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Original poster

travel to unusual places

170 replies

fizzysci · 21/04/2019 18:23

What is the most unusual place you have been to? The kind of place that people are surprised you've been too.

Mine was Svalbard - most people haven't got a clue where it is.

OP posts:
QueenofLouisiana · 21/04/2019 20:51

The south-west tip of South Korea, not at all the same as Seoul, which we visited for a few days on the same trip.

A beautiful and often tranquil area, such a fascinating place to visit.

Dillyson · 21/04/2019 20:53

The island of Rodrigues. A couple of hours flight from Mauritius. A beautiful place, but there are a lot of spiders!

MollyYouInDangerGirl · 21/04/2019 20:59

Not exotic at all but the place I found people were most surprised about that i went to was Monaco - it's such a wealthy place when I'm so normal it was funny seeing peoples faces.

It was amazing and beautiful and there are normal priced places to go - but near the casino in monte carlo there were restaurants where it was €24 for a lemonade!

cariadlet · 21/04/2019 21:02

Some posters' friends must lead very sheltered lives if they think Israel and Denmark are strange places to go on holiday.

cariadlet · 21/04/2019 21:04

I missed Iraq off my list. We only went at Christmas so I don't know how I forgot it. Definitely had a few strange looks when I told people where I was going.

Hollowvictory · 21/04/2019 21:05

I've never been anywhere unusual but I've been to Israel and Denmark!

Hollowvictory · 21/04/2019 21:06

And nobody has ever looked at me like I'm mad for going to Israel. 4 million visitors a year go there, many on pilgrimage

Hollowvictory · 21/04/2019 21:06

Ditto monaco 😂

HonniBee · 21/04/2019 21:07

I've also been to Svalbard, OP!

Did you go on the boat trip to the Russian settlement? That was truly one of the most bizarre things I've ever experienced.

rosettesforjill · 21/04/2019 21:08

Albania - it was beautiful in some parts and bizarre in others!

GreyGardens88 · 21/04/2019 21:09

I don't think I've been to anywhere that unusual, only place I can think of is that miners town in Australia where they all live underground due to the heat

Hollowvictory · 21/04/2019 21:10

Coomber pedy?

GreyGardens88 · 21/04/2019 21:10

Agree Isreal, Denmark, Cyprus, Monaco all pretty standard holiday destinations!

Original poster
fizzysci · 21/04/2019 21:12

Did you go on the boat trip to the Russian settlement? That was truly one of the most bizarre things I've ever experienced.

Yes! It was amazing. Have you been to other places in the Arctic?

OP posts:
Meretricious · 21/04/2019 21:19

Ethiopia...it was amazing. Food, views, churches older than the roman church...

Dillyson · 21/04/2019 21:29

I'd love to go to Ethiopia, very high on my list.

Iflyaway · 21/04/2019 21:35

Yes! Ethiopia. Amazing place! Lalibela with rock-hewn churches, Shashamane, the rasta community (from all over the world) living on land donated by Haile Selassie.

Also been to Mali, Dogon country, they knew about the star Sirius before the astronomers! Also Djenne, with its mosque, the largest adobe structure in the world with the market around it, fascinating.
Never made it to Timbuctou though, and now I doubt I ever will.... :-(

senbei · 21/04/2019 21:36

The one I remember that's somewhat rare is probably Ilulissat, Greenland.

senbei · 21/04/2019 21:39

The south-west tip of South Korea, not at all the same as Seoul, which we visited for a few days on the same trip.

Jeju? Or are we talking Jeollanam-do?

Torytop · 21/04/2019 21:43

Yemen. Wasn’t that strange or unusual at the time, but would be now.

Ylvamoon · 21/04/2019 22:12

I went to eastern Germany (very rural place) back in the days of the iron curtain to visit some distant family.

Definitelysometime · 21/04/2019 22:15

I spent two nights in the Chernobyl exclusion zone last year. Eerie. I went to Libya when it was more stable, and have been to Swaziland and Guyana, which was utterly beautiful. Next month I'm going to Jordan.

Definitelysometime · 21/04/2019 22:16

Ethiopia high on my list too! Also Bhutan...

Original poster
fizzysci · 21/04/2019 22:24

Ilulissat, Greenland

It's amazing, I love Greenland.

OP posts:
saraclara · 21/04/2019 22:27

I love Central Asia, but when I mention any of the 'stans, people have no idea where they are. Uzbekistan is probably my favourite country after...
Iran. but friends' attitudes to me travelling there really disappointed me. When I came back full of enthusiasm for the wonderful people and sights there, it was like people didn't want to believe me. I felt very sad for the lovely people I'd met there, so just stopped responding.

I spend a lot of time in Malawi. Again, lovely people. Though people at home can get a bit funny about Africa, too. Someone even accused me of being a sex tourist (older white women apparently are after African beach boys!)