Name for me your Top 5 Must-See-Before-You-Die destinations

[Matt Flynn]

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This is a list of the places I have left - seen NYC and Greenwich Village/Bleeker St., so that would have been there once - not anymore.

Instead...

1. - Highway 61, down thru Mississippi - must see the homeland of the blues. (and while I'm at it, play poker in Tunica)

....

RB

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I'll be at the Gold Strike in Tunica Jan 12-15 with coltrane and CCass. How about then?

Matt

[theBruiser500]

finish hiking appalachian trail, the northern parts should be great (NH, Maine).

study kung fu in china for a few months

macchu picchu (i've been told there are many amazing things to do in S. America, a couple that come to mind is seeing a volcano - maybe in hondorous - that is still active, and a trip through the amazon for a werk, they saw a real anaconda there, and their guide's sister was eaten by an anaconda)

bike tour de france

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f) Carnival in Brazil


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Highly recommend this one. Did it a few years ago and its a once in a lifetime experience.

Also recommend a rafting trip along the Amazon river. Some of the most amazing scenery in the world.

And really, what world trip is complete without a trip to Bangkok for the hookers. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

(Not really much of an experience, btw.)

[TheWorstPlayer]

Check out http://www.whaleroute.com/migrate/ and other similar sites for more info. It is supposed to be one of the most beautiful things in the entire world. You can see some amount of the splendor in the BBC special on the topic (which is available on DVD), which is incredible but I'm sure in no way captures what it feels like to watch in person.

By far my best vacation ever was to Egypt. Me and my girlfriend stayed in a kanquah (a sort of hostel) in Al-Qahira. Every morning we had the most amazing breakfasts in this rooftop garden overlooking the market and there was so much to do in and around the city.

My second best vacation ever was to Zanzibar. Amazing beaches and the city is gorgeous.

Also incredible was a trip I took to Belize. We were able to go on a midnight safari through the jungle and we were lucky enough to spot a jaguar. The scuba diving and snorkeling is great too.

If you like art, Italy is a must. Skip Rome, but Florence and Milan are awesome. Especially Florence. If you don't like art though, Italy kinda sucks.

Next I want to visit western china. I'd like to camp and mountain bike through the steppes, but I'm told it's not really feasible. Instead I might visit the nature preserves in Borneo.

[TheWorstPlayer]

How can you skip Rome?? It's my second favorite city in the world!!

[jcx]

1. Angel Falls, Venezuela (Unlike the rest of my list, I have done this one. Higly recommended).

2. Visit the holy land. Climb Mt Sinai.

3. St Helena Island, where Napoleon lived the last few years of his life. One of the most remote & hard to reach populated places on earth. Only reachable by mail ship from S. Africa, no airport.

4. Easter Island.

5. Bhutan.

I spent a year abusing the $59 UKP capital to capital flights in Europe and the only time I was disappointed was when I visited Rome for a week. It was dirty, crowded, noisy and filled with obnoxious tourists like myself. Locals hated me by association, and the tourists were utterly useless. The Vatican tour was interesting, but everything else about Rome sucked. Especially the food.

In ten years of consistant travelling, the best experiences I've had are:

1) Haggling in the night market in Kuala Lampur. If you go, stay at the Sunway Lagoon Resort Hotel.
2) Eating in 'the Dark restaurant' in Berlin, a pitch black restaurant where you dont know the specifics of your order and blind servers teach you to eat without using your sight.
3) All of Japan. The Japanese were fantastic hosts each of the five times I've gone there. I highly recommend memorizing a couple of key phrases (arigato) as they definately appreciate the effort.
4) Superbowl in Vegas. I'm not ever a football fan, but it wa frenzied in a really good way
5) The beaches in Nice, France
6) Mountain climbing in the Negev. There are peaks from which you can see seven different nations.
7) Bourbon Street on Halloween:/

#1 most overrated:

Amsterdam - It was great my first time, but prices have muliplied by four times since as compared to the US Dollar.

[AlexHoops]

Should you get certified before you go on the trip? How long does it last?