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Most obscure place visited in the WORLD.


Angry Haggis

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Derwent Pencil Museum.

 

Think I stole a poster off the wall that said Journey through the History of Pencil Making as it made me laugh for a ridiculously long time.

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9 hours ago, Jamboross said:

Not all that obscure but :

Pinnacles in Western Australia, about a 250km drive north from Perth, to look at a bunch of slightly phallic rocks in the desert. Stopped in the nearby town of Cervantes for dinner afterwards and it was like something out of a horror movie, all eyes on us in the local pub just waiting to be lynched as we left town. 
 

 

I had the exact same experience, Pinnacles then a very quick unnerving pint in the pub in Cervantes. I'm sure they were all at the door watching us leave.

Australia has many weird/ wonderful places, Monkey Mia where wild dolphins come in at the same times every day to say hello and get fed. Mclean which is more Scottish than Scotland, they even paint the lampposts tartan. Wycliffe Well where they all claim to have seen aliens. Coober Pedy where they dig a hole looking for opals then turn it into a house and keep digging while they live there. Many communities where you are the only "white fella" around like Fitzroy Crossing. Goading wild crocodiles on the Adelaide river with bits of chicken. Sunset dinner at Uluru. I could go on all day.

 

I love Australia.

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highlandjambo3
9 hours ago, NANOJAMBO said:

The Gurkha training camp in Nepal.

The British training ground at Suffield in Canada almost  on the Alberta /US border. In the middle of nowhere (even by Canadian standards).  It's that big (and remote) they stage tank battles and you wouldn't know anything about it , even when on camp. 

Yup....BATUS.....(British Army training unit suffield)......been there...pissed up in Medicine Hat a few times as well (local town) great days

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highlandjambo3
6 hours ago, Sharpie said:

 

When I was living in Osoyoos and golfing everyday I saw two guys wearing clothes with the total demeanour of soldiers. I was aware of Sutcliffe and knew through a Scots Guards forum that they used Sutcliffe at times. I went over and gave them a Hi Guys how are you doing and they responded a wee bit surprised but friendly. I asked are you on holiday, and they said no, so I mr smart guy said you look like you could be from Sutcliffe, well I thought I was going to be struck dead right there, they got really mad and I stammered about thinking they were soldiers and just as we did in this small town wanted to make them feel welcome, they calmed down but quit conversation pretty quick, I often wondered if I had met two of that very special service, and just didn't like being approached, my silly old fart desire to be once again with a couple of serving soldiers and shoot the bull was dashed   scarily.

You mean Suffield?  That’s the British army training area in Canada..... the old “soldiers blending in thing” could stem back to the Northern Ireland days when off duty soldiers wanted to look like they were not soldiers......my regiment was the first to have a off duty guys shot dead in NI whilst out of uniform.....back in the day it was a big issue.

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Riddley Walker

Did a camel trek from Jaisalmer in Rajasthan, India and spent the night in the desert near the Pakistan border. 

 

Coincidentally, I was literally shitting green fluid at that time and had been for over a week due to food poisoning, but decided to still go on the trek anyway as I felt a bit better. But at one point I had to jump off the camel mid-trek in front of about 10 other folk and run behind a rock as my arse felt like it was about to explode.

 

I had these horrible white kaki things on as I needed to buy long trousers for the trek and they were the only ones I could get. The only way I could think of not covering them in green shite piss (as a normal squat would unless I took them off completely, and I didn't have time) was to lie on a reverse all fours position, kind of like the 'crab' move and let loose. In my head I was completely covered from view, but the reality was that the rest probably saw the whole show from a variety of angles. 

 

Rest of trek was good though. 

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12 hours ago, Jeff said:

Love watching YouTubers who go to mad places.

 

I can't be the only subscriber to bald & bankrupt here?


love a bit of bald and bankrupt.

 

the soviet sinks he always comes across always me chuckle.

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Khan-Yunis in the Gaza strip, painting a hospital a shitty shade of green.

 

Kaduna in Nigeria at a wedding.

 

Few paces in Albania and Bosnia just for fun.

 

Avonbridge visited demented backwards family.

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15 hours ago, Tazio said:

St Kilda. 

Magical place!  When was that Tazio?  I was there for almost a week in the mid-80s, maybe 84 iirc.  Helping the local Heritage guy to catch and ring puffins both on Hirta and one day on Dun.  I'd go back there in an instant.

 

Otherwise, I'vee been fortunate to get to some very remote areas in the Arctic, as you might expect but i don't really count them as I lived there.  For work as well, helicopter surveying the Queen Elizabeth Islands for Peary caribou and muskoxen affords some pretty cool days out!  Not particularly spectacular in terms of the environement but in terms of claims to fame I can say I've stood on the most northerly tip of North America.  Also the former deserted Canadian weather station at Isachsen is interesting. Think they abandoned it in 1975.  Very bleak place and apparently recorded some of the bleakest weather on the contient, which probably isn't surprising considering it's one the edge of the Arctic Ocean. 

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Ive camped in the Erg Chebbi. Best nights sleep I have ever had.

Ive been to Arvidsjuar in Sweden.Winter testing centre for car manufacturers.Cold but dry.

I was interviewed at the Frankfurt on der Oder frontier by German border guards before Shengen.I was driving a Russian military vehicle on a made up Polish number plate ID and my brother in law was watching The Dambusters on his laptop.Then the thing wouldn't start and we had to ask politely ze Geeermans we had spent 2 hours playfully insulting for a push.

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17 minutes ago, ArcticJambo said:

Magical place!  When was that Tazio?  I was there for almost a week in the mid-80s, maybe 84 iirc.  Helping the local Heritage guy to catch and ring puffins both on Hirta and one day on Dun.  I'd go back there in an instant.

 

Otherwise, I'vee been fortunate to get to some very remote areas in the Arctic, as you might expect but i don't really count them as I lived there.  For work as well, helicopter surveying the Queen Elizabeth Islands for Peary caribou and muskoxen affords some pretty cool days out!  Not particularly spectacular in terms of the environement but in terms of claims to fame I can say I've stood on the most northerly tip of North America.  Also the former deserted Canadian weather station at Isachsen is interesting. Think they abandoned it in 1975.  Very bleak place and apparently recorded some of the bleakest weather on the contient, which probably isn't surprising considering it's one the edge of the Arctic Ocean. 

 

The welt that is Jeremy Clarkson has been to Isachsen.

 

 

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The White Cockade

Stayed at a friends for a few weeks in Nairobi Their house was Karen Blixen’s stables which had been converted to living accommodation 

Shop at a Spar in Union Mills on Isle of Man Was the house the Bee Gees were brought up in as kids

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The most obscure place I've ever been is the Upside Down House (Dom do Góry Nogami) in Szymbark, about an hour outside of Gdańsk.  It's not the most "obscure location", but it definitely was obscure :lol:

 

domek_01.jpg

 

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7 hours ago, highlandjambo3 said:

You mean Suffield?  That’s the British army training area in Canada..... the old “soldiers blending in thing” could stem back to the Northern Ireland days when off duty soldiers wanted to look like they were not soldiers......my regiment was the first to have a off duty guys shot dead in NI whilst out of uniform.....back in the day it was a big issue.

   

Yes I meant the one in Canada, I for the life of me I cannot remember but there  was one item they had that I recognisd as army. It was in the bar after a game so there had to be a million reasons why they didn't want to be bothered by an old fart, but you have hit on one thing ,since coming to Canada I guess my accent has changed somewhat, and I have been asked if I am Irish, and that also could be another reason for their reluctance.  

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1 hour ago, Sharpie said:

   

Yes I meant the one in Canada, I for the life of me I cannot remember but there  was one item they had that I recognisd as army. It was in the bar after a game so there had to be a million reasons why they didn't want to be bothered by an old fart, but you have hit on one thing ,since coming to Canada I guess my accent has changed somewhat, and I have been asked if I am Irish, and that also could be another reason for their reluctance.  

 

It wasn't so cold that you were wearing a balaclava, were you? ;)

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1 minute ago, redjambo said:

 

It wasn't so cold that you were wearing a balaclava, were you? ;)

Nah in Osoyoos Canadas reputed only true desert it was probably 100 degrees. Mind you me in shorts was no perfect sight either.

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9 hours ago, highlandjambo3 said:

Yup....BATUS.....(British Army training unit suffield)......been there...pissed up in Medicine Hat a few times as well (local town) great days

Yeah , BATUS.

I volunteered for a job there (working for a defence contractor at the time) thinking (god knows why) BATUS was in Asia somewhere :facepalm:.

 

With regard to Sharpie's comments about the "only true desert" in Canada. When I was driving to Batus , way down in S Alberta somewhere , we stopped at a place in the badlands and in the car park was a warning sign about snakes & scorpions !! We met a couple who were digging about in the bushes doing some geocaching and they asked us to help them. I said "you seen the warning signs about snakes & scorpions" ? . The bloke didn't seem bothered, he said "it's too cold, they probably won't bother  you". My workmate, who happened to be an ex squaddie told them "GTF !".  

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9 hours ago, highlandjambo3 said:

Yup....BATUS.....(British Army training unit suffield)......been there...pissed up in Medicine Hat a few times as well (local town) great days

I remember the road being perfectly straight for hours in either direction out of Suffield. I took my hand off the steering for about 5 mins just to prove it.

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1 hour ago, NANOJAMBO said:

Yeah , BATUS.

I volunteered for a job there (working for a defence contractor at the time) thinking (god knows why) BATUS was in Asia somewhere :facepalm:.

 

With regard to Sharpie's comments about the "only true desert" in Canada. When I was driving to Batus , way down in S Alberta somewhere , we stopped at a place in the badlands and in the car park was a warning sign about snakes & scorpions !! We met a couple who were digging about in the bushes doing some geocaching and they asked us to help them. I said "you seen the warning signs about snakes & scorpions" ? . The bloke didn't seem bothered, he said "it's too cold, they probably won't bother  you". My workmate, who happened to be an ex squaddie told them "GTF !".  

 

Osoyoos has often had their claim of true desert but they use the presence of fauna and flora and things such as rattlesnakes to uphold their claim. The one thing that is definitely desert is the temperatures, 120 degrees is not unusual in fact for periods expected, one of my friends and I during these temps use to go out ot golf any time after noon when it was at its peak, we walked the eighteen holes and drank gallons of water, the prize of having a whole golf course to ourselves was motivation enough. The shaking of heads and whispers accompanied by critical looks by patrons of the club house bar left us in no doubt about what was being said about us. Actually if you were looking for a short vacation elsewhere whilst visiting Canada and the west was on your schedule I would recommend a couple of days in the whole Okanagan area.

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J.T.F.Robertson
1 hour ago, NANOJAMBO said:

Yeah , BATUS.

I volunteered for a job there (working for a defence contractor at the time) thinking (god knows why) BATUS was in Asia somewhere :facepalm:.

 

With regard to Sharpie's comments about the "only true desert" in Canada. When I was driving to Batus , way down in S Alberta somewhere , we stopped at a place in the badlands and in the car park was a warning sign about snakes & scorpions !! We met a couple who were digging about in the bushes doing some geocaching and they asked us to help them. I said "you seen the warning signs about snakes & scorpions" ? . The bloke didn't seem bothered, he said "it's too cold, they probably won't bother  you". My workmate, who happened to be an ex squaddie told them "GTF !".  

 

Drumheller?

Spent a week in that area one afternoon on a trip to check out their Hoodoos. (dinnae ask)

 

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J.T.F.Robertson

 

I doubt this will qualify as "obscure" but the wife and I spent 4 months in La Paz, B.C.S., Mexico. (November to February, just past) Lovely place, lovely people and likewise, weather.

 

Could do with being there right now as it's kickin' around 35 below here at the moment with no end in sight. Brutal!!

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4 hours ago, tian447 said:

The most obscure place I've ever been is the Upside Down House (Dom do Góry Nogami) in Szymbark, about an hour outside of Gdańsk.  It's not the most "obscure location", but it definitely was obscure :lol:

 

domek_01.jpg

 


:stuart:

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Rock all mid Northern Atlantic. Never set foot on it but we picked up by Helo an ill American sailor off of one of their Los Angeles class nuclear subs. We had a very small window of time due to satellite passes, that the sub could be on the surface. Luckily all went well.

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5 hours ago, graygo said:

 

The welt that is Jeremy Clarkson has been to Isachsen.

 

Places like that are wasted on him! 

 

Anyway, I think the place they went into for the sleeping quarters, which had all the snow drifts was the one building that seemed most intact, when I was there in 2007. Lots of rooms but they were all empty, unlike most of the other buildings on the site.  Only thing I do remember from the accommodation unit was that some boy had left his name, date and that he was SAS.

 

We flew in by twin otter - when we arrived there was a Xmas tree standing up by the airstrip!! :lol: We set up camp utilizing a couple of old oil&gas-exploration train carriages before the heicopter turned up .  Think we stayed there 7-10 days.  Was difficult keeping it warm tbqh as this was early April.  Great basecamp though, and a fantastic fieldseason - we did the all the islands around Ellef Ringes, and Axel Heiberg, which should really be turned into a national Park, the whole island! 

 

The aerial shot shows the garage with the Cat Heavy Equipment they entered, bottom right.  The original main accommodation building with the chairs and cupboard with crockery is the redlong building with the tower on top pictured centre top of picture - that was quite eerie tbqh when we entered, buddy and I with rifle ready, not that we were expecting a bear but you never really know! The new accommodation block I mentioned is the next building down from the red-towered one, or it might be the next one again as you move towards the garage.

Isachsen_Base.jpg

Isachsen_XmasTree.jpg

Isachsen_Accomm.jpg

Edited by ArcticJambo
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Not that obscure but not exactly on the tourist map either, you've got to know about this place.

 

The tomb of Ay which is located in the next valley from the Valley of the Kings in Egypt along a dirt track, which leads to a desolate valley.

Ay succeded Tutankhamun and Ay was buried in Tutankhamun's original tomb, which Tutankhamun had commissioned for himself, but died long before it was ready and he ended up in the Valley of the Kings.  The custodian of the tomb whom the taxi driver had to get out of his caravan and then drive the further mile or so to the tomb, told me that he rarely gets tourists visiting the tomb as it's usually only researchers & archaeologists who visit this tomb, and even then it's barely a handful of people weekly, the reason is because most people don't know that it was Tutankhamun's original tomb.

 

 

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1 hour ago, Sharpie said:

 

Osoyoos has often had their claim of true desert but they use the presence of fauna and flora and things such as rattlesnakes to uphold their claim. The one thing that is definitely desert is the temperatures, 120 degrees is not unusual in fact for periods expected, one of my friends and I during these temps use to go out ot golf any time after noon when it was at its peak, we walked the eighteen holes and drank gallons of water, the prize of having a whole golf course to ourselves was motivation enough. The shaking of heads and whispers accompanied by critical looks by patrons of the club house bar left us in no doubt about what was being said about us. Actually if you were looking for a short vacation elsewhere whilst visiting Canada and the west was on your schedule I would recommend a couple of days in the whole Okanagan area.

Cheers. We are looking to do a Vancouver to Jasper/Banff   type trip when this Covid calms doon  and it's on my list. 

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22 hours ago, Maroon Sailor said:

Tristan da Cunha

 

13 hours ago, John Findlay said:

South Georgia/Djibouti.

 

Either of you heard of Inaccessible Island & the Denstone College Expedition in November 1982?

 

 

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Maroon Sailor
Just now, Jambo-Jimbo said:

 

 

Either of you heard of Inaccessible Island & the Denstone College Expedition in November 1982?

 

 

 

I haven't

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3 minutes ago, Jambo-Jimbo said:

 

 

Either of you heard of Inaccessible Island & the Denstone College Expedition in November 1982?

 

 

Cant say I have 

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8 minutes ago, Maroon Sailor said:

 

I haven't

 

5 minutes ago, John Findlay said:

Cant say I have 

 

It's part of the Tristan da Cunha archipelago, about 17 nautical miles Southwest from Tristan da Cunha.

 

There was no particular reason I asked, just thought that you guys might have heard of it.

 

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Maroon Sailor

Forgot Tristan da Cunha is the World's remotest island

 

00n1bgb0s6w41.thumb.jpg.68468ce6766d0bc3805ff2b756d7768e.jpg

 

They put 18 golf flags in that field on the right. It was a good laugh, had lots of UK beer in the golf bag which the islander who played with us was made up about. Ended up getting half cut.

 

Some of the lads had a football match against the locals in the field in front of the Cafe / tourist shop (Red roof towards the left of the picture)

 

I couldn't understand how they can live there but it's their way of life and they seemed happy enough.

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Maroon Sailor
3 minutes ago, Jambo-Jimbo said:

 

 

It's part of the Tristan da Cunha archipelago, about 17 nautical miles Southwest from Tristan da Cunha.

 

There was no particular reason I asked, just thought that you guys might have heard of it.

 

 

I would have passed it then without seeing or knowing about it

 

 

Edited by Maroon Sailor
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11 minutes ago, Jambo-Jimbo said:

 

 

It's part of the Tristan da Cunha archipelago, about 17 nautical miles Southwest from Tristan da Cunha.

 

There was no particular reason I asked, just thought that you guys might have heard of it.

 

Heard of Tristan but not the other.

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1 hour ago, jim747 said:

This place looks a hoot, been watching this bloke's videos for the last few months...

 

 

Love stuff like that, thanks for sharing!

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I spent a month backpacking around Ethiopia. The north of the country has a lot of tourist activity but, the south is a bit more off the beaten track. I did a six day hike in the Bale Mountains. I saw five or six Ethiopian wolves so it was very worthwhile.

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On 09/02/2021 at 09:20, Riddley Walker said:

Coincidentally, I was literally shitting green fluid at that time and had been for over a week due to food poisoning

 

You haven't visited India if you haven't been rediculously ill from the food and nearly shit yourself on at least five occasions.

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N Lincs Jambo

Went to a few obscure locations with my work in the early 90s mostly in Eastern Europe and Russia and also the Middle East. For extremes Kondopoga in northern Russia in January was pretty cold at -30C, whilst Haft Tappeh in southern Iran in July with +48C was stifling. 13 hour car journey from Teheran airport in a 1972 Hillman Hunter with no air con was horrendous. Fortunately made the journey back overnight.

 

Also visited Chekka in northern Lebanon. Would love to go back there as a tourist. Small country with very varied scenery.

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Just outside Chiclayo in Peru.   Adventured around South America for about 3 months and this was as much off the beaten track as their was literally no tracks.

 

Macchu Picchu and Easter Island can't really count as obscure as they are pretty touristy.   Same with the Inca Trail.

 

Ica was fairly obscure though.

 

 

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I went to Tunisia in 2014 on holiday I ended up bored within the first few days so ended up doing what they called a sahara desert tour what was a 2 day trip into the back and beyond of Tunisia ended up at a place called El Jem , salt lakes , and where they filmed a Star Wars .
 

They lacked English in the hotel and the city sousse where I was staying ( you would leave the hotel and you would get taxis driving over pavements to ask if you wanted a taxi , stopped asking if you want to buy weed, trying to get dragged down side streets to shops , grabbing you for money or fortune tellers )
 

 It became worse on the trip the hotel was in the middle of no where it looked like a building you would see in Syria after being bombed horrible. All the wee villages the bus would stop at never thought It was that bad at the time but looking back and seeing what has gone on in Tunisia since it’s a bit scary. Ended  along the border with Algeria on day 1 then a bus journey back stopping off outside the mosque in kairouan where you could get off and look at the building or stay on the bus . 
 

A year later I was watching a program about Tunisia and where ISIS recruit their young guys and Kairouan is a breeding ground for young extremists. 
 

I’d never go back . 

Edited by Stu_HMFC
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WorldChampions1902

Fort Sao Jose is an ancient rock fort on the fringes of the port of Funchal on Madeira which claims to be the smallest country in the world. We visited it a few years ago. The guy that owns it has had numerous run ins with the Portuguese authorities as he battled for decades for international recognition for his “Principality”. 

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I have been to the san blas islands near Panama,  met the cheif of the Island who was wearing a Dundee United top, he was so pleased to meet someone from Scotland he gave us a tour, he was the only one that had a generator and light on the island.

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As soon as lockdown has finished, I'm ****ing off to see the world.  100%.

 

Gonna head back to South America and then go to Japan.

 

Was actually planning on going to Hong Kong before the whole China shit kicked off.  Actually gutted.  

 

PS  **** China.   

 

And Pooh Bear.

 

 

Edited by Lovecraft
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4 hours ago, maroongoals said:

I have been to the san blas islands near Panama,  met the cheif of the Island who was wearing a Dundee United top, he was so pleased to meet someone from Scotland he gave us a tour, he was the only one that had a generator and light on the island.

Where did he get the Dundee Utd top?

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