What's the most off beat country you ever visited.

Neon · Post by **Neon** » Thu Mar 27, 2008 7:29 am

the Midwest

CIT · Post by **CIT** » Thu Mar 27, 2008 10:17 am

Bonemaster969 wrote:Lately, I've been thinking about visiting North Korea. I doubt I ever will though, because of the document nightmare you have to go through to even be allowed in. Plus, it might be beyond my budget for now. But you have to admit, that's one place that's off beat!

I've technically been to North Korea. I stepped over the white line in the Joint Security Area.

Now that I visited the JSA from the South it would be awesome to visit it from the North though.

sven666 · Post by **sven666** » Thu Mar 27, 2008 11:28 am

Bonemaster969 wrote: . Do you guys have any recommendations for other big cities in England that are worth visiting?

screw the cities man, its in the countryside where england really shines (altho i like london alot), why dont you go hiking in scotland for instance

and japan is pretty damn different from america in my opinion.. altho the stuff you mentioned still hold true i guess.. but culture and customs are completely opposite.

CIT · Post by **CIT** » Thu Mar 27, 2008 6:38 pm

Based on Lordstar's party pics, I think Liverpool seems like the place to visit in England!

Imhotep · Post by **Imhotep** » Thu Mar 27, 2008 9:37 pm

I've been to Syria end of last year. It's a very rich country. Not by means of average income, but by heritage, culture, people. I definitely want to go back to that part of the world.

Davey · Post by **Davey** » Thu Mar 27, 2008 11:35 pm

Neon wrote:the Midwest

Alright board members, who thinks I live on a farm because I'm from Ohio?

Bonemaster969 wrote:Weird that you guys don't like vegas.

I thought it was okay, but I don't think it's worth going there more than once (although I do know people who go regularly).

Fenrir · Post by **Fenrir** » Thu Mar 27, 2008 11:55 pm

I've been to a million places - traveled like crazy (yes it looks like a sort of European virus

). The most off beat would be Mount Bromo for sure. A big volcano lost in the depth of Java, Indonesia. We hired some ponies and rode around the sandy crater at the crack of dawn.
Nice colours, and no human being in sight

Bonemaster969 · Post by **Bonemaster969** » Fri Mar 28, 2008 1:50 am

I've technically been to North Korea. I stepped over the white line in the Joint Security Area.

Now that I visited the JSA from the South it would be awesome to visit it from the North though.

Since you're not from america, it will probably be much easier for you to go there. Dunno if you'd actually want to go there though.

screw the cities man, its in the countryside where england really shines (altho i like london alot), why dont you go hiking in scotland for instance Smile

I actually did go to the countryside of England during my trip. I went to a small town outside of Oxford called Burford. I think it's worth seeing places like that, but I wouldn't stay there for long cause it makes me depressed being in unpopulated areas. I loved how the buildings and streets looked.

and japan is pretty damn different from america in my opinion.. altho the stuff you mentioned still hold true i guess.. but culture and customs are completely opposite.

I guess that's sort of a relief, as long as I don't see shitty MTV rap and rock when I turn on the TV over there.

Based on Lordstar's party pics, I think Liverpool seems like the place to visit in England! Very Happy

My uncle said he's been there and that it was just an industrial area. Nevertheless, I'll probably hop on a train and check it out anyway cause it seems interesting to me.

Another off-beat country that interests me is Greenland. It amazes me how the world's largest island only has about 50,000 people on it. Some maps don't even include Greenland!

unsane · Post by **unsane** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 2:52 am

Been to 8 countries in my life: Canada, China (layover), Cuba (tourist package), Dominican Republic (tourist package), France (student exchange @11 yrs old), Japan (layover), Mexico (completely off the beaten path), Thailand (backpacking), United States. I guess people would say Thailand is the most offbeat, with Mexico 2nd.

I think a better way to think about things is offbeat locales, not offbeat countries. You can find offbeat locales in every country: remote towns of the USA are more offbeat than the capital of Mali. You don't need to look far, you just need to be more creative than picking tourist cities out of a guidebook. Hint: pick a random country and use local maps - where there's roads, there's people.

Super Laydock wrote:btw, I am hearing lots of stories about S. America being quite unsafe for tourists. What is your take on this? I would like to travel alone or in a small group intead of organized, but stories about tourist robberies, hijacks and stuff make me doubt about it....

For the record I've excluded Brasil from my plans because bad stories...

IMO such stories are wildly overblown. Since the advent of mass communication of news, all it takes is 1 murder out of millions of visitors for a "Brazil is unsafe for tourists" meme to be revitalized. Rubbish.

There are also many ways to reduce risk to near zero. Most of the following are unecessary if you're off the beaten path, but can be useful in more touristy areas:

Don't wear a watch/jewelry, do wear crappy clothes, carry a crappy backpack (no backpack is even better), grow a ponytail and a shaggy beard, get a dark tan.
If you have an imposing build or menacing look - if you look like you'll put up a fight, you're set. Personally i'm 5'11, skinny and probly not very menacing looking. Still never had a problem.
Avoid urban ghettos, especially alone at night, but that applies to developed countries almost as much anyway.
Travel with a friend.
Avoid tourist areas. Outside of rich tourist areas, locals are generally very friendly and can't speak a word of english. So you experience the language and get to see the real side of the culture, and avoid all the criminals looking for tourists.

Disclaimer: not an expert, there's always risk in life, use your head, etc.

sven666 · Post by **sven666** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 7:10 am

Bonemaster969 wrote:
and japan is pretty damn different from america in my opinion.. altho the stuff you mentioned still hold true i guess.. but culture and customs are completely opposite.
I guess that's sort of a relief, as long as I don't see shitty MTV rap and rock when I turn on the TV over there.

i dont kow.. it feels like youre missing the point, MTV is shit no matter where in the world you go, you can go to fucking siberia and you still wont get away from 50cents shitty music, that stuff is universal.

sure in japan they also play some of that godawful j-pop aswell but its by no means an improvement and its not on exclusiveley anyways..

DEL · Post by **DEL** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 10:06 am

Super Laydock wrote:

btw, I am hearing lots of stories about S. America being quite unsafe for tourists. What is your take on this? I would like to travel alone or in a small group intead of organized, but stories about tourist robberies, hijacks and stuff make me doubt about it....

For the record I've excluded Brasil from my plans because bad stories...

A friend of mine just came back from a holiday in Brazil. Sure enough, he got mugged on the beach in Rio

.

As for weird places I've been to....none really, I've been to a lot of countries but nowhere that I considered offbeat.
I see that a few people here didn't like Las Vegas. Well in my opinion, Vegas is enjoyed the most when you go there with a load of ca$h. Its simple->don't go there on a budget.

Skykid · Post by **Skykid** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 10:53 am

My favourite was still Japan - best holiday ever!

I've been to a shed-load of places though, so its difficult to single one out.