Not a country, but send me to the Moon. Or Mars.
Failing thatā¦ hmmmmā¦ dunno. Having a family in tow changes things. Iād stump up to go back to Turkey in a blink.
Amsterdam.
Is that a country?
Is it real?
Have I been there?
Must-see places before I die:
Madagascar ā for the wildlife, ecology, etc.
India ā for the spectacle
Marshall Islands ā for the remoteness
Greece ā for the food (and maybe a little history) and motherās side of the family
Italy ā for my fatherās side of the family and to track down the cousin who still owes me money
Brazil ā for Carnivale
Australia ā for the Outback
Shrug-worthy (meaning Iād go if it were on the way to somewhere else):
Germany
Ireland
Sweden
Argentina
South Africa
Places I wouldnāt go even if it were all-expenses paid:
France ā for the people and the culture
Any of the 'stans ā for the life of me
Anywhere in the Middle East ā for the religion
[quote=ājimipresleyā]Iāve never been to Scotland and Ireland, the lands of my forebears. I hope that I can actualize that dream before my demise.
There are no other countries in Europe that I would give a shit to visit.
Iāve never been to South America. Would love to see Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru and Argentina.[/quote]
Whatās your id no, Iām putting you on the no-fly list . Seriously, welcome to Ireland and bring some money with ya to give to the natives.
Iād like to visit Congo, Tanzania, Zanzibar (whatever thatās called these days), Madagascar, Brazil Amazonia, Borneo (deep), Western Australia and Queensland, Eastern Russia and Siberia, Alaska, Antartica, Silk Road, Mexico, Peruā¦lots of places to go. Also visit is too unclear, itās what you do and where exactly you go in the country that counts. I pass through countries all the time on business and itās not much fun.
[quote=āsuper_luckyā]Must-see places before I die:
India ā for the spectacle
Places I wouldnāt go even if it were all-expenses paid:
Anywhere in the Middle East ā for the religion[/quote]
You do know that there are more Muslims in India than any of the Middle East countries, donāt you?
Been there, done that!
[quote=ācfimagesā][quote=āsuper_luckyā]Must-see places before I die:
India ā for the spectacle
Places I wouldnāt go even if it were all-expenses paid:
Anywhere in the Middle East ā for the religion[/quote]
You do know that there are more Muslims in India than any of the Middle East countries, donāt you? [/quote]
From Wikipedia:
āAs per the 2001 census, over 800 million Indians (80.5%) were Hindu. Other religious groups include Muslims (13.4%), Christians (2.3%), Sikhs (1.9%), Buddhists (0.8%), Jains (0.4%), Jews, Zoroastrians and BahĆ”āĆs. Tribals constitute 8.1% of the population. India has the third-highest Muslim population in the world and has the highest population of Muslims for a non-Muslim majority country.ā
The first and second highest are Indonesia and Pakistan.
Oooh, you guys are giving me all sorts of ideas.
Antarctica would definitely top my list, then Patagonia (yes, not a country, but whatever), Mali (Timbuktu! and desert, I love desert), Tajikstan (Iāve heard itās the best of the stans), Papua New Guinea, India, Nepal, Bhutanā¦ really the list could go on and on until itās got everywhere I havenāt been yet.
Iām planning to go to Burma for CNY, so Iāll get to check that one off soon.
I have to chime in and say Iceland is awesome (and at least itās much cheaper now) - I lived there for a year and it was the best year of my life (so far) - walking on glaciers, soaking in all-natural hot springs after a hike through the snow, northern lights, Reykjavikās nightlife, it doesnāt get much better than that.
Yes, MT, me too.
But Iād really like to bicycle up the troll steps (troll road/troll ladder). Can you imagine?
It is on my list of things to do before my legs get too old.
Iād like to go everywhere. I realize, being a tourist, isnāt exactly my cup of tea, especially with 2 miniones in tow. Iād love to live in Europe, so I can see most of it easily, and live in at least one African country, maybe Kenya for the safaris and the African experience. I am not too captivated by S.America, the Husband is on his way to Cancun for a fortnight and maybe he can change my mind
Oh and did I say China, and Myanmar, coz Iāve been there and liked that.
[quote=āmaomanā]Kyrgyzstan because itās apparently beautiful and far off the beaten path.
[/quote]
Iām with Maoman on this one. Iāve heard great things about Kyrgyzstan, including the ability to do week-long horse riding treks or wild cycling excursions.
Central Asia is where I feel things are most out of the beaten track at the moment. When I went to Xinjiang a couple of months ago I was really struck by the natural beauty and by how the culture there is so different to anywhere else in the world. Iād really like to experience more of that without running the risk of bumping into Chinese tour buses at the most popular spots.
Shame that to get to Kyrgyzstan from Taipei you need to get a connecting flight from Moscow, Beijing or London. Shame also that there was an outbreak of ethnic violence earlier this year.
I put this up on my blog a year ago when I moved to asia. Iāve already backpacked most of the Pacific Crest Trail, took several trips thru the American Southwest and traveled to Peru and Ecuador (including the Galapagos Islands). My 3+ years in Asia should cross 3 of these off my list.
[color=#FF0000]1) The Himalayas ā Nepal/Tibet - March 2012[/color]
2) Patagonia ā Argentina/Chile
3) New Zealand
[color=#FF0000]4) Southeast Asia - THIS WINTER[/color]
5) Alaska
6) Mt Kilimanjaro and Victoria Falls ā Kenya/Tanzania
[color=#FF0000]7) Lake Baikal and Siberia - tentatively summer 2013 (and Mongolia)[/color]
8) Great Barrier Reef
9) The Great Pyramids of Egypt - probably off the list if I updated it
10) Scandanavia ā after all Iām almost a quarter Viking
HM ā Antarctica
Zimbabwe! For the Victoria Falls mostly.
Vietnam, to spend a little money in a nation which my own country unjustly went to war with. (Christ! I wouldnāt write that on the white-board and try to explain the grammar). Lots of amazing landscapes, from the pics Iāve seen. Visiting would be cool. Living there for a year might be better. Need to do more research first, though.
Italy- I just want to make love to an Italian woman in Italian, bicycle through Tuscany, stay in some seaside fishing towns, and drive around standing up through the sun-roof of a car waving to everyone like the pope.
I want to visit Rome when Iām good and old with my wheel chair, colostomy bag and 19 year-old Indonesian ānurseā to push me around.
New Zealand-Iāve been a few times but would like a crack at her on a motorcycle- camping out and hunting.
India-On motorcycle and train
Afghanistan to Pakistan-By horse would be awesome, would love to hunt there too.
Argentina-Ride out and camp in the Pampas, eat steak from the fire with a knife.
Fiji-would love to paddle board, fish and camp from island to island.
Russia and Ukraine by train
Tibet and Nepal-trekking
Iād better get busy!
[quote=ātwonavelsā]Zimbabwe! For the Victoria Falls mostly.
[/quote]
Hey, if you want to see the falls, go to Zambia. Day trip tourists can walk across the border to either side of the falls using just a passport (no visa last time I was there), or bungy jump off the middle of the border bridge. Zambia is so much nicer than Zim these days, plus you avoid the dictator. Flights to Cape Town and then to Zambia exist, or come via Europe (Rome to Accra, for example, then connect to Zambia).
Africa is beautiful.
My own, right about now. Spring/early summer in South Africa is glorious, and the December/January holidays are about to start - that means plenty of outdoor and beach time with friends, barbecuing and late sunsets.
Also, Greek, Portugal (Madeira) and Spain, any country in South America, New Zealand and Australia. And America, to see how those people in the movies really live
Donāt come visit Seattle now. Weāre thoroughly iced over and itās supposed to drop to -11C tonight. No hopes of melting out until Thursday and then itās a āmaybeā.
Hereās the big intersection closest to my house:
And hereās the big intersection up the hill from HTC America (you can see why I didnāt even try to get to work today)ā¦ :
Canāt wait to come back to balmy Taipei in Januaryā¦ :roflmao:
Tibet- Iāve been but the place is so huge and varied it would take a lifetime to see it all. By Tibet I mean what the Tibetans refer to as Tibet, not the shrunken Chinese Tibet.
Iceland- Also for the scenery.
India- The culture.
Italy- Food and art.
I also wouldnāt mind having several months free to see all the festivals I want to see and hike all the trails I want to hike in Taiwan.