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52 Places to Go in 2016

nytimes.com

111–120 of 141 posts

Re: 52 Places to Go in 2016

#111

19. Virunga National Park - Democratic Republic of Congo The Eastern part of the DRC is still a dangerous place to go with still ongoing guerrilla activity. "Getting there requires a flight to Kigali, Rwanda, and a three-hour taxi ride." "While a park spokeswoman said there have been no reports of unfriendly encounters between rebels and tourists, the eastern D.R.C. remains an unpredictable area that calls for sensib…

I was in Virunga this summer and it was quite special and I would absolutely recommend it over Rwanda if you're willing to accept a bit of a more difficult process and journey.

I went on four gorilla treks and on average was with only one other tourist. In Rwanda, you'll usually be in a group of eight. This is significant as great viewing angles can be in short supply.

Other reasons to go:

-You get a behind the scenes view of the park - I got to see a demo of their ivory/poacher sniffing dogs, got to see the gorilla rehab center (and to meet Andre Baume, who was featured in the movie!), and lots of interaction with the rangers

-The gorilla permit fee is $400 instead of $750 in Rwanda ($600 in Uganda, admittedly this value is diminished if you stay in the expensive park lodging, whereas in Rwanda cheap places are possible)

-Trekking Mount Nyiragongo (active volcano) is really, really cool

-As soon as you cross the border, you are constantly in the hands of Virunga vehicles/lodging/guards (a Virunga car picks you up at the border post and an armed guard is inside)

Re: 52 Places to Go in 2016

#113
post #72

I'm surprised to see so many places not on the list, and so many places making it that caused me to question the rationale (to the point where I read the follow-up article on how they chose places). Then I realised as an NY Times piece, this is for Americans. Lots of the places are Anglo-Spanish-friendly (St Helena, really?), mostly within less than insane flight times (explains the lack of New Zealand on the list) a…

Pretty sure they named Waiheke Island a thing a while ago (an Island in the Hauraki Gulf in Auckland). I kinda don't blame them. I'm from NZ but live in London, it's a total ballache to get back home.

Re: 52 Places to Go in 2016

#114
post #70

Mexico City as #1? Really? Having been there recently, my main objective was to get the hell out of the teeming city and its pool of horrible smog without being killed by the crazy drivers. The rest of Mexico is quite nice, but stay out of the cities.

I had the opposite experience. Such a beautiful city with rich history and culture. Driving was pretty sane. There is indeed air pollution but its been getting lower as the years go along. It is not a perfect city but one of my favorite cities to go visit.

Same here, I love D.F and can't wait to go back.

Re: 52 Places to Go in 2016

#115
What beautiful presentation. I realise that there is subtle enhancement going on in all of these, if it's not the pleasant animations, it's the saturation, or the slight diffusion giving an impression of dreaminess, to some of the HDR. But it's very easy to browse, you've chosen some truly stunning photos that give the best of each location, and it really gives a sense of wanting to get on a plane. From this jaded, desk-bound coder, you've given me a few minutes of dreamin'. Well done.

Re: 52 Places to Go in 2016

#117

Mexico City as #1? Really? Having been there recently, my main objective was to get the hell out of the teeming city and its pool of horrible smog without being killed by the crazy drivers. The rest of Mexico is quite nice, but stay out of the cities.

I'm pretty sure it's not a sorted list...

Re: 52 Places to Go in 2016

#118
post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Haha, they missed us this year? Nepal seems to have a permanent stranglehold on lists like these. It's not surprising, with the earthquake and the ('not a') blockade, they might have wanted to skip this year.

Love Nepal. Running my startup out of Kathmandu....although we face 14 hours of power shortages, a crazy political blockade, shortages in every item imaginable including medicine, silly government taxes and restrictions...the Nepalese people are some of the best I have ever met. To sum up, come and visit, you won't regret it...

That's the spirit! Please write a little more about that.

Re: 52 Places to Go in 2016

#119
Really loved how all the info was on a single page and was easily scrollable for a click glance. Pagination can cause such a slow experience. The interspersed moving GIFs were a nice touch as well.

I'll add places I've been to that I haven't seen mentioned:

* Hangzhou, China - I spent about three days hanging around West Lake/Xi Hu (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Lake), a large, BEAUTIFUL lake adjacent to the city. Sprawling mountains in the background, an endless amount of Chinese gardens and beautiful greenery surrounding it. Cheap boat rides that you can drive yourself, and an extreme dearth of Western tourists - even by China standards. Though, I went during the summer and the place was swarming with Chinese tourists. Maybe my favorite meal in China was in a modern restaurant in a random mall there. I'd honestly consider Xi Hu one of the most beautiful places I've been.

* Malmo, Sweden - I didn't go to the countryside like the article recommends though did a day trip to the nearby University town of Lund, which is nice but nothing cooler than most small European cities. The city itself has nothing in particular worth seeing - it's still fairly expensive, though probably cheap by Scandanvian standards. I did stumble upon some good restaurants. I enjoyed Stockholm a lot more, and wouldn't return to Malmo if it weren't for a friend I have there. Gothenburg seems a lot cooler but sadly I never made it out there. Definitely avoid in the late fall / winter due to cold weather.

* Kansai, Japan - I spent a little over a weekin Osaka and various small towns in the area (Nara, Ouji). I got the sense that besides Tokyo and its surrounding area, Kansai contained a good chunk of the interesting tourist things in Japan. Himeji castle is an hour or two bullet train ride away (and many of the towns nearby have similar castles), Mt Fuji is in the area, there are great onsen / hostsprings, Kyoto and the closeby area appears to contain the strongest density of old shrines and temples, and Nara is famous for the thousands of wild deer intermixed with old shrines and temples. Hiroshima is a few hour train ride away and has a lot to see: the A-Bomb museum, memorial, infamous bombed dome remains, and Miyajima - a beautiful island also with wild deer and shrines that I unfortunately missed due to rain. If you have enough time and railpass duration, take a (~3-6 hour) train to Fukouka and then the (~$100/each way) fast ferry to Busan, Korea. I LOVED Busan. Also: be sure to buy the Japan rail pass BEFORE you get to Japan. You can't get it in Japan.

* Malaga, Spain - this one has been mentioned, but I'll add it did seem much more touristy and built up than other parts of Andalusia. The pros of this are there are some nice restaurants and bars and still some good historical stuff - like a nice Moorish fort and Roman ampitheater in the center. I was there in the winter (still ~60 degrees F) but there are beaches. I'd recommend checking out nearby Granada for Alhambra and Sevilla was also cool. Cordoba is overrated and this is coming from a huge history nerd.

* Phnom, Penh - this one was also mentioned. I found this place incredibly depressing. Nearly everywhere you go there are often disfigured or limb-missing locals begging (I am guessing this the aftermath of the Khmer Rouge). They're not actually begging for money, but rather to give you a tuk-tuk ride, which was unusual to begging in other places I've been where people usually just ask for money. It's very dirty - like usually you rent a tuk tuk (think 1970s era chariot - motorcycle with wagon on the back), and I remember getting really dusty just from driving around. The Cambodians are incredibly nice and speak remarkably good English especially compared to the even more heavily tourist-exposed neighboring Thais. You can shoot an AK-47 for $50 at an army range and even a bazooka if you're willing to pay ~$300 (though I found out later in my trip it's a lot cheaper to shoot an AK and Russian weapons in the Baltics - mainly Estonia and Latvia). Angkor Wat in nearby Siem Reap is a MUST see.

Re: 52 Places to Go in 2016

#120

19. Virunga National Park - Democratic Republic of Congo The Eastern part of the DRC is still a dangerous place to go with still ongoing guerrilla activity. "Getting there requires a flight to Kigali, Rwanda, and a three-hour taxi ride." "While a park spokeswoman said there have been no reports of unfriendly encounters between rebels and tourists, the eastern D.R.C. remains an unpredictable area that calls for sensib…

I was in Virunga this summer and it was quite special and I would absolutely recommend it over Rwanda if you're willing to accept a bit of a more difficult process and journey. I went on four gorilla treks and on average was with only one other tourist. In Rwanda, you'll usually be in a group of eight. This is significant as great viewing angles can be in short supply. Other reasons to go: -You get a behind the scene…

I did my trekking in Uganda. It is $350 if you go during the right time of year. My group had 8 people, but I did not find the viewing angles limited. The only limitation with a bigger group is that you may be affected is someone is not physically capable of trekking to a remote spot. The gorillas are not in plain view, the scouts will tell you where they are.

"you are constantly in the hands of Virunga vehicles/lodging/guards"

I simply do not want to travel that way. :) Reminds me of being in South Africa. Very safe, provided you stay within your compound with high walls and electric fencing! The behind the scenes does sound amazing.

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