Where's the Strangest Place You Want to Visit or Have Visited?

[tongue_tied_danny]

On 16/01/2021 at 20:46, Elixir said:

In Lviv in Ukraine and seeing framed Mason/Lodge of Scotland certificates on the wall outside the toilets in the basement of a bar was a... surreal moment.

I was once in a pub in Kyiv that had a PPSh submachine gun casually hanging on a coat hook behind the bar. I asked the barmaid if it was real. Her jaw dropped and she looked at me as if I was stupid for a moment before replying that of course it was real. 

[Anglichanin]

On 30/11/2020 at 17:30, NotThePars said:

As it says on the tin, if you had the opportunity to go to somewhere off the beaten track or a holiday destination not typically sighted in the windows of Thomas Cook, where would it be? Or if you've been somewhere unusual or interesting please sound off in the comments below.

I'll go first,

Mongolia - I've always found it an interesting place and especially so after reading Palmer's The Bloody White Baron which spends a lot of time creating an evocative impression of the steppes and the shift in Mongolia from a nomadic society to one that began to 'modernise'. I've read a fair whack of stuff about how entire cities have essentially sprung up in the last century and would love to see it for myself. Also apparently Mongolians are famous for their hospitality.

North Korea - in a parody of myself I would love to see the Hermit Kingdom for myself. A lot is written about it and a lot of that is untrue and while I know any visitors are going to see a heavily scripted and sanitised impression I would like to see a genuinely unique society for myself. Also the metro looks wild.

 

I taught English in Siberia for a few years and had to visit Mongolia to renew my Russian visa in 2005. Absolutely fascinating country, probably the most interesting I have visited. 
 

I also tried to get to view the North Korean border from the Russian side (not to cross it and get arrested) but had to turn back due to, erm, unforeseen circumstances.

[Hampden Diehard]

Memento Park in Budapest is an elephant's graveyard for some of the Eastern Bloc statues that were pulled down when the  communism era ended. It includes a pair of Stalin's boots. The crowds couldn't push the massive statue over so someone went off and brought back a burner to cut him off. There's also a terrific secret police training film on how to search a house without the owner knowing.

[Tight minge]

6 hours ago, Hampden Diehard said:

Memento Park in Budapest is an elephant's graveyard for some of the Eastern Bloc statues that were pulled down when the  communism era ended. It includes a pair of Stalin's boots. The crowds couldn't push the massive statue over so someone went off and brought back a burner to cut him off. There's also a terrific secret police training film on how to search a house without the owner knowing.

Was opened originally by a scrap merchant who had bought all the statues up for next to nothing, hence the location being a bit from the centre.

 

[paul-r-cfc]

When I did a Central American tour in 2019, it took us to Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador and Costa Rica.

Originally, Nicaragua was in the itinerary but they removed it due to political protests. So after we finished up in San Jose, Costa Rica, we decided we fancied a day trip over the border. Got a three hour uber up and over the mountains to Los Chiles border crossing, walked over the no man's Land to Nicaragua to a bunch of utterly perplexed border guarda laughing their heads off at our plan.

Got our stamps and waited about an hour in a shuttle bus which took us to the miserable lakeside town of San Carlos. Only had time to spend 15 minutes there as we were cutting it fine to get back before the border shut. More laughter from the guards and I breathed the biggest sigh of relief when we saw that our uber driver hadn't laughed off our request that he wait for us.

So about 8 hours travelling and waiting for 15 minutes in some bin village. Worth it for the stamps.....maybe not

[paul-r-cfc]

A couple more pictures of us having just the best time.

 

[hearthammer]

Went to La Moyenne in the Seychelles over 30 years ago as part of my honeymoon.  Met the then (now late) owner, Brendon Grimshaw, and waded in the shallow inland pools with small (around 12" -18") sharks swimming around us.  They obviously weren't human feeders and kept out of the way of the intruders. I assume they fed off the abundant fish supplies also in the water. Quite an experience all the same.

I think it was on La Digue Island where we saw one of the giant tortoises.  

Fascinating place. 

 

 

 

[Highland Capital]

On 10/03/2021 at 21:52, Anglichanin said:

I also tried to get to view the North Korean border from the Russian side (not to cross it and get arrested) but had to turn back due to, erm, unforeseen circumstances.

Go on...

[101]

On 14/01/2021 at 13:34, paul wright scores said:

10 years ago today I was on Port Lockroy in Antarctica, where there is a museum and post office, from where you can send mail all over the world. 

Port Lockroy is on Goudier Island (64º49’S, 63º30’W) off the Antarctic Peninsula.

Following a conservation survey in 1994, British ‘Base A’ – Port Lockroy was recognised for its historical importance and designated as Historic Site and Monument No. 61 under the Antarctic Treaty.

In 1996 a team from the British Antarctic Survey was funded to renovate the buildings in 1996. Since then the site has been open to visitors during the Antarctic summer (November to March).

It is now managed by the UK Antarctic Heritage Trust (UKAHT) who operate the site as a ‘living museum’ including a very popular small gift shop. All profit from the shop proceeds goes towards renovation of other historic sites in Antarctica.

 

A bit of a bump but how did you get there? 

[paul wright scores]

1 hour ago, 101 said:

A bit of a bump but how did you get there? 

Train from Glasgow to London

Flight from Heathrow to Madrid

Flight from Madrid to Buenos Aires

Flight from Buenos Aires to Ushuaia

Boat (MV Fram) from Ushuaia to Antarctica

The the same in reverse to get home. 

 

Most of the 7 visits were around the South Shetland Isles with 2 on Antarctica itself.

 

 

[Anglichanin]

3 hours ago, Highland Capital said:

Go on...

http://www.siberia.eclipse.co.uk/Ch12/index.html

[101]

1 hour ago, paul wright scores said:

Train from Glasgow to London

Flight from Heathrow to Madrid

Flight from Madrid to Buenos Aires

Flight from Buenos Aires to Ushuaia

Boat (MV Fram) from Ushuaia to Antarctica

The the same in reverse to get home. 

 

Most of the 7 visits were around the South Shetland Isles with 2 on Antarctica itself.

 

 

Cheers always fancied going there but seemed a ball ache and very expensive but its on my bucket list.

[NotThePars]

These last couple of pages have been fucking class. 

[ICTChris]

On 01/12/2020 at 14:33, NotThePars said:

I think there’s a city between the two zones in Cyprus which has been essentially untouched since the wars. Would love to visit there although I think it’s also heavily mined.

 

 

Varosha, it's really an area of Famagusta rather than a city in itself.  It was the modern tourist part of Famagusta and they left it as a bargaining chip for a peace agreement but that didn't go anywhere so it's just fallen into ruin.  I've been to Famagusta a few times and we went for a walk on the beach by Famagusta.  It's really odd - there is a modern five star hotel there and they have waiters in bow ties serving drinks to people on loungers and 100 feet away there are all these ruined buildings behind a massive barbed wire fence.  I didn't take any photos as they don't like yhou photographing any of the Turkish army places but this from Wiki shows it well - 

 

The TRNC is kind of odd - because it's unrecognised and there is no investment from anywhere other than Turkey then you don't have all the international chains and places like that, so it feels quite distinctive.  It's also a lot more run down than Cyprus, if you go off the beaten path then there are obviously people living in real grinding poverty.  

We went to Nicosia one day and crossed the green line and the difference between the Turkish part (old winding streets, little cafes and small shops) and the modern unoccupied part is massive.  The Greek part is a completely modern city, complete with KFC, all mod cons, everything a lot more up to date.   While this obviously hinders the residents of Turkish Cyprus (they voted in favour of the reunification plan in the 2000s but the Greek Cypriots rejected it) it does mean the beaches are left untouched and its a bit more authentic.  We drove up the Karpas Peninsula and it had these beautiful beaches that would probably be mobbed if it was an open country but were basicallyh deserted or had some rudimentary beach huts.

My dad lived in Cyprus during the 1990s when the border was onlyopen to tourists, Cypriots couldn't go across.  My cousin went to visit him in and they drove up to the TRNC and when they got back to the village they lived in people found out they had gone and loads of people came to them asking if they could go back and take photographs of their parents graves or check if their houses were still there - people forget the real tragedy of it all.

[DiegoDiego]

Mitrovica is another similar place which is definitely in my top ten travel experiences. Serbian and Albanian culture is so different and you cross a bridge to go between the two: espressi and desert at an outdoor table (paid in Euros) on the Albanian side, pints in dark taverns on the hillier Serb side, paid in Dinars.
The demographics is startling too. Kosovo has the youngest population in Europe, a third of the country go to school, but in the Serbian parts it's only the elderly left behind. Had some really good chat with some Serbs there, great bunch of lads.

[paul wright scores]

On 29/03/2021 at 21:25, 101 said:

Cheers always fancied going there but seemed a ball ache and very expensive but its on my bucket list.

I had wanted to go for years, so we made our minds up we were going to go and eventually booked it to celebrate both our 50th birthdays.  It cost a small fortune (just short of a 5 figure sum in 2011) but was worth every penny.  The silence on the snow/ice/land is, as they say, deafening. 

The excursions are strictly controlled as the travel company are only allowed a maximum of 100 people on land at any one time, including those working on the boat, so its done on a rota system with strict timelines allowed on land before departing; you also must remain within specific areas on land.  I ventured outside once in error, wandering too close to a nesting Brown Skua, which started diving towards me. They are also extremely rigorous in terms of cleanliness of getting on and off the boat/land to preserve the ecology.

We also swam (a bit of embellishment here) in Cuverville Island for a few seconds. 

I would love to go back sometime but if I did I would ensure the trip involved visits to The Falklands and South Georgia. 

After getting to Antarctica we decided we then wanted to visit all 7 continents, which we completed in 2017.

 

 

 

 

 

[101]

6 minutes ago, paul wright scores said:

I had wanted to go for years, so we made our minds up we were going to go and eventually booked it to celebrate both our 50th birthdays.  It cost a small fortune (just short of a 5 figure sum in 2011) but was worth every penny.  The silence on the snow/ice/land is, as they say, deafening. 

The excursions are strictly controlled as the travel company are only allowed a maximum of 100 people on land at any one time, including those working on the boat, so its done on a rota system with strict timelines allowed on land before departing; you also must remain within specific areas on land.  I ventured outside once in error, wandering too close to a nesting Brown Skua, which started diving towards me. They are also extremely rigorous in terms of cleanliness of getting on and off the boat/land to preserve the ecology.

We also swam (a bit of embellishment here) in Cuverville Island for a few seconds. 

I would love to go back sometime but if I did I would ensure the trip involved visits to The Falklands and South Georgia. 

After getting to Antarctica we decided we then wanted to visit all 7 continents, which we completed in 2017.

 

 

 

 

 

Sounds great. I always thought about £8k was the very cheapest I could get there for. 

I had planned to visit every continent before I was 25 but Covid has taken 2 years off that. My plan was Morocco last year Asian city short break on the way to NZ and then finish off in 2023 at the Medellin Christmas Festivities.

[DiegoDiego]

I met a chap in Bishkek who was attempting to be the youngest person ever to visit every country in the world. He had a strange air to him and didn't seem to be enjoying his quest. The look on his face when someone told him that a girl three years younger than him had already achieved the feat was priceless.

[paul wright scores]

21 hours ago, 101 said:

Sounds great. I always thought about £8k was the very cheapest I could get there for. 

I had planned to visit every continent before I was 25 but Covid has taken 2 years off that. My plan was Morocco last year Asian city short break on the way to NZ and then finish off in 2023 at the Medellin Christmas Festivities.

Sounds great.  Colombia is supposed to be beautiful. 

NZ was also brilliant and if I was ever to emigrate anywhere it would be NZ.  Too old for that now 

Edited April 1, 2021 by paul wright scores

[NotThePars]

On 30/03/2021 at 15:02, ICTChris said:

Varosha, it's really an area of Famagusta rather than a city in itself.  It was the modern tourist part of Famagusta and they left it as a bargaining chip for a peace agreement but that didn't go anywhere so it's just fallen into ruin.  I've been to Famagusta a few times and we went for a walk on the beach by Famagusta.  It's really odd - there is a modern five star hotel there and they have waiters in bow ties serving drinks to people on loungers and 100 feet away there are all these ruined buildings behind a massive barbed wire fence.  I didn't take any photos as they don't like yhou photographing any of the Turkish army places but this from Wiki shows it well - 

 

The TRNC is kind of odd - because it's unrecognised and there is no investment from anywhere other than Turkey then you don't have all the international chains and places like that, so it feels quite distinctive.  It's also a lot more run down than Cyprus, if you go off the beaten path then there are obviously people living in real grinding poverty.  

We went to Nicosia one day and crossed the green line and the difference between the Turkish part (old winding streets, little cafes and small shops) and the modern unoccupied part is massive.  The Greek part is a completely modern city, complete with KFC, all mod cons, everything a lot more up to date.   While this obviously hinders the residents of Turkish Cyprus (they voted in favour of the reunification plan in the 2000s but the Greek Cypriots rejected it) it does mean the beaches are left untouched and its a bit more authentic.  We drove up the Karpas Peninsula and it had these beautiful beaches that would probably be mobbed if it was an open country but were basicallyh deserted or had some rudimentary beach huts.

My dad lived in Cyprus during the 1990s when the border was onlyopen to tourists, Cypriots couldn't go across.  My cousin went to visit him in and they drove up to the TRNC and when they got back to the village they lived in people found out they had gone and loads of people came to them asking if they could go back and take photographs of their parents graves or check if their houses were still there - people forget the real tragedy of it all.

I should read a bit more about Cyprus. I only know that Big Boss spent a decade in recovery there in the 70s and early 80s before escaping with Ocelot.