Places to visit before you meet your maker

[loki]

When I were a little lad I remember my Gran telling me that you should always have a list of at least five new places you want to visit before you pass on into the great unknown. Probably a bit cliched nowadays with travel being more accesible and relatively cheap. I suppose back then, for a woman born in 1900 the romance of travel was a lot more than what it was today.

However I think the old girl had a point and I think it is great to experience new cultures first hand and get to see how other societys have developed. I also think her message was a little more than just about a plane ride but thats another thread for another day

So in no particular order here are my journeys and places I would like to experience.

Buenos Aries & Iguazu falls

I am a massive football fan and have always considered myself more British than English so the whole Argie bashing was way over my head. So over the years I have done a lot of reading on the place and for me it looks such a beautiful city. There is a lot of inspiration from 1800's Italy in terms of the architecture due to the massive immigration at the turn of the century. It looks such a vibrant city. The food, The music, even just watching the Salsa in the streets. Oh and the little matter of Boca Juniors vs River Plate as well.

Then onto Iguasu falls. If memory serves correct this is in the North of Argentina and it falls right on the border with Brazil. Not a lot can be said other than it is stunning in beauty and power. Some of the pics on Wiki don't do it justice.

Drive from Coast to Coast in America

America is such an intriguing place to me moreso the back waters and bywaters of some of the southern states. I have been to America six times now and just love the place. Get away from the commercialised America and you will find places of stunnng beauty and some really really friendly people who still hold the values of community and family dear to the hearts. So my journey would start in NY and end up in San Francisco but taking in all the places Dakota, Oklahoma, New Mexico etc.

After that is done then we want to stop and live there

Farrallone Islands

Now this is a little group of relatively unknown Islands about 30 miles off the coast of San Fransisco. All that there is there is a couple of houses which are severly weather beaten a little wharf and miles and miles of rough sea. Not only that but you need a permit to land there as it is under the control of some conservation societys. However this place is a haven for Great White research. Lots and lots of pioneering work has gone into the Shark Community to understand how they communicate and interact with each other. I would say the chances of me getting there are slim to say the least possibly less than 1 in a million. However there are a number of boat excursions that can take you out, Great White spotting and get you close to the Farrallones.

So theres three from me but there is so much more out there to taste, smell and experience even on this little green isle called Britain. Where are you planning or dreaming of visiting ??

[NokkonWud]

From the places I've been I could only recommend two:
Las Vegas and Istanbul.

Loved both places and both for completely different reasons. The first is the ultimate lads holiday with an almost infinite number of things to do, the latter is just beautiful, great culture and history and it's just a whole change of pace.

[Pebs]

So so many places, but first on my list are Cambodia, Vietnam and Peru for now. I want to see everywhere!

[Dee]

At the moment, New Zealand and Tokyo

[Haly]

Originally Posted by loki

I suppose back then, for a woman born in 1900 the romance of travel was a lot more than what it was today.

Depends, still pretty romantic to me as I've only ever been abroad once so far!

Currently, two places that stick out in my mind are Japan (primarily Tokyo) and Iraq and its surrounding areas. Japan just seems to be the mecca of all things I love, plus it sounds such a weird place, I want to see it
Iraq and its surrounding areas might seem an odd choice, but I want to see what ancient architecture is left there (there must be something, surely? :/). Blame it on the Ancient History I learnt at A Level Ever since, I've wanted to go.

Also I'd love to see the USA, but not touristy USA, I'd want to travel round for quite a while and see all over the place there. Just to try to get an idea of what life's like there properly.

Tbh though, I'd be happy to go anywhere as I have such a limited experience abroad, plus I would honestly love to see everywhere in the world just to see what it's like. Bit tricky though!

[Mark]

Originally Posted by Haly

Also I'd love to see the USA, but not touristy USA, I'd want to travel round for quite a while and see all over the place there. Just to try to get an idea of what life's like there properly.

Did you see the recent Stephen Fry series? T'was good for showing lots of both touristy and non-touristy places, but also rather annoyingly spent a fair bit of time in a few states, and barely even mentioned lots of others.

As for me - I've done several of mine already - mostly obvious touristy places like the Grand Canyon, Niagara Falls, Uluru/Ayers Rock, Yosemite, Las Vegas, San Fran, New York.

I'd still love to do a few great train journeys (South to North up the Gold Coast or West to East, both in Oz, or coast to cost in Canada, which, no disrespect, I think would be better than the US road trip equivalent). The geek in me would love to see Tokyo but the language barrier scares me away from doing that . The space nut in me would love to see a shuttle launch (been to KSC twice, but not on launch day) and/or visit Mission Control in Houston.

[Haly]

Originally Posted by Mark

Did you see the recent Stephen Fry series? T'was good for showing lots of both touristy and non-touristy places, but also rather annoyingly spent a fair bit of time in a few states, and barely even mentioned lots of others.

Yeah I did And thought much the same as you. I guess there just wasn't enough time to show everything Certainly enthused me though!

[A Place of Light]

1) You need to see the Grand Canyon and Ayres rock for starters.....just to humble you enough for the rest of the journey.
2) Then, I recomment visiting aunt stellas snow-cone emporium just off the freeway between Dallas and Fort Worth.
3) Tokyo is about as much of a culture shock as a westerner can get.
4) You need to drive up (and down) the Julierpass to witness what god did with his day off.
5) Have dinner with your significant other in San Antonio (the TX version) along the river walk, which is one of the most romantic places I've seen.
6) The Colisseum in Roma.
7) Ride the Staten Island ferry.
8) See Niagra falls.
9) Hong Kong needs to be on the list.....if only because it's Hong Kong.
10) Take a diving holiday and visit Truk Lagoon. If you like history, or are empathic towards those who gave their lives, this will be an emotional one.

Should be enough to keep you going for now.

[A Place of Light]

Originally Posted by Kitten

This time last week I was doing just that

PLEASE tell me you took the tour, and didn't make do with those frankly pathetic audio tour phone thingumajigs?

[semi-pro waster]

Originally Posted by Haly

Depends, still pretty romantic to me as I've only ever been abroad once so far!

Definitely make the most of that feeling, I find that the more I travel the less I actually enjoy the journey, I still love the exploring of a new place but sitting on a plane/train/bus for X hours has rather lost appeal. I do grin like a kid at the acceleration of the jet on take off even now but that's no longer such a big deal either which is a bit of a shame really.

In no particular order I'd like to go to Cuba, Australia/New Zealand and Canada for the winter season. I do have slight issues with the heat in that I just don't like it but I'm willing to ignore that to see these places.