Guinea is the world's second poorest country, has tourist facilities to prove it, but is a friendly destination for budget travellers looking for a West African holiday. When France offered its West African territories the option of independence or autonomy as part of a Franco-African community of nations, Guinea embarked down the road less travelled and took its independence. Alienation from France broke the country, suspending it in a downhill journey through socialism, gross human rights offences and terrible poverty. Democracy's been around for about a decade, but prospects remain dim.

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