Cities you'd never return to

Cienciano wrote: »

Jesus, that's an entire continent you're sticking on the list. If poor conditions of living is a reason not to visit, add half of south america, asia and limerick to the list too.

Plenty of people live very nice lifestyles in Limerick. I know I certainly do. Well paying job, zero debt, multiple foreign holidays a year, short commute to work, no crazy traffic, good quality well constructed housing that passes it's fire inspections. Just to name a few things.

As if the living conditions are any worse, or even as bad, as many parts of Dublin.

Cienciano wrote: »

Jesus, that's an entire continent you're sticking on the list. If poor conditions of living is a reason not to visit, add half of south america, asia and limerick to the list too.

Also, having been to South America and Asia, I can safely say it would be your loss not to visit. So many amazing places you would be missing out on.

Nashville, Tennessee, awful lot of hype about the place but didn't find it very interesting or much life about the city at all.

yermanoffthetv wrote: »

Brussels Belgium.I know im not alone on this one. I thouroughly hated every minute I was in this city. It was blanketed in fog the whole time I was there making it unbareably humid as the heating in every building was set to 11. Food was the worst I have ever had anywhere in the world and to top it off I found many of the locals to be rude and unhelpfull.

Cologne Germany, apart from the impressive (if rather dank) cathedral I found little else of interest there. It felt like I was walking around in the 80's, everything had a dull concrete vibe.

Phnom penh Cambodia, frightfull bleak place.Just have to look out over the city at night to know what I mean. Cambodians themselves where lovely friendly people but the only reason anyone goes there is as a stop off while heading on to Siem reap.

Canberra Australia, It looks and feels like a larger version of the Shannon Industrial estate if you got rid of the airport and replaced it with the Australian Parliament building (which is not particularly impressive either) There is absolutely no reason to visit here.

The killing fields museum in Phnom Penh is a must see if you're in Cambodia in my opinion, the only reason to stop in Phnom Penh and what brings most people there I'd imagine. The river looked nice but we had so many warnings from the locals of how dangerous that area was that we didn't venture near it. The tuk tuk spin to the killing fields was fecking hilarious tho, through dirt roads etc.

Nomis21 wrote: »

Mashad in Iran.

Stopped there overnight before crossing into Afghanistan following the 'Hippy Trail' to India in 1975.

Me and a Canadian backpacker were caught up in a crowd of people that was heading for the third holiest Mosque in Islam. So many people crowded in a small passage that we were just pushed along and straight into the Mosque. Then someone noticed that we were tourists and started screaming and shouting and beating us. We were lucky to get out alive.

Avoid Mashad and just about anywhere else in that country.

Mashhad is actually spelt in an unusual way. Yes, the two 'h's is correct. Was iin Tehran and other Western parts of that country and found it pleasant and a LOT different to the negativity we hear from the media. This was in the Khatami era, pre-Iraq war times. I was informed to avoid Mashhad and other places in the East especially Sistan-Balochistan area. The Afghan war was on and there was a significant threat from separatists there.

Judging any country tends to be based on experience and I cannot say anything only positive things about Iran itself, its people and how I was treated. Of course one can criticise how it is or was governed and how there is a massive rich/poor divide. The East of the country where I did not get to is very poor I'd say but even the West of the country has major class divides. Just go to the rich part of Tehran which is like any Western city really and then go to the smog-infested poor part and it is almost like a totally different country/city.

Now, the other country you mention (Afghanistan) is a place I would not go to at all. Yet back then it was a lovely place by all accounts and totally different to today. Perhaps the Iran of 1975 was a different country to the version I was in in 2002. As of 2016, Iran would probably be the only Middle Eastern country I would go to and feel relatively safe in to be honest.