The Darker Side Of Travelling

Being accused of spying is all part of the job for inquisitive Scots author George R Mitchell

- Garry Fraser

GEORGE R MITCHELL is a travel writer with a difference. No lazy Caribbean cruises or luxury hotels on the Maldives for him. Instead he will travel to the less-visited parts of Europe and the Middle East and meet the locals, with little or no regard for the consequences.

With searching questions and controversial interviews, he often risks unpopularity with the authorities. While researching his latest book, Mankind’s Great Divides, he found himself in particularly deep trouble when accused of spying during a trip to the little-known region of Nagorno-Karabakh.

“Inside my room, a police officer stood with his back to the door, while one of the men started to rifle through my luggage. They turned the entire room over. They found my electronic cigarette and claimed the battery with the flashing light was a secret camera. I could not believe what I was hearing. The other man flicked through my passport and found the visa from a past trip to their enemy, Azerbaijan. He was disgusted.

“That was scary, I’m not afraid to admit,” says George. “I’m pretty streetwise because I have to be, but to be accused of spying? I didn’t see that one coming. I was given a choice – apologise for what I’d done or face deportation and the confiscation of all my equipment. I had no choice but to apologise, knowing that they could have kept me there if they’d wanted.”