It has been 101 days since Shane Bauer, Sarah Shourd and Josh Fattal were captured and imprisoned by Iranian guards after they reportedly wandered across an unmarked border while touring a remote mountainous region of Iraqi Kurdistan.

The three American hikers have been detained in Iran since July 31, and may now face charges of espionage, according to Iranian judicial officials.

The families of the three American hikers who have been detained in Iran since July are taking action to free their relatives.

Shane Bauer, Sarah Shourd and Josh Fattal, all students ages 27 to 36, were arrested by Iranian border guards after they reportedly wandered across an unmarked border while touring a remote mountainous region of Iraqi Kurdistan.

The three hikers have now been held in custody for 48 days. Will their families’ latest efforts get the attention of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad?

Iran and Iraq may be two of the least-visited countries in the world, but they have both seen a small surge in tourism over the last few years, a trend that may be threatened by the recent arrest of three American hikers who were traveling in a border area.

Shane Bauer, Sarah Shourd and Joshua Fattal, all students ages 27 to 36, were touring a remote mountainous area of Iraqi Kurdistan last Friday when they allegedly crossed into Iran and were arrested by Iranian border guards.

Are there travel hotspots you think are off-limits? Maybe places like Iraq, Cuba and North Korea come to mind?

Guess what? You can travel to all of them.

These days, there’s almost no part of the planet that’s completely off-limits to intrepid travelers.

In the wake of the tragic crash of Yemenia Airlines Flight 626 near the Comoros Islands, it has been revealed that French safety inspectors had serious doubts about the Airbus A310 craft and had banned it from entering the country in 2007.

Though the airline had not been placed on the European Union’s safety-related blacklist of air carriers forbidden to enter the EU, the French had banned that particular Yemenia plane from entering France.

An Airbus A310 with 153 people on board crashed into the Indian Ocean early Tuesday morning as it tried to land in the Comoros Islands amid gusty winds and rough seas.

The Yemenia Airlines jet was making its final approach to Moroni airport when it went down about nine miles off the Comoran coast.

Weather reports state that wind speeds averaged about 38 miles per hour at the time of the crash.

As our SUV bounced and jostled up the winding dirt road, I tried to keep my eyes on the hilltop in order to quell the rising tide of nausea that was threatening to envelop me.

I was on my way to a beach resort in Oman, Dubai’s neighbor, which I had been told was in a beautiful, secluded cove far from civilization.

However, I was not aware that getting there would be an adventure in itself, involving a trek over a perilous mountain road with no guard rail and no lights.

On her whirlwind tour of Dubai, Karen Elowitt takes a peek at some of the more over-the-top experiences to see what the fuss is all about. 

I spent the last couple of dispatches studiously refuting the image of Dubai as solely a Disneyland-type destination, but one cannot deny the fact that certain over-the-top attractions exist here in the Emirate.

So I decided to check out a couple of these joints firsthand to see what all the fuss was about.