The Dark Tourist: Sightseeing in the world’s most unlikely holiday destinations

'Dark tourism is the act of travel and visitation to sites, attractions and exhibitions which have real or recreated death, suffering or the seemingly macabre as a main theme' Ever since he can remember, Dom Joly has been fascinated by travel to odd places. In part this stems from a childhood spent in war-torn Lebanon, where instead of swapping marbles in the schoolyard, he had a shrapnel collection -- the schoolboy currency of Beirut. Dom's upbringing was interspersed with terrifying days and nights spent hunkered in the family basement under Syrian rocket attack or coming across a pile of severed heads from a sectarian execution in the pine forests near his home. These early experiences left Dom with a profound loathing for the sanitized experiences of the modern day travel industry and a taste for the darkest of places. And in this brilliantly odd and hilariously told travel memoir, Dom Joly sets out on a quest to visit those destinations from which the average tourist would, and should, run a mile. The more insalubrious the place, the more interesting is the journey and so we follow Dom as he skis in Iran on segregated slopes, picnics in the Syrian Desert with a trigger-happy government minder and fires rocket propelled grenades at live cows in Cambodia (he missed on purpose, he just couldn't do it). Funny and frightening in equal measure, this is a uniquely bizarre and compelling travelogue from one of the most fearless and innovative comedians around.

About the Author :
Dom Joly is a British television comedian and journalist. He is the star of Trigger Happy TV, a hidden camera show that was sold to over seventy countries worldwide as well as World Shut Your Mouth for BBC1 and Dom Joly's Happy Hour, a spoof travel show for Sky One.

Review :
'There's plenty of interesting stuff here... Joly's brisk prose enlivens even the less interesting places and he mixes some cheap jokes with surprisingly sensitive writing -- as when he conveys his discomfort about the touristification of Ground Zero without ranting about it. Worth a look' Metro 8/9 'I'm depressed by how globalised the world is getting, that you're never more than 100 metres away from a Starbucks. The only interesting places left to go are the places with horrible governments, which is unfortunate for the people who live there' Tom Bromley interviewed by Andrew Williams, 60 Second Interview, Metro 2/9 '"About a thousand westerners visit North Korea every year -- all of them with a state-approved tour group. I loathe travelling in groups, as did all the people who chose to make this trip. The result was a bunch of highly independent travellers on a coach tour. It was hilarious" Tom Bromley interview, Guardian 11/9 'Comedian and travel writer Dom Joly has journeyed the globe -- only to discover that his weird take on life as portrayed in his show Trigger Happy TV is not a patch on bizarre behaviour in the real world. His particular joy is to visit where the average holidaymaker would never dream of going. Now he has written a book -- The Dark Tourist -- about his experiences. Here he takes us through a few of his odder adventures' Two-page feature, The Sun 6/9 'As is the case for many people, my reasons for travelling to dark destinations are very personal. I'm interested in visiting places that have had a particular effect on me in my life... I think my travels are an attempt to connect with history. I've always been obsessed with current affairs. By visiting these places I get a perspective, a physical connection to events that I wouldn't otherwise have' Two-page feature, Independent 26/8 'The Dark Tourist takes in a list of destinations that would make a travel agent go pale. There's Iran, a place he visited because he had seen a photograph of two women skiing in full burkas. He found the best ski resort, hired some skis, met some young, free-thinking Iranians and got drunk with them on "a kind of homemade Iranian vodka but they call it pizza", he says' Interview, The Sunday Times 22/8 'I've been on a tour of the North this week promoting my book (The Dark Tourist... thanks for asking)' Independent on Sunday 12/9 'I was born in Lebanon and went to school there until I was six, so I'm very fond of both Beirut and the rest of the country. In most people's eyes, the city is still synonymous with the Lebanese Civil War, but it's come back in a big way and is now fantastically vibrant' My Kind of Town, interview with Matt Rudd, Sunday Telegraph 19/9 'In an age when most travel books appear to be written by comedians carrying fridges, driving taxis or juggling otters, it's tempting to assume that the destinations themselves are "the gimmick", but Joly plays with a remarkable straight bat throughout. Even so, he retains an eye for the absurd and a genuine enthusiasm for the experience, whether it's bartering for the use of a rocket propelled grenade launcher in Phnom Penh or enjoying the museum of lathes in Pyongyang' Word magazine, November issue 'a surprisingly funny journey through humanity's bleak side' Sunday Times 5/12 'The Dark Tourist is a million miles from The Rough Guide or Lonely Planet. It's about the darker corners of the planet' RTE Eire Nov 2010 '(a) compelling and sensitive travelogue' ABTA Magazine Nov 2010 "Joly's brisk prose enlivens even the less interesting places and he mixes some cheap jokes with surprisingly sensitive writing' Metro Sept 2010 '[Joly] somehow manages to combine brilliantly funny, irreverent writing with non-sickly compassion for those who live under the most oppressive regimes. This makes The Dark Tourist a very human travelogue and certainly one to cause you think before booking this year's holiday in the Algarve' Country Life 16/3