If you are bored with the same old holiday snaps from the Seychelles and fancy seeing somewhere a bit different this summer, a new tour company based in Dubai could be for you.
Offbeatours is offering adventurous travellers the chance to holiday in areas such as Afghanistan, Yemen and the Kurdish region of Iraq.
The company was started by David Butler, a British helicopter pilot who has lived in Dubai for 15 years and visits the destinations offered by his tour company.
"I get more out of trips to these places than I do going to other places. I find them fascinating, interesting and I love going to a place which you read so much about and when you get there it's different," he said.
"Most of the people are just going about their normal daily lives. You meet some great people and these particular initial three destinations are scenic and culturally different of course and have a lot of history, both modern and ancient."
Tours in Afghanistan are accompanied with security and focus on safer parts such as Panjshir Valley, which is still littered with the wreckage of Soviet armoured cars from the country's invasion during the Cold War. "Yemen, I tell you, it is absolutely fascinating. If you go there you will think there is absolutely nowhere else like this on Earth. When I went three weeks ago it was specifically to look at the mountain villages which I am advertising," said Mr Butler.
"You go up into the mountains where these villages are built on places which you would think were the most inaccessible places ever to put a village or a town and there they are stuck up on top of a mountain peak."
He said he did not feel threatened at any point during the trip, but there are many checkpoints dotted around and travelling requires passes from the police.
"You end up with a huge wad of them because every checkpoint has got to have a copy of the pass," said Mr Butler.
A five-day itinerary in Yemen costs a little more than Dh2,000 (US$544). Kurdish Iraq, which is the most expensive destination at about Dh 3,500 for a five-day trip, is completely safe, he said.
Mr Butler hopes to add a tour in Kalash Valley, in the north-west of Pakistan, soon. "To me it was the most fascinating trip I did last year," he said. But is it safe?
"If you read the [UK] foreign and commonwealth office travel advice, no. In my opinion, yes. If you are a foreigner you have to register with the police and they provide you with an armed guard to go with you all the time for your stay."
