totally like normal.

"There are things in place that let you know what is going on but places are open, shops are open, totally like normal.

"If you just dumped me here and didn't tell me anything, I wouldn't know that there was a war on."