Ingushetia

A region in Russia, in the North Caucasus, where most of the people speak Ingush, a language very closely related to Chechen. A stunningly beautiful place known for its unique tall stone towers, basically trapezoidal with beehive shaped roofs similar to those in neighboring Russian and Georgian Ossetia. Unfortunately the area is closed to travelers because of the Russian government's military involvement, a sense of general lawlessness in which everyone is obliged to carry a weapon, and the presence of al-Qaeda-backed terrorists who have duped the populace, in its quest for independence from Russia, into accepting a twisted version of sharia law. All these make Ingushetia, the Northern Territory in Pakistan, North Korea, and Sudan, and Daghestan stand among the world's most dangerous places.