There are numerous countries that do not exist or are forgotten in the American mind. It is either because we have no ties to the country, or simply there is no interest. What country and city that are invisible to Americans would you like to visit the most?

Paraguay - Ascuncion
No one in the U.S. really nows anything about this country, yet it is bordered by some of the most interesting countries such as Bolivia, Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil. I'm dying to explore this country.

What's yours?

For me, Portugal.

I also would like to visit Mongolia and Tunisia.

Probably Sao Paulo. Looks so big that I can't ignore it. Brazil in general intrigues me.

There are numerous countries that do not exist or are forgotten in the American mind. It is either because we have no ties to the country, or simply there is no interest. What country and city that are invisible to Americans would you like to visit the most?

Paraguay - Ascuncion
No one in the U.S. really nows anything about this country, yet it is bordered by some of the most interesting countries such as Bolivia, Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil. I'm dying to explore this country.

What's yours?

Its very funny you say Ascuncion, b/c that was my choice. My bestfriend was adopted from Ascuncion and we are going to be visiting the area in April.. hopefully it is a nice visit, so wish me luck..

For me: Iran and Argentina.
Not too obscure, but these are the two places that I'd most like to visit.

New Zealand.

New Zealand and Sao Paulo are NOT obscure to Americans. I don't think Portugal really is either.

For me it would probably be some place like Nepal or Bhutan. Mongolia also looks pretty interesting. Or how about an African country like Congo, Ethiopia, or Kenya? (Kenya's a little less obscure I guess, but there's more to it than safaris and the slums of Nairobi.)

Santiago, Chile.

I would also throw in Sao Paulo and Buenos Aires, but the countries of Brazil and Argentina aren't really "invisible."

The reason I love The Amazing Race so much is because it profiles obscure countries like this. I actually have an idea of what the people of Burkina Faso and Lithuania are like. Its good stuff. :okay:

for me...it's Dubai, United Arab Emirates...

nobody in the west heard of this place 10 years ago.... and god love them...they are trying SO HARD to make it into the big leagues..... they are spending Trillions on Public Relations and Real Estate deals to make an instant city that will shock and awe the west......

I want to see first hand where all the people are..... all the "millions" of expats who are moving there and working in all the new sleek unfinished office skyscrapers. I'm constantly amazed at all the "world's records" lists they seem to dominate.

is the hype real? is the buzz worth it??? I want to see for myself....

all I can see in pics are empty desert and tall buildings with lots of sand around them.....

:nuts::lol:

Macchu Picchu looked like a dream to visit ever since I did a report on Peru back in middle school..
after that Id say Australia, theyve got a big island to explore, a better version of rugby to check out , and boatloads of marsupials

I think people are a little confused about this. I mean mysterious as where we know almost nothing about these countries nor ever hear of them in American culture. I don't think Brazil, Argentina, or Australia count. Countries like Mongolia, Uzbekistan, Luxemborg, Lithuania, Senegal, etc. Countries that we sometimes forget exist. I think any typical American can tell you five things about Brazil, Argentina and Australia off the top of their heads. Catch my drift?

New Zealand and Sao Paulo are NOT obscure to Americans. I don't think Portugal really is either.

For me it would probably be some place like Nepal or Bhutan. Mongolia also looks pretty interesting. Or how about an African country like Congo, Ethiopia, or Kenya? (Kenya's a little less obscure I guess, but there's more to it than safaris and the slums of Nairobi.)

It's obscure to me. I barely know anything about it. It interests me.

Yeah, large swaths of Africa would be unknown too...

I think any typical American can tell you five things about Brazil, Argentina and Australia off the top of their heads. Catch my drift?

Oh ya/
alright then..
Im gonna go with Rotterdam.
doubt most of the people around me on a given day know of this place

Bangladesh
Antarctica
also 2 good ones

Buenos Aires, Argentina

Probably Sao Paulo. Looks so big that I can't ignore it. Brazil in general intrigues me.
Ohh hell yea. Ever since I did a report on it for a class in college I have been fascinated with Sao Paulo...

Cities:
Ulanbaatar + Minsk ( To really appreciate what I have) + Monrovia ( Purchase an uzi) + Phnom penh ( Check out the stupas in Wat Phnom) + Damascus ( Hookah Bar hop on my magic flying carpet)
Countries:
+ Sri Lanka + Papua New Guinea + Chile ( Easter Island) + Thailand + Morroco + Portugal + Norway + Madagascar. I'm gonna try to bang them all out by next year.

The reason I love The Amazing Race so much is because it profiles obscure countries like this. I actually have an idea of what the people of Burkina Faso and Lithuania are like. Its good stuff. :okay:

There was a reality series that predated Amazing Race that I like a lot better called Lost (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lost_(2001_TV_series)) (it predated that show too). The basic premise was that teams of two were literally dropped in the middle of nowhere with very few supplies and then they had to race back to New York City. The launch timing of the series was rather unfortunate as it premiered a week before 9/11.

The first "season" to make it to air found the teams dumped in Mongolia with the second one in Bolivia. They had to figure out where they were (guessing from clues around them - language, race, environment) and then try to figure out how they were going to get to New York. This was I believe a lot more "reality" than the Amazing Race in which to a certain extent it is staged with all of the check ins and obstacles/challenges.

I have always wanted to spend some time in Spain and go around Barcelona, Valencia, Sevilla.

I want to visit Vilnius, Lithuania, Tallinn, Estonia, Djibouti, Djibouti (Cool name) Mauritius, Tuvalu, and Fiji.

There was a reality series that predated Amazing Race that I like a lot better called Lost (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lost_(2001_TV_series)) (it predated that show too). The basic premise was that teams of two were literally dropped in the middle of nowhere with very few supplies and then they had to race back to New York City. The launch timing of the series was rather unfortunate as it premiered a week before 9/11.

The first "season" to make it to air found the teams dumped in Mongolia with the second one in Bolivia. They had to figure out where they were (guessing from clues around them - language, race, environment) and then try to figure out how they were going to get to New York. This was I believe a lot more "reality" than the Amazing Race in which to a certain extent it is staged with all of the check ins and obstacles/challenges.

Wasn't that cancelled after, like, 2 or 3 episodes?

I liked that show, too.

Sierra Leone!

I'm gonna git me some diamonds!:)

Damascus, Syria
Aleppo, Syria
Baghdad, Iraq
Bethlehem, Israel
Pyongyang, North Korea
Cuzco, Peru

Pyongyang, Havana, the Falkland Islands, Tehran, Turkmenistan, Archangel, Nunavut, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, Timbuktu.

I would like to go to Cuba. Forgive me if I'm wrong but here in the US we can't go to Cuba, right?

Antarctica. Last summer when I was looking for a job I ran across a posting on craigslist for a job at McMurdo Station I probably could have gotten. It was tempting.

I would like to go to Cuba. Forgive me if I'm wrong but here in the US we can't go to Cuba, right?

Unless you get permission from the government, this is correct (but I'm not even sure if it's possible to get permission from the government).

I would love to see North Korea. However, I don't know if I could handle the strict control they have over you every moment you're in that country. I heard that if you pass by a statue of Kim Jong-Il and his father (can't remember his name), you have to bow, or at least nod your head. That and numerous other things (you really have to watch what you say), I just don't know if I could. Not to mention just the fact that they pretty much have full control over what you do and are pretty much watching you 24/7. They even control what pictures you can take.:ohno: But I think if I could handle that, it would be a really unique and satisfying, if somewhat unsettling, experience.

And Antarctica, definitely (again, assuming I could handle the trip down there, which I heard can just be long and excruciating). It's still rare enough to go there that the "Travel" section in our local newspaper had a cover story about a woman from here who travelled to Antarctica.

You can go to Cuba if you can prove that you have relatives there.

I'd like to go to Tibet.

North Korea...though I would be scared to visit, it fascinates me.

Transylvania!

Polynesia, Scandinavia, Ireland, Russia, Malaysia, South Africa, Dubai, Benelux, New Zealand, Australia, Greece, Turkey and all the little towns and cities in Great Britain.

Tel aviv or being from New Orleans, Paris.

^^Paris isn't obscure. :ohno:

Polynesia, Scandinavia, Ireland, Russia, Malaysia, South Africa, Dubai, Benelux, New Zealand, Australia, Greece, Turkey and all the little towns and cities in Great Britain.

I wouldn't consider Scandinavia, Ireland, Russia, New Zealand, Australia, or Greece obscure to Americans at all.

In my opinion, the countries that are the most "mysterious" or "obscure" to the American mind are the countries of Central Asia. Basically they are the "stans" excluding Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Kazakhstan (not obscure anymore because of Borat :D)

They are:

-Uzbekistan
capital- Tashkent

-Kyrgyzstan
capital- Bishkek

-Tajikistan
capital- Dushanbe

-Turkmenistan
capital- Asgabat


I think it's silly to put places like Paris or Brazil on here as obscure, please.

About Bishkek (the capital city of Kyrgyzstan) from Wikipedia:

"The name is thought to derive from a Kyrgyz word for a churn used to make fermented mare's milk (kumis), the Kyrgyz national drink." :lol:

...eww

Seriously people some of these places you are putting are ridiculous. Paris? Ireland? When I meant mysterious i meant we nothing almost NOTHING about this place. For instance, Uzbekistan is one that I would like to see, but I couldn't even tell you their capital or what language they speak, and I am sure at the very miniumum 90% of the U.S. population couldn't tell you the capital and language of Uzb. Other countries in example North Korea, Paraguay, Togo, Suriname, Guyana, Burnika Faso, Andorra, Luxemborg, Mongolia, etc. Not Brazil, Argentina, Egypt, etc. Please read what I posted first before you put down places that are not obscure to Americans.

Seriously people some of these places you are putting are ridiculous. Paris? Ireland? When I meant mysterious i meant we nothing almost NOTHING about this place. For instance, Uzbekistan is one that I would like to see, but I couldn't even tell you their capital or what language they speak, and I am sure at the very miniumum 90% of the U.S. population couldn't tell you the capital and language of Uzb.

Did you see my posts right above yours? I agree with you.

I would want to travel to Shanghai or Hong Kong.

Oh ya/
alright then..
Im gonna go with Rotterdam.
doubt most of the people around me on a given day know of this place

Bangladesh
Antarctica
also 2 good ones

Is Rotterdam really so unknown in the US? That's hard to imagine for me :)

^^^To people on this forum no, Rotterdam is known. The typical American does not know. People would just say Europe if you asked them where Rotterdam is.

Singapore and Taiwan

Okay, if we are talking about obscure places, then I would like to go to my country of birth...Somalia! I went there in 2003 and had a great time (I'm from a peaceful part). It's truly misunderstood. Although I don't really know if it is really obscure to Americans because of Black Hawk Down. ;)

Downside of visiting is that getting there is a bitch. Airfare is expensive and could take a while, and you need to get visas to go through transit. I also would not recommend non-Somalis to come because of xenophobia and "instability". Maybe in a few years after the civil war stupid ends, it can be rediscovered again, the beaches there are beautiful and the land is expansive. Reminds me of the US southwest geographically.