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

[Raven]

Not as exotic as some of the above, but still somewhat out of the usual .. Nyirbator in Hungary, near the Ukrainian border. The birthplace of noted Guinness World Record holder Elizabeth Bathory. Was there for a music festival, and for advice on how to retain my youthfullness.

Like some of the above posts, would like to see Mongolia.

Edited December 7, 2020 by Raven

[Stu]

13 hours ago, MONKMAN said:

 

An utter shithole of a place, Blackpool with a waterfall.

Whereas Niagara on the lake, is a stunning little town. I believe it has one of the highest average house prices, in North America.

 

I have never been to Blackpool and have no intention to go but that's exactly what I thought Niagara Falls was like. The falls themselves are incredible, the town is a dump. I think my Candian relatives who took me and my brother were relieved that we thought it was shit.

[highlandcowden]

always fancied visiting Paraguay,i read a great book about it(at the tomb of the inflatable pig),I recall reading(in world soccer,of all places)that they are hated and feared by their neighbours and I don't know anyone that's been there

Edited December 7, 2020 by highlandcowden

[NotThePars]

8 minutes ago, highlandcowden said:

always fancied visiting Paraguay,i read a great book about it(at the tomb of the inflatable pig),I recall reading(in world soccer,of all places)that they are hated and feared by their neighbours and I don't know anyone that's been there

Yea, the two things I know about Paraguay is Dr Francia closing the country while he was alive and them losing 90% of their male population fighting with all their neighbours. We could learn a lot from them when we go independent.

[highlandcowden]

21 minutes ago, NotThePars said:

Yea, the two things I know about Paraguay is Dr Francia closing the country while he was alive and them losing 90% of their male population fighting with all their neighbours. We could learn a lot from them when we go independent.

dr francia?was that "el supremo"?easily the best title for a ruthless dictator ever

aye,the war of the triple alliance was pretty bad news for the Paraguayans,up against brazil,argentina and Uruguay.ok uruguays wee,but brazil and argentina?is that not like us going to war with England,germany and Belgium?

they also had a war in the 1930s with Bolivia,the chaco war,which had some of the highest mortality rates in history for the forces involved

[NotThePars]

Just now, highlandcowden said:

dr francia?was that "el supremo"?easily the best title for a ruthless dictator ever

aye,the war of the triple alliance was pretty bad news for the Paraguayans,up against brazil,argentina and Uruguay.ok uruguays wee,but brazil and argentina?is that not like us going to war with England,germany and Belgium?

they also had a war in the 1930s with Bolivia,the chaco war,which had some of the highest mortality rates in history for the forces involved

Aye that's the guy.

Paraguay just love having a war where everyone in their country dies

[highlandcowden]

5 minutes ago, NotThePars said:

Aye that's the guy.

Paraguay just love having a war where everyone in their country dies

the national motto must be "no half measures"

im hoping if I do go that the female to male ratio will be 10000-1

[vikingTON]

Albania is not that strange once you get used to hardly anyone keeping a garden in the Western sense of the word - it is simply a plot of land for growing vegetables on. The Hoxha bunkers are magnificent but are not as common inland as you'd expect unless you are close to the border. There are quite a few in Sarande where the ferry to Corfu leaves from and if you take a boat trip out from then the coastline is stacked with them.

 

 

[tamthebam]

On 30/11/2020 at 19:59, paranoid android said:

Aye fancied going to Portmeirion. 

Be seeing you. 

I went on a scorching hot day about 5 years ago. It is an interesting place with a smashing beach.

There's a small shop selling "The Prisoner" stuff too

[tamthebam]

I'd be interested in going to Mecca out of curiosity (and it has the world's biggest clock). Not during the Hajj as it would be too busy but at some other time. Somehow I feel that "Bluff your way in Islam" wouldn't be enough to get me in though 

As someone who has watched shite teams all his life I'd also like to see an international involving one of the lowest FIFA ranked teams- Montserrat or American Samoa for example. There was a good film that came out a few years ago called "Next goal wins" about American Samoa 

[Tight minge]

9 hours ago, tamthebam said:

I'd be interested in going to Mecca out of curiosity (and it has the world's biggest clock). Not during the Hajj as it would be too busy but at some other time. Somehow I feel that "Bluff your way in Islam" wouldn't be enough to get me in though 

Definitely think it would be something to see and certainly on my to do list. Not sure when though.

[amidst-tundra]

I work in the merchant navy. Have visited and managed to get ashore in some pretty remote places like the Ascension Islands and Falklands. Mostly work in the Caribbean now which sounds nicer, but probably isn't as interesting aside from the occasional stop in Guatemala.
I've travelled to Faroe Islands where I was gutted not to see a league match and spent a few days in the Exclusion zone in Chernobyl.
As someone was saying above, I used to live near Niagara Falls. Absolutely amazing falls surrounded by an absolute shitehole of a town. Getting to go on the Maid of the Mist was cool in a touristy kind of way.
One of the weirder things I've always wanted to do was visit the Pole of Cold in Siberia and Norilsk. I guess being born in Birmingham and spending a few years growing up in Northern Manitoba gave me an appreciation for cold and brutal places.

[Genuine Hibs Fan]

On 07/12/2020 at 21:07, NotThePars said:

Yea, the two things I know about Paraguay is Dr Francia closing the country while he was alive and them losing 90% of their male population fighting with all their neighbours. We could learn a lot from them when we go independent.

Most of the people I know who have been to Paraguay had to bribe their way out after some passport snafu so they are carrying on this fine tradition in a way

[Melanius Mullarkey]

Heres a couple of holiday snaps from Damascus that I found on my work computer earlier.  Nice of the big fella to give me a welcome back then.

 

 

And one for @Shandön Par

[Shandon Par]

22 minutes ago, Melanius Mullarkey said:

Heres a couple of holiday snaps from Damascus that I found on my work computer earlier.  Nice of the big fella to give me a welcome back then.

 

 

 

And one for @Shandön Par

@101 your tie collection 

[101]

1 hour ago, Shandön Par said:

@101 your tie collection 

Perfect you can have the shirts but will gladly take the ties

[Melanius Mullarkey]

3 hours ago, 101 said:

Perfect you can have the shirts but will gladly take the ties

You can go and get them. I’m sure they’re still there.

[Hedgecutter]

Weirdest would be down a mine in Bolivia, finding myself giving a paper mache Devil some coca leaf, pure alcohol and some fags to appease the superstitious miners.

[Myles Offside]

On 02/12/2020 at 14:49, hk blues said:

Rangoon (Yangon) in Myanmar for me - before it was developing and under military rule.  Everything was run down and makes where I am now look like Rodeo Drive!  

Visited Myanmar in 2016. Military was surprisingly inconspicuous; indeed, outside of Yangon, practically invisible. Tour guides and hotel staff generally agreed that "The Lady", as they referred to Aung San Suu Kyi, was the best thing that ever happened to the country. It was a guided tour, so they took you to the places they wanted you to see, but if that meant going through the poor side of town, so be it. The poverty couldn't be hidden. Shwedagon Pagoda, although touristy, was fascinating for all that. Outside of Yangon, also visited Bagan, a UNESCO World Heritage Site for the 2000+ 11th - 13th Century temples and pagodas that litter the countryside, and Inle Lake, which is a bit like Loch Lomond on steroids. Houses are built on stilts in the shallow water, crops grown in floating gardens, and larger buildings like schools built on man made islands.

Other place I want to mention is Gambia. I know, package tours direct from the UK and all that so it's not weird or off the beaten track. But when I went in 2005, by sheer coincidence, the African Under-17 Championship Finals were on. The night I arrived, I saw two group games, Burkina Faso v Ghana and Gambia v Mali, which the hosts won 3-2 in front of an exuberant capacity crowd. Following day, I bumped into one of the South African squad who for some weird and wonderful reason was wearing a Scotland strip. Gambia went on to win the title, the only thing one of their international teams has ever achieved at any level of the game.

[Hampden Diehard]

On 07/12/2020 at 17:51, invergowrie arab said:

It's all the rage these days but I always fancied the silk road.

 

I watched Joanna Lumley's programme on that and quite fancied it, but maybe you'd have to do it with company whereas I quite like travelling on my own - no one else to consider!  Plus I fancy a wee drink at night and that might not be so easy.