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Where would you like to travel to?

3K views 34 replies 9 participants last post by  Rockter 
#1 ·
Here we are going into winter in this part of the world, so we have time for daydreams. Huffington Post did a 'knockout tournament' on the place people would most like to visit before they die. The winner incidently was Macchu Picchu being chosen over the Pyramids. Thought I would throw out some questions here of a similar type but a little broader.

  1. Start with HP's question, what place (not country) on earth would you most like to visit before you die - that you have not visited previously?
  2. What are the three places (in order) that you have ever visited that you liked most (could be for whatever reason you choose - history, scenery, activity, or ?)
  3. What country (ies) have you visited that you liked a lot more than you expected?
  4. What country (ies) have you visited that you did not like as much as you thought you would?
  5. How many countries have you visited in your life? (Count colonies and territories as separate countries here - so Martinique and France would count as two even though Martinique is part of France)
  6. How many countries have you visited by sailboat?
  7. What country that you have not visited would you really like to go to?

If anyone thinks of another good question, we can add it to the list. I will post my answers once I work them out.
 
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#2 ·
Well, it seems that everybody is afraid to show a little bit more about each ones tastes :D It seems I will be the first;)

1 - Goa, old city and the scenery.

2 - Seville, Dusseldorf, Croatian Islands.

3 - Slovenia

4 - Austria

5 - 17

6 - 5

7 - Açores, all European Countries I do not know yet and then Brasil. In what regards boating, Açores, Caribean, Bahamas and Pacific Islands.

Regards

Paulo
 
#4 ·
Done my thinking.



1. Place I want to visit - Ellesmere Island, Canada - untouched Arctic, doubt I will make it though

2. Best places visited - 1. Grand Canyon (went with highest expectations and still was blown away - best to do more than look from Canyon rim; we did a sightseeing flight and a rafting trip - from the river you can rarely see the edge of the Canyon because you are in an inner canyon; doing the rafting trip also meant walking down to the river from GC Village which is quite spectacular
2. Machhu Picchu - we were there in the rainy season and clouds and mist were coming and going which made it even more wonderful
3. Pitcairn Island - and I did not even get ashore although my wife did for the day; conditions were just not suitable for anchoring with major swells from a couple of directions; the island is incredibly beautiful and the isolation special.

3. Better than expected - Ecuador and Jordan - very much recommend both for a visit; so much to see in Jordan and Ecuador just had a nice vibe about it

4. Not enjoyed as expected - Egypt - too crowded and annoying being hassled all the time, although when we were there we were told you could walk anywhere in Cairo day or night and be safe - there was an incredible police presence at that time

5. Countries visited - 38

6. Countries visited by boat - 29 (add up in the Eastern Caribbean)

7. Country want to visit - India; I understand that much of it will not be very enjoyable (crowds, smell, hassle) but that it will all be fascinating. Also I would like to spend more time in South America, quite enjoyed it and would like to go to Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay.

I agree, Paulo, it would be nice to see more postings and get some good ideas of places to go. At some point we would like to go to eastern Europe where you have been.
 
#5 · (Edited)
It seems that you prefer virgin nature. I like that and beside the boat I used as a discovery vehicle a dirt motorcycle. Even in Europe it is not difficult to find wild life and going a full day riding on nature without seeing another human being.

The most amazing voyage I ever done was crossing the full range of Pyrenees, starting from the Med and finishing on the Atlatic, always on altitude, most of the time on old feet tracks. I still had those images in my head:)

But being a lover of nature I am even a bigger lover of cultural sites and Old Goa is about that, like Machhu Picchu with the difference that Machhu Picchu is culturally dead while in Goa the mixture of cultures that make those inhabitants different from the other Indians is still alive and it is fascinating.

People associates Goa with beaches and Hippies, but that is not what I am talking about. Well, anyway, probably Hippies were drawn to that place precisely by its special spiritual and cultural characteristics.

Take a look:



Portugal is the country that has more world heritage sites outside its borders and it is that mixing of cultures that makes them fascinating. That was a two ways influence and those exchanges were was also responsible by influences in Portuguese culture that makes it different from other European cultures.

Take a look at some other world heritage sites that the Portuguese created all around the world:



And more about Old Goa, with some Historic information:



And finally an incredible good collection of photos from Goa, by a top photographer:

 
#6 · (Edited)
Going to be hard to narrow this down .....

1. Probably either Antarctica or the Arctic ... is that too broad ? The other choice would be MacQuarie Harbour in Western Tasmania provided mode of transport was our own boat. To have achieved that would mean I had finally broken free and was out there doing it. From a purely Sailing perspective the PNW, Scotland and Scandinavia would be up there.

2. Gove, Northern Territory Australia (late 1970s) , cos it was at the end of my first offshore passage. Barcelona Spain (1987) cos it was my first stop on the Iberian Peninsular. Without Barna I would not have then gone on to cover most of Spain and thus far, too little of Portugal. Singapore (1975), cos it was my first taste of Asia and opened my mind to the possibilities.

3. USA .... I really did think I would loath the place but in fact I really enjoyed what little I have seen of it (Hawaii and California basically.) Second choice would be England ... having been to London a few times and except for its bookshops, museums and theatres, disliking it intensely I was amazed to find how much I enjoyed the more rural areas.

4. Egypt without doubt. Because of the history I thought I would love the place but after two days in Cairo I couldn't wait to leave. Maybe it was a "London" experience and I'd enjoy myself once I escaped Cairo so at some time a revisit via Alexandria might be in order.

5. rough guess .. somewhere around twenty - thirty I'd have thought.

6. You mean sailed into from outside of I presume ? Sadly none.

7. I've long wanted to sail into Juneau Alaska so the country would have to be Canada while cruising the PNW on my way to Juneau. Alternative, and a very strong alternative indeed would be Norway.
 
#7 ·
3. USA .... I really did think I would loath the place but in fact I really enjoyed what little I have seen of it (Hawaii and California basically.) Second choice would be England ... having been to London a few times and except for its bookshops, museums and theatres, disliking it intensely I was amazed to find how much I enjoyed the more rural areas.
Viewed exclusively from news reports, movies etc. you get a VERY different picture of what the States is like. If you've seen "The Worlds Fastest Indian" you'll get a pretty good idea of what it's really like (even though that was set years ago). California is still a paradise if you avoid the bad (overpopulated) spots. S.F. is my favourite city anywhere.

London is great if you've got LOTS of money, otherwise it's a struggle. The rest of England is like nowhere else on Earth - a must see for anyone who likes travel.

7. I've long wanted to sail into Juneau Alaska so the country would have to be Canada while cruising the PNW on my way to Juneau. Alternative, and a very strong alternative indeed would be Norway.
Here and Scandinavia by sailboat would be virtually the same experience except the climate here is more benign. If you come, let me know. And by the way, here it is known as the SOUTH west. ;)

As to my own travelling, 7 countries, none by boat. I am so sick of flying that I really don't know how much more we will do. Still love long road trips though, so Canada, USA and Mexico are still on. I'd like to drive to the Maritimes in September to see the fall colours - we just have green here, year round. Then down the east coast to Florida and wend our way back staying south of the snow as much as possible. White sands, Grand Canyon, Painted Desert, Monument Valley just to name a few. I want to go back to Bonneville as well, so I can run my Corvette wide open for miles & miles. :D
 
#8 ·
We just got back to the boat after a 56 day walk through the Himalaya. A definite must for those that like the outdoors, don't mind carrying a pack and are in for a real adventure.
 
#9 ·
I can well understand the attraction of the Himalayas.

Its been quite some time since I was last in London, I believe the food is somewhat improved though even back then it was insanely expensive for what you get. Outside of London, as you say Sloop, the countryside is just lovely. If I ever get to Europe by boat then beyond Norway I'll definitively revisit the UK. I'm not sure if this is practical but I like the idea of Scandinavia to Scotland, through the Caledonian across to Ireland back to the UK and thence Biscay coast from the Basque Country to Galicia before heading down the Atlantic Iberian coast.

Getting to the PNW or SouthWest from your point of view is of course problematic in itslef. Two exceptionally fine folk from SailNet had even offered me a lend of their boats but like you air travel has lost its attraction for me. My Pacific dream cruise is Australia to Japan then across the northern Pacific and drop down into Alaska, Canada and the PNW. Thats a dream however. I know it is doable but I'd like to include a detour through Malaya and Borneo (blame Aeventr for that) and it becomes a matter of dodging cyclone/typhoon seasons to some extent.

What I do know is that if I ever do make it to the PNW, what with all the PNWers here plus the nutbags (loveable nutbags I hasten to add) from SA it should be quite a party.

I should also add that Austin Texas is high on my lists but not so much Nashville. :p:p
 
#10 ·
Interesting comments all, and I hope we got more people participating.

I had an intriguing experience on my first visit to Europe a number of years ago. I expected to really fall in love with London. My parents were born in UK and there are so many cultural links to England and London - from street names in Toronto to all the movies we see set there. I very much liked the city (so much to see and do - cheap theatre tickets - the only cheap thing there btw) but I liked it in the same way that I like NYC ie I did not fall in love with the place.

Went to Paris and absolutely fell in love. I know it is not all that is Paris. Other than to and from the airport and coming into town on the trains I have only seen the downtown bits and I know that the suburds are pretty dreadful - but what a downtown. I even know where I want to live (can't afford it mind you, but we can dream). It just seemed such a civilized place and on a human scale for such a large city. Still trying to figure out this happened. Know cultural connection other than a few movies (the new Woody Allen shows he loves the city too) and my French is brutal (63% in grade 12 French in 1966 with no real learning since then). I even like Parisians - they were not the cold, standoffish people I had been led to believe them to be.
 
#14 ·
Interesting comments all, and I hope we got more people participating.

I had an intriguing experience on my first visit to Europe a number of years ago. I expected to really fall in love with London. My parents were born in UK and there are so many cultural links to England and London - from street names in Toronto to all the movies we see set there. I very much liked the city (so much to see and do - cheap theatre tickets - the only cheap thing there btw) but I liked it in the same way that I like NYC ie I did not fall in love with the place.

Went to Paris and absolutely fell in love. I know it is not all that is Paris. Other than to and from the airport and coming into town on the trains I have only seen the downtown bits and I know that the suburds are pretty dreadful - but what a downtown. I even know where I want to live (can't afford it mind you, but we can dream). It just seemed such a civilized place and on a human scale for such a large city. Still trying to figure out this happened. Know cultural connection other than a few movies (the new Woody Allen shows he loves the city too) and my French is brutal (63% in grade 12 French in 1966 with no real learning since then). I even like Parisians - they were not the cold, standoffish people I had been led to believe them to be.
Yeah, Paris was a hoot the first time I went there. I remember walking along the Seine as dawn was breaking on my last day there. Beautiful. The food, wine, women, galleries, museums and monumental buildings all lived up to their promise. Should I ever return to France however, I most want a return visit to Lyon and to visit the French Basque Country.

As for London, I wonder whether my bad initial experience echoes yours in that my mother is English and at the time so I thought was my father. To be frank I was bought up to be as much an English gentleman living in the colonies as I was native born Australian. Like so many Australians of my generation I first visited the "mother" country expecting to be greeted with open arms only to be looked down on as no more than a colonial of doubtful heritage. That first visit most certainly awakened in me both my true Australianism and my republicanism. England didn't give a flying fluck about me so they could go fluck themselves. To boot my last surviving English relatives turned out to be racist, right wing, xenophobic, homophobic arseholes who I studiously avoided ever contacting again.

Since then I've returned on numerous occasions, have made a bunch of friends both inside London and out and have grown to at least tolerate London while thoroughly enjoying the beyond. One simply has to accept that unless you have very deep pockets and/or like admittedly very good Indian food you will starve, while on the other hand the museums, galleries, theatres and the like are hard to beat.

Funnily enough my last visit to Paris was bloody awful. Go figure.

What's more the Pom's initial opinion was closer to the truth than I then thought as my father turned out to be partly descended from an Irish convict shipped to Australia in the late 18th century. :eek:
 
#20 ·
As for London, I wonder whether my bad initial experience echoes yours in that my mother is English and at the time so I thought was my father. To be frank I was bought up to be as much an English gentleman living in the colonies as I was native born Australian. Like so many Australians of my generation I first visited the "mother" country expecting to be greeted with open arms only to be looked down on as no more than a colonial of doubtful heritage. That first visit most certainly awakened in me both my true Australianism and my republicanism. England didn't give a flying fluck about me so they could go fluck themselves. To boot my last surviving English relatives turned out to be racist, right wing, xenophobic, homophobic arseholes who I studiously avoided ever contacting again.
That sounds a lot like the English when I lived there as a kid in the early 60's. I had my introduction to racism there - I think the victims in my little town were Indian or Pakistani but they might have been Caribbean (memory has aged a bit since then!). The boys were always being jumped by groups of white boys. I remember being puzzled by it. I later heard the venerable Britishism "The Wogs begin at Calais" which I feel best describes their racist xenophobia.

And by the way, your heritage wasn't "doubtful" to them, it was downright unacceptable. :eek: You might as well have jumped ship from the prison hulk. :D Funnily enough, the Royals spend more time in Oz than they do in Canada.

You have to credit them one thing though - NO-ONE can do snotty condescension like a Brit with a good accent. The longer it's been since anyone in their family did anything useful, the snottier they are.

Outside of London though you don't run into nearly so much of it, but they can sure be a frustrating people to deal with in nearly every other way - they STILL haven't come to terms with the end of Empire. They do still have what Churchill described as "This green and pleasant island" though.
 
#11 ·
Interesting that three people listed their prefenences and two agreed on not liking Egypt. Most impressive thing there other than the Pyramids is the traffic. Four lane road with six lanes of traffic and stop signals are officially regarded as 'advisory only' and people cross these roads anywhere and I never saw an accident. I think that the people are, in their own way, very careful drivers because the rules and systems for traffic that we have do not exist there. The other car thing that was impressive was that in Islamic Cairo (I know it is all Islamic, but that it what one old district is called), the street are lined with cars parked with no more than a foot of space between bumpers (usually less). I don't know if you buy a car and get a crane to lower it into a space where it stays forever. Never saw anyone parking or unparking but I can't imagine how it is done.
 
#12 ·
Maybe they watch Seinfeld - the episode where Kramer's uncle or something found a great parking spot, so he quit using his car so he wouldn't lose the spot. :D
 
#15 ·
I've just realised that this thread is slumming with the riff raff in Off Topic. Personally I think it is relevent enough to aspiring cruisers for it to mix in civilised society and so we are off to the green and pleasant land of General Discussion.
 
#16 ·
Who are you calling 'riff-raff'? Oh, you mean us - that's ok then. I forgot something that I might have put in my highlights list. We rented a boat on the Canal du Midi in southern France - an amazing experience. The boat looked like a regular flying bridge power cruiser that had been left in the sun too long and melted so it was lower than expected. Also you had to really duck down under the bridges. The boats are governed to go no more than 6 mph so the pace is very leisurely.

The canal opened in 1680 so it is not a brute force/straightline thing. It follows the contours of the land, to the right around one hill and the left around the next. In some sections there are 300 year old plane trees making an arch over the entire canal. They planted something like 1.5 million of them to stabliize the banks. You can either stop at a town dock (free) or pull over anywhere and drive a couple of metal stakes into the crowd to tie to. Much of the area we passed through was vineyards (Occitan) and in some places they leave a wine barrel next to the canal with bottles on it. You stop, take what you want and leave the money. A wonderfully civilized place. Hope to go back.

BTW, I thought Aussies who could proof descent from the convicts are the aristocracy of the country? In Canada it used to be the United Empire Loyalists - what the Americans called Tories. People who left the US during the Revolution or right after because they wanted to live in a British land. Fifty years ago it was a big deal and such people put the letters UEL after their names like a degree. Now, no one cares, nor should they.
 
#18 ·
English restauranteur Rick Stein made a series taking a canal boat down the Canal du Midi a couple of years back. Great stuff. Certainly made me want to do it though I fear I'd need to spend a couple of hours a day cycling to keep my waistline vaguely intact.



You know there was an American couple by the name of Johnson (Irving and Electa). The people the Sail Training ships are named after. Their story in itself is a fascinating one but of interest here, the last Yankee was a 65' steel schooner with tabernacle stepped masts and twin lifting centreboards so she could "cross oceans and climb mountains". Intriguing concept.

Fascinating man Johnson. Mid west farm boy who ran away to sea. Apparently had lifelong ambition to do so and to train for it he climbed telegraph posts and did head stands on the top. He and Exy did seven circuits in three Yankees each time with different crews of sail trainees.



Sorry, drfited a bit there.
 
#17 ·
I'll play....

[*]Start with HP's question, what place (not country) on earth would you most like to visit before you die - that you have not visited previously? the Arctic - from Ellesmere to the North Pole
[*]What are the three places (in order) that you have ever visited that you liked most (could be for whatever reason you choose - history, scenery, activity, or ?) Newfoundland - great scenery, great people crappy food; Italy - great food, beautiful people, fantastic history, did I mention the food?; British Columbia - great scenery, best diving, very diverse
[*]What country (ies) have you visited that you liked a lot more than you expected? France - people were nowhere near as snotty as expected (in fact they were very pleasant); some of the food was brilliant (foie gras, cheeses) some not so much, but I love the feel of the place. I was especially pleasantly surprised by Paris. I've been there three times and would love to go with my wife. Also Hong Kong - not at all what I thought it would be. I had the chance to see the hoity toity parts and the less posh side of things. Both had something to offer.
[*]What country (ies) have you visited that you did not like as much as you thought you would? Switzerland - the scenery is breathtaking (it looks like all the pictures you see with the mountains and the cows with bells etc. Some of the people there ruined it for me - very 'Swiss'!
[*]How many countries have you visited in your life? (Count colonies and territories as separate countries here - so Martinique and France would count as two even though Martinique is part of France) 16
[*]How many countries have you visited by sailboat? just Canada
[*]What country that you have not visited would you really like to go to?
[/LIST] South Africa, Australia, India, Thailand, Vietnam etc. etc. etc.

If anyone thinks of another good question, we can add it to the list. I will post my answers once I work them out.
*
 
#23 ·
Cruising the canals in France in my plans, winter over and ski for a season in courcheval. Maybe start buying Euros soon?
 
#25 ·
Maybe not



Euros may be replaced by marks, francs, etc for all we know. We did the French canal in early September and it was not too busy. The rental companies have a lot of boats available - it would be horrid when they are all out in mid-summer when the French have their month off.
 
#33 ·
Come to Loch Ness and I'll sail you about a bit and give you a beer out of my American fridge.

There is a nice castle there you can visit, and you can motor through a beautiful canal system too....

Loch Ness - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The canal is beautifully sheltered. There is no swell. There is very little chop....

Dochgarroch Lock - Scotland, United Kingdom

And I don't work for the tourist board. I just like the place.
 
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