Okay, what is the not widely known attraction that blew you away?
Jan 3, 2015, 9:16 pm
#502
formerly known as Tad's Broiled Steaks
Join Date: Jun 2004
Posts: 6,412
This is a good one for airport enthusiasts- Parque Bicentenario in Quito.
The old airport terminal (downtown) now serves airport buses (for the new airport), and the runway/the immediate vicinity has been converted into a park.
The old airport terminal (downtown) now serves airport buses (for the new airport), and the runway/the immediate vicinity has been converted into a park.
Jan 13, 2015, 6:03 pm
#504
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Shanghai (PVG/SHA)
Programs: SQ Gold, AF Platinum, AA Platinum (sadly, expiring soon), QR Silver, EK, MU, HU, PR, HO, OZ, KE
Posts: 685
Well, it looks like few posters here have travelled China as extensively as I have, so on my list are more pointers for China. In no particular order, now...
Karakoram Highway and Karakul Lake in Xinjiang province, China
Sunday livestock market at Kashgar in Xinjiang province, China
Riding an ostrich and a camel (not simultaneously, of course), and zip-lining over the Yellow River, at Shapotou, Ningxia province, China
Rice terraces at Yuanyang in Yunnan province, China
Imperial Palace in Shenyang, Liaoning province, China - far more worthwhile than the much more well-known Forbidden City in Beijing
Nanjing Massacre Memorial in Nanjing, Jiangsu province, China - might not be to everyone's taste, though...
Taishan in Shandong province, China - I prefer this to Huangshan (Yellow Mountains) mentioned by YuropFlyer in #335, which I find rather overpriced
Hakka roundhouses in Fujian and Guangdong provinces, China - in the 70s the US Defence thought they were nuclear reactors or something...
I second the recommendation of Taiwaned in #129... Jiuzhaigou in Sichuan province, China - please avoid any Chinese public holidays though, and walk away from the boardwalk nearest to the shuttle bus stops
Also second the recommendation (though by now I'm sure more people know of it already) of the Jinshanling-Simatai Great Wall as by cmlies in #190. I did this in 2004 or 2005, and there were no other people besides us who went together on the same bus from the hostel... and some enterprising Chinese who kept following us hoping for a tip at the end of the hike. Definitely "breathtaking" in more ways than one.
For those who recommended the Dazu grottoes near Chongqing, I have to say I haven't been there but I've been to a number of other ones. The best (IMHO) was at Dunhuang in Gansu province, China. Go during winter if you can, most people go there in the summer and you get rushed along AND squeezed, not so great.
Bus ride over the hills on Lantau island going towards HKG - early morning just after sunrise
East coastline of Taiwan
Arirang performance in Pyongyang, North Korea
Sunset (while on a cruise boat) in Halong Bay, Vietnam
Recoleta Cemetery in Buenos Aires, Argentina - probably well-known but still amazing
Windmill and Ten Boom Haus in Harlem, the Netherlands
Bus ride from Como to Bellagio on Como di Lago, Italy
View from the castle towards town in Verona, Italy
Duomo rooftop in Milan, Italy - definitely well-known but it just blew me away much more than I expected!
"Bone chapel" in Milan, Italy
Bronte to Bondi beachwalk in Sydney, Australia - it's relatively well-known, but it's not in the downtown city centre
Gorge Wildlife Park in Adelaide, Australia
Hot-air balloon ride in Canberra, Australia
Sunset on St. Kilda's beach in Melbourne, Australia
Quinta Regaleira in Sintra, Portugal - Ahah, I wrote this down before I read #490!
Oka Masaharu Memorial Nagasaki Peace Museum in Nagasaki, Japan - probably the only establishment in Japan that openly acknowledges the Nanjing Massacre
No offence meant to obscure2k or anyone else, but what I saw at Dachau seems a veritable palace compared to what the Japanese put the POWs (and locals, especially Chinese) in Asia through.
Karakoram Highway and Karakul Lake in Xinjiang province, China
Sunday livestock market at Kashgar in Xinjiang province, China
Riding an ostrich and a camel (not simultaneously, of course), and zip-lining over the Yellow River, at Shapotou, Ningxia province, China
Rice terraces at Yuanyang in Yunnan province, China
Imperial Palace in Shenyang, Liaoning province, China - far more worthwhile than the much more well-known Forbidden City in Beijing
Nanjing Massacre Memorial in Nanjing, Jiangsu province, China - might not be to everyone's taste, though...
Taishan in Shandong province, China - I prefer this to Huangshan (Yellow Mountains) mentioned by YuropFlyer in #335, which I find rather overpriced
Hakka roundhouses in Fujian and Guangdong provinces, China - in the 70s the US Defence thought they were nuclear reactors or something...
I second the recommendation of Taiwaned in #129... Jiuzhaigou in Sichuan province, China - please avoid any Chinese public holidays though, and walk away from the boardwalk nearest to the shuttle bus stops
Also second the recommendation (though by now I'm sure more people know of it already) of the Jinshanling-Simatai Great Wall as by cmlies in #190. I did this in 2004 or 2005, and there were no other people besides us who went together on the same bus from the hostel... and some enterprising Chinese who kept following us hoping for a tip at the end of the hike. Definitely "breathtaking" in more ways than one.
For those who recommended the Dazu grottoes near Chongqing, I have to say I haven't been there but I've been to a number of other ones. The best (IMHO) was at Dunhuang in Gansu province, China. Go during winter if you can, most people go there in the summer and you get rushed along AND squeezed, not so great.
Bus ride over the hills on Lantau island going towards HKG - early morning just after sunrise
East coastline of Taiwan
Arirang performance in Pyongyang, North Korea
Sunset (while on a cruise boat) in Halong Bay, Vietnam
Recoleta Cemetery in Buenos Aires, Argentina - probably well-known but still amazing
Windmill and Ten Boom Haus in Harlem, the Netherlands
Bus ride from Como to Bellagio on Como di Lago, Italy
View from the castle towards town in Verona, Italy
Duomo rooftop in Milan, Italy - definitely well-known but it just blew me away much more than I expected!
"Bone chapel" in Milan, Italy
Bronte to Bondi beachwalk in Sydney, Australia - it's relatively well-known, but it's not in the downtown city centre
Gorge Wildlife Park in Adelaide, Australia
Hot-air balloon ride in Canberra, Australia
Sunset on St. Kilda's beach in Melbourne, Australia
Quinta Regaleira in Sintra, Portugal - Ahah, I wrote this down before I read #490!
Oka Masaharu Memorial Nagasaki Peace Museum in Nagasaki, Japan - probably the only establishment in Japan that openly acknowledges the Nanjing Massacre
No offence meant to obscure2k or anyone else, but what I saw at Dachau seems a veritable palace compared to what the Japanese put the POWs (and locals, especially Chinese) in Asia through.
Jan 13, 2015, 6:40 pm
#505
Join Date: Jul 2012
Posts: 277
Jan 14, 2015, 4:12 am
#506
Join Date: Apr 2014
Posts: 9
Angkor Wat - I knew so little of Cambodia (it was an impulse trip) and had only heard of Angkor Wat from other travelers (yes I'm that uneducated), we me and another couple of English guys hired a tuktuk and went to visit the temples, I was blown away by them (both the size and appearance). We went around midday when all the tour groups were having lunch so almost had the place to ourselves, some of the temples looked like something out of tomb raider, amazing experience.
Jan 14, 2015, 8:36 am
#507
formerly known as Tad's Broiled Steaks
Join Date: Jun 2004
Posts: 6,412
The dwellings, at least of the 1st generation, were pretty spacious. From what the guide was describing, it doesn't sound like they had an extremely hard time - of course this changed as more and more prisoners were crowded in.
Do some research into what the Japanese crammed the POWs in Singapore and the Philippines (not to mention other places) into. I believe the prisoner:space/facilities ratio was markedly worse.
Do some research into what the Japanese crammed the POWs in Singapore and the Philippines (not to mention other places) into. I believe the prisoner:space/facilities ratio was markedly worse.
What a bizarre post.
Jan 14, 2015, 9:14 am
#508
Suspended
Join Date: Oct 2014
Posts: 472
There is a park with old airplanes on display near the road to that museum. Be very careful if you take pictures. You are being watched. They will come to you with sirens blaring if they think the photo captures more than the airplane, such as a building (even though there are bushes and trees blocking view of any building). Better yet, enjoy the planes while you are there, remember the model, then look up the model online if you want to see a picture of it.
Jan 14, 2015, 9:19 am
#509
Suspended
Join Date: Oct 2014
Posts: 472
Not super obscure, but:
1) Penguins of Magdalena Island, Chile
2) Dry Tortugas, the history and overall ambience
3) Skamania Lodge, WA
4) Chattanooga Aquarium
5) Civil War Medicine Museum in Frederick, MD
6) Watching the aurora from the mountain at Chena Hot Springs, AK
1) Penguins of Magdalena Island, Chile
2) Dry Tortugas, the history and overall ambience
3) Skamania Lodge, WA
4) Chattanooga Aquarium
5) Civil War Medicine Museum in Frederick, MD
6) Watching the aurora from the mountain at Chena Hot Springs, AK
#3 is pleasant but not mind blowing. The nice thing is that it is not too far from Portland, Oregon and you can see Multnomah Falls on the way, as well as the quaint bridge to Skamania Lodge.