skintsaint Posted 17 August, 2009 Share Posted 17 August, 2009 went to a small village in Fiji and that was an eye opener a few months ago, such a poor country. About to take five months off to go round the world so no doubt have a few more places by April next year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angelman Posted 17 August, 2009 Share Posted 17 August, 2009 Lombok - bit strange being guest of honour at a **** fight Irian Jaya worst **** hole ever been to without doubt was Marseille. Walked from train station to centre of town and was surprised not to be lynched for being a WASP. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dubai_phil Posted 17 August, 2009 Share Posted 17 August, 2009 I agree with you mate. Ive never seen so many beggers in one place.Everyone of them had a baby who looked like it hadnt been fed for a week,yet the Indian government supplies free baby food and schooling until they are teenagers.So theres no need for the beggers to use their kids. Although there were some beautiful parts,mainly the beaches,most of what i saw was very dirty and very poor. Reminded me of Leigh Park. Probably told this one before but I had very good friends and business partners in Pakistan. One of them used to play first class cricket for Lahore. About 7 years ago (on the last but one England Tour) he arranged for a "VVIP" box for the Pakistan v England Test at Lahore. I invited my best mate from England, who'd never been further afield than Bude (I believe). He flew in to Dubai and we then hopped over to Lahore. The Pearl Continental is one of the best hotels I stay in on my travels in this region, and it was also where the players stayed, so it was really weird sitting down for breakfast at a table with Nass, Thorpie & Alec Stewart... Our "box" turned out to be Javed Miandad's office, next door to the Sky commentary box. The lads gave the Dubai Saints flag it's first television outing! But each evening, after the cricket my local mate collected us and took us out into the town, shopping or for dinner. The effect on my English mate was astonishing. He simply wasn't mentally prepared for the sheer dirt, poverty and what to him seemed total despair. Stepping over about 8 beggars to get into a restaurant just flipped him out. He simply couldn't understand how we could walk past them without trying to help, it was only later that he realised that if he gave each one we saw in the city 10p he would need about two years' salary. It was a case of total culture shock. To say he couldn't wait to leave would be an understatement, even though the highlight of the trip was teaching Bumble how to become a "registered alcoholic" so that he could have room service send beer up for "medicinal purposes" I loved Pakistan, BECAUSE it was so different even the Swat valley was an amazing place, but for someone from Wiltshire who used to think that London was a long trip, it cames as a total shock to the system to my mate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Special K Posted 17 August, 2009 Share Posted 17 August, 2009 Not particularly well travelled, but the most "different" place i've been to is Sarajevo, last year. Not because it looks different to any european city, it doesn't, or that the people are different, they aren't. Except for obvious contrast between that part of the city that survived the siege and those buildings which remain peppered with gunfire and mortar shells. Brand new Mercedes showrooms sit next to derelict accommodation blocks, full of bullet holes. The people showed great resilience during the siege and they are some of the friendliest, likeable people i've met, with a seemingly great attitude to life, considering that there are mass graveyards with bright white headstones in the middle of residential areas to remind them of their recent history. In fact the bits of Bosnia i saw (Mostar, Blagaj, Jablanica) appeared mostly unaffected (Mostar is now virtually rebuilt) but what spectacular scenery. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisobee Posted 17 August, 2009 Share Posted 17 August, 2009 TBH being in Portsmouth is like being on a different planet never mind in a different country. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Verbal Posted 17 August, 2009 Share Posted 17 August, 2009 Probably told this one before but I had very good friends and business partners in Pakistan. One of them used to play first class cricket for Lahore. About 7 years ago (on the last but one England Tour) he arranged for a "VVIP" box for the Pakistan v England Test at Lahore. I invited my best mate from England, who'd never been further afield than Bude (I believe). He flew in to Dubai and we then hopped over to Lahore. The Pearl Continental is one of the best hotels I stay in on my travels in this region, and it was also where the players stayed, so it was really weird sitting down for breakfast at a table with Nass, Thorpie & Alec Stewart... Our "box" turned out to be Javed Miandad's office, next door to the Sky commentary box. The lads gave the Dubai Saints flag it's first television outing! But each evening, after the cricket my local mate collected us and took us out into the town, shopping or for dinner. The effect on my English mate was astonishing. He simply wasn't mentally prepared for the sheer dirt, poverty and what to him seemed total despair. Stepping over about 8 beggars to get into a restaurant just flipped him out. He simply couldn't understand how we could walk past them without trying to help, it was only later that he realised that if he gave each one we saw in the city 10p he would need about two years' salary. It was a case of total culture shock. To say he couldn't wait to leave would be an understatement, even though the highlight of the trip was teaching Bumble how to become a "registered alcoholic" so that he could have room service send beer up for "medicinal purposes" I loved Pakistan, BECAUSE it was so different even the Swat valley was an amazing place, but for someone from Wiltshire who used to think that London was a long trip, it cames as a total shock to the system to my mate. Did you try Cocu's Den, the restaurant owned by Iqbal Hussain, the guy who paints portraits of Lahore's prostitutes? Western visitors I've taken there have a really hard time getting their heads round that little paradox. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidthesquid Posted 17 August, 2009 Share Posted 17 August, 2009 Havant Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michelle Posted 17 August, 2009 Share Posted 17 August, 2009 Gotta be China, without a shadow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miserableoldgit Posted 17 August, 2009 Share Posted 17 August, 2009 Gotta be China, without a shadow. Wow! That`s spooky!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheaf Saint Posted 17 August, 2009 Share Posted 17 August, 2009 Earlier this year my GF and me stayed in a little town caled Divača in Slovenia. A proper little one-horse town with just one guest house (pictured) and where nobody spoke a word of english... We only stayed there for one night as it is close to the Škocjan caves we wanted to visit, then we headed down to the coast to a beautiful little fishing town near the Italian border called Piran... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RonManager Posted 17 August, 2009 Share Posted 17 August, 2009 (edited) Driving monster steam engines across the mongolian deserts Added some pics - this is completely 'off the beaten track' as far as the tourist trail is concerned. It's just you, the guide and the locals. A few backhanders and your driving a 3000ton freight train on the mainline. I'ts like pitching up at St.Pancras and offering the Eurostar driver a tenner to drive it to Paris! Difference is, over there, they say yes!!! Edited 17 August, 2009 by RonManager Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aids victim Posted 17 August, 2009 Share Posted 17 August, 2009 Your mum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hatch Posted 17 August, 2009 Share Posted 17 August, 2009 Cowes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Verbal Posted 17 August, 2009 Share Posted 17 August, 2009 Cowes East or West? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miserableoldgit Posted 17 August, 2009 Share Posted 17 August, 2009 East or West? There`s both?! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Verbal Posted 17 August, 2009 Share Posted 17 August, 2009 There`s both?! Cowes is a world unto itself. The conspicuously rich build their second homes facing their yachts so as not to have their gaze polluted by the hoi polloi. One lot is in the east, the other in the west. Consequently, Cowes is sh1t. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dubai_phil Posted 19 August, 2009 Share Posted 19 August, 2009 Did you try Cocu's Den, the restaurant owned by Iqbal Hussain, the guy who paints portraits of Lahore's prostitutes? Western visitors I've taken there have a really hard time getting their heads round that little paradox. The one I remember from that trip was Salt & Pepper. Strange sort of mock cave style. They took huge pride in giving us a "special table" that Lady Di had sat at.... We did one other I can't remember and some place that took pride in servig us Heineken, but as we were able to sit at the "International Buffet" in the hotel with the players each evening we sort of went for the anorak thing. Graham Thorpe & Inzi seemed genuinely interested in the ins and outs of Coombe Bissett Cricket Clubs' annual battles with Bishopstone and my being the first CBCC player to ever play the reverse sweep off dear old Garth at the Cuckoo in Hampworth for some obscure reason There was also a place on a roof when I went for the one dayers about 5 years ago overlooking Lahore Fort. They cooked the food on the side of the street and pulled it up to the table by rope and pulley........ Food was fine, simply because my man only showed me the kitchen on the way OUT.......... I had to give a seminar during the Test for our corporate clients. My mate was in hysterics. Apparently half the England team were so bored they'd come in to listen to my presentation about the design criteria for Efficent Datacentres. They were great and hung around singing autgraphs for the customers and taking the p*ss out of me. The National Rag (Dawn) even put me on their front page God bless them. Last time I went for the one dayers Freddie was going to get the Sports Personality of the Year Award, was invited by the England Physio I'd been yakking with and sat at the back of the conference room grinning while they did the link back to the show. He didn't have a clue........ honest Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smirking_Saint Posted 19 August, 2009 Share Posted 19 August, 2009 cosham Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dubai_phil Posted 19 August, 2009 Share Posted 19 August, 2009 cosham lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Verbal Posted 19 August, 2009 Share Posted 19 August, 2009 There was also a place on a roof when I went for the one dayers about 5 years ago overlooking Lahore Fort. They cooked the food on the side of the street and pulled it up to the table by rope and pulley........ Food was fine, simply because my man only showed me the kitchen on the way OUT.......... That was Cocu's Den. You can see the fort from the restaurant on the roof but it's also the best view of the Badshahi mosque. BTW, I walked up the steps from the fort entrance and couldn't work out why they were so far apart. Turns out they're spaced that way because they're not designed for humans, but for elephants. Part of the fort - the most elegant bit - was designed by Shah Jahan, the Moghul prince responsible for the Taj Mahal. Because it's in Pakistan, no one really gets to see Lahore, but it's an amazing city. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dubai_phil Posted 19 August, 2009 Share Posted 19 August, 2009 That was Cocu's Den. You can see the fort from the restaurant on the roof but it's also the best view of the Badshahi mosque. BTW, I walked up the steps from the fort entrance and couldn't work out why they were so far apart. Turns out they're spaced that way because they're not designed for humans, but for elephants. Part of the fort - the most elegant bit - was designed by Shah Jahan, the Moghul prince responsible for the Taj Mahal. Because it's in Pakistan, no one really gets to see Lahore, but it's an amazing city. I spent 16 years with an American Multi National going to places that others had never heard of. Without a doubt, Pakistan was the most amazing, but as I posted, Yemen was the weirdest. Perhaps the difference between me and many corporate types was the fact that I always appreciated how lucky I was and always took time to get a feel for the place I was in. Suppose I should have signed up for lonely planet or something. Other great Pakistan places included Karachi - got taken to The Yacht Club - straight out of the Raj, drinking beers while visiting a soup kitchen there for Heroin addicts, yet being made to feel at home and being given a cooking lesson, going up the Swat valley to Kandy (Candy) and being feted as if I was Prince Charles while visiting a tiny village who had their elecricity supply from a tiny waterwheel powering one of my UPS's, firing an AK47 and missing not only the can on the bush, but the bush AND the Mountain behind it! The Americans always got it, the Europeans never did, shame really, I am the luckiest person on the planet for having had the chance to do all that and much more. Even though my mum ALWAYS worried! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldNick Posted 20 August, 2009 Share Posted 20 August, 2009 I remember that show.It went out for quite a few years I think. I didnt watch too many though it was ITV, Lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldNick Posted 20 August, 2009 Share Posted 20 August, 2009 The strangest place I have been to was the Home team changing room during the Forum match.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mdearlove Posted 20 August, 2009 Share Posted 20 August, 2009 Beirut for me - such a tale of 2 cities. During the day I was in the South near the airport watching the Syrian soldiers shooting their guns in the air after the elections, in the evening we were in the North in an area that looked like the French Riviera eating fantastic food with no hint you were in a mostly destroyed country. I have also travelled a lot but I can't honestly say I have been anywhere I didn't like - except maybe Columbus Ohio! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ST Randy Posted 20 August, 2009 Share Posted 20 August, 2009 I have just got back from 3 weeks in Bolivia which is a truely amazing country it gives you a true taste of south america. The landscape is also breath taking with lake titicaca, mountain ranges, the jungle and salt flats and surrounding desert. An amazing country which is also extremely cheap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheaf Saint Posted 20 August, 2009 Share Posted 20 August, 2009 I have just got back from 3 weeks in Bolivia which is a truely amazing country it gives you a true taste of south america. The landscape is also breath taking with lake titicaca, mountain ranges, the jungle and salt flats and surrounding desert. An amazing country which is also extremely cheap. I thought that was in Peru????? :smt102 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thedelldays Posted 20 August, 2009 Author Share Posted 20 August, 2009 i think, my North Pole is the most "out there" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rattlehead Posted 20 August, 2009 Share Posted 20 August, 2009 I thought that was in Peru????? :smt102 Straddles Peru and Bolivia. Bolivian side better IMO. Forgot to mention Easter Island as another different place I've been to as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyNorthernSaints Posted 20 August, 2009 Share Posted 20 August, 2009 Albania reminded me of Portsmouth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reggie Dunlop Posted 20 August, 2009 Share Posted 20 August, 2009 Working for the UN went to Zagreb (Croatia) and travelled down to Sarajaevo (Bosnia) by land rover this was after the war, 2 beautiful countries one back on its feet one nowhere near, a real eye opener. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Verbal Posted 20 August, 2009 Share Posted 20 August, 2009 i think, my North Pole is the most "out there" I think there's a rule against claiming to be the winner on your own thread. Sorry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hamster Posted 20 August, 2009 Share Posted 20 August, 2009 Albania reminded me of Portsmouth. That's not really fair on Albania is it, what have they ever done to you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyNorthernSaints Posted 20 August, 2009 Share Posted 20 August, 2009 That's not really fair on Albania is it, what have they ever done to you? You're right i apologise to all Albanians for any offence taken. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dubai_phil Posted 21 August, 2009 Share Posted 21 August, 2009 i think, my North Pole is the most "out there" Pah, North Pole, even Clarkson's been there... I hope you didn't sip Gin & Tonics on the way there as well, we'll have to complain to the BBC again. After all, you PC Brits really don't like Drinking & Diving.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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