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¶ … 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 in either the east or west, but in this writer's imagination, one way to make this particularly memorable from a social, political, cultural and ecological paradigm would be to try to trace Marco Polo's trip, which occurred in the late 13th century (See: Otfinoski, 2003).

The particular interest in this journey focuses on being able to travel through a number of countries with divergent cultures, languages and religions. 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 travels of Alexander the Great. These former Soviet Republics, too, have a rich cultural heritage and are doing their best to find political and cultural stabilization, certainly welcome Western currency, and provide a unique opportunity to visit countries with so much of the "old" mixed in with a desperate attempt to modernize and become part of the global culture. This area of the trip would be rather difficult since it consists of a number of high mountains, deep gorges, and, in many cases, villages that are few and far between. The eventual goal for this stage of the trip is the ancient city of Samarkand, which is the second-largest city in Uzbekistan. Samarkand is not only the central position on the Silk Road, it is a center for Islamic Study, and was the capital of the Tamerlane Empire of the 14th century (United Nations, 2012) (See Figure 2).

In Samarkand, we can choose to continue the route via caravan (camel or jeep) or, for a different experience, take a train that runs from Samarkand to Tashkent, then to Almaty and moving into China skirting the southern border of Mongolia through the cities of Urumqi, south east to Yinchuan, then Hohhot and finally to Beijing. Taking the train would allow us to travel easier through the Takla Makan Desert, the Altman Shan mountains, and then the agricultural plains surrounding the Yellow River and into the capital city (See Figure 3). Going by rail would cut the travel time from Samarkand to Beijing by 2/3 and still allow brief stops along the way to interact with some of China's more ancient and isolated areas.

Once in Beijing, there are hundreds of sites and experiences, but to complete the tour as Macro Polo did, we would travel by car or rail from Beijing south to Nanking and Shanghai and finally ending up at Shenzhen Kowloon (the point of entry into Hong Kong). At this point, we could either fly back to our original destination, as there are a number of international flights out of Hong Kong, or choose to continue to emulate Polo down through the Vietnamese peninsula, into Malaysia and Kuala Lampur or Singapore, then take a sailing craft to Colombo, Sri Lanka, up the Indian Coast to Mumbai, across the Gulf of Oman to Muscat, through the Persian Gulf to Kuwait City, and then a flight to Istanbul or directly into Venice (See Figures 4 and 5).

The personal value of such a trip may be broken down into several areas:

Historical -- We would be travelling in areas that were part of Alexander's Empire, the Silk Road, numerous invasions from both East and West, and through many countries that still have political implications in global politics.