Sure it's all very well to keep talking on and on about the tiniest details of our 6 or 7 relatively mediocre cities, or on the other hand to discuss the more impressive parts of the world like New York, Paris, Tokyo, London, Dubai - after all, that is pretty much what this site is for.

How about we try something a bit different? I would love to hear about/ see pics of the really weird or interesting or terrible places you've found out about in the world. Just places you think people probably HAVEN'T heard of before, that are interesting and unique. I want to see obscurity people! Here's some examples:


"The Gateway to Hell", Darvaz, Uzbekistan:

http://www.vacationideas.me/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/darvaza-turkmenistan-door-to-hell-02.jpg

A long time ago (I think in the 60's), this was going to be a mine. A few geologists lit some gas in this tunnel, hoping to clear it so that it wouldn't suffocate the miners. Decades later the gas is still burning. The locals call it the Door/Gateway to Hell.



Bombay Beach, Salton Sea, California:

http://pics4.city-data.com/cpicv/vfiles16360.jpg

Really poor land management in America. Inland sea formed from polluted water (agricultural and industrial wastewater) in the Mojave Desert in California. At one time there was a flashy housing development there. Now its super-saline, full of toxic chemicals and so many dead fish that their crushed bones have formed a 'sandy beach'. Some weird religious nuts still live there at "salvation mountain", a mountain made of paint and clay. The sea will become too salty to support any life whatsoever eventually. Lower Lakes, this could be you.



Pripyat, Ukraine (Chernobyl):

http://scrapetv.com/News/News%20Pages/Business/images-2/pripyat-ukraine.jpg

Even worse land management in the Ukraine. Abandoned city near the Chernobyl reactor. Its like everyone just got up and left in a hurry, because... well, they did. There's some awesome pics of abandoned schools, apartments and amusement parks online.



Taylor Dry Valley, McMurdo, Antarctica:

http://www.rosssea.info/pix/big/Taylor_Dry_Valley.jpg

On certain mountain lees in Antarctica, there are places where there is no ice. Weird things have been found there, like super salty lakes of liquid water below 0 degrees, completely petrified seal carcasses, blood-red rivers of iron-saturated water, and billion-year old bacteria colonies isolated from the rest of the world.



Almaty, Kazakhstan:

http://www.pestaola.gr/images/almaty_kazakhstan_01.jpg

Just a random city you probably don't hear about much. I think it looks pretty interesting.




Cappadocia, Turkey:

http://suncodel.files.wordpress.com/2008/12/cave_dwellings_of_cappadocia_turkey.jpg

This weird ancient city where everyone lives in rock houses or caves. Like Bedrock! Or Coober Pedy, I suppose.



Shibam, Yemen:

http://www.worldbuildings.net/images/shibam-mud-brick-city-in-yemen-desert12.jpg

An epic desert city. Its really really old.

Good idea for a thread.

I like the Blue Hole in Belize. Would love to dive here.

http://photography.nationalgeographic.com/staticfiles/NGS/Shared/StaticFiles/Photography/Images/POD/b/blue-hole-belize-reef-731526-sw.jpg

I would recommend viewing any documentaries on the Chernybol disaster in 1986, including film footage of locals going on with their normal business in Pripyat.

Only 20 000 people lived there, many of them in multistorey unitblocks.

The locals were not evacuated immediately, but when they did it was with little notice. The world didn't know for days that something happened there.

^^ or play COD 4!

Didn't 50 000 people live there? lol @ CoD4 MW

I was born in a country that no longer exists. That's kinda wierd.

^^ Do you mind me asking, which country is that?

and yes, something around 50 000 people use to live near there

Yugoslavia?

The old town, called al-Balad, in Jeddah Saudi Arabia has got to be one of the weirdest, most fascinating and beautiful places I've ever visited, and I've visited quite a few weird places. Maybe it's because there's no tourist visas issued to Saudi Arabia and hence no westerners there. Life is just carrying on as it has in that region for nearly 3000 years but now with very modern technology and also quite wealthy and cosmopolitan in its own way.

Pictures not by me, I just found them on flickr.

Typical street snaking its way through the neighborhood:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3410/3531328736_da9874ae23.jpg


Some buildings are just weird (although not all look like this by any means):

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2524/3971863507_7c29a47092.jpg


Narrow streets:

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4039/4388370972_9326c1f257.jpg


The whole place is like a giant open market:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3275/3075995682_14dcb1c1fd.jpg

EDIT

http://news.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/06/in_pictures_chernobyl0s_lost_city/img/1.jpg
http://news.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/06/in_pictures_chernobyl0s_lost_city/img/5.jpg
http://news.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/06/in_pictures_chernobyl0s_lost_city/img/9.jpg
http://news.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/06/in_pictures_chernobyl0s_lost_city/img/12.jpg

^^Chernobyl

I was born in a country that no longer exists. That's kinda wierd.

Pomerania? :op

New Swabia???

Nazi Flak Tower Augarten, Vienna, Austria

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3271/2949289294_09a22005ea_b.jpg

msgodf Flickr