Question of The Day. Saturday 23rd of May.

Norachan

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Hello, Happy Saturday.

What's the remotest, most isolated or most unusual place you've ever stayed?

I was looking through some old photos recently and found a picture of a hotel I stayed at in South America. The hotel was in the middle of the Uyuni Salt Flat in Bolivia. I remember we drove all day to get there and drove most of the next day to get to the next town, so it must have been a long way from anything else. The hotel was made of salt blocks. The first thing we did when we got there was scratch the walls and then taste our fingers to make sure it really was salt. The hotel staff did not like us doing that.

:nono:

1590301356240.png


Not my picture, but I'm pretty sure this is the same hotel.

How about you, have you stayed anywhere unusual?
 

Mia6

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Nowhere really unusual but stayed at The Grove Park Inn in Asheville NC, USA. The bellboy
told Patrick and I our room was haunted by a ghost, called The Pink Lady., hee, hee. It made the
stay fun but while we were dining in their restaurant, I needed to use the bathroom and wanted to
use ours instead of restaurant's. P said, "Watch out for the Pink Lady!!".I went to our room and have
to admit I was a bit nervous but also laughed.
 

jcat

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The most isolated -and fabulous - place was a huge ranch on top of a mesa in Colorado, with just one steep road leading up to it. The only way to travel around the ranch was on horseback or ATV, and there was plenty of wildlife like bears, moose, and cougars to watch out for. The bears got way too close for anybody's comfort, and we were there in May, so there were lots of cubs with overprotective mommas. The cattle could be aggressive, too. The house was a luxurious mansion that was easy to get lost in. The closest town was tiny and miles away, and the lack of "light pollution" made the night sky incredible.

Hubby and I also once stayed in a Hungarian castle that had been turned into a hotel.
 

Mia6

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The house was a luxurious mansion that was easy to get lost in. The closest town was tiny and miles away, and the lack of "light pollution" made the night sky incredible.
Sounds beautiful!
 

mama africa

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The most unusual place was Tiwai Island in Sierra Leone. Me and my sweetheart visited the country in november 2005, a few years after the civil war had ended. Sierra Leoneans were still struggling to survive and tourism was not common at that time. Somebody recommended us to visit Tiwai Island (a 12 km2 forested Island in the Moa River). We were hoping to see some wildlife species (spider monkeys, pygmy hippo's). The accomodation was very basic; only a few covered tents and a covered place with some tables and chairs. We were the only visitors on the island. Two young boys provided us with food in the evening (they had prepared it in the village and brought it to us with a canoe). We invited them to have dinner with us. They told us to adjust our expectations to see wildlife species, because the island had been occupied by rebel groups, who decimated global wildlife. The boys felt the need to testify about the other atrocities the rebels committed on the civil population. When they had left we were speechless ... and scared … we barely slept that night. The next morning we did a hike on the island with a local guide, and spotted a few spider monkeys and some traces of a pygmy hippo.

In 2016 Tiwai Island was mentioned in a series of documentaries about 'Difficult destinations' ("places that tourists would usually go to great lengths to avoid") made by a Belgian film crew.
 

Jem

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Nothing too crazy. Camping was always part of my life and we used to go find somewhere on crown land in the bush to set up a site. There were a few places we found that we stuck to as they were really nice. One was good for fishing, one was good if we just wanted to get away, but not far from home, and one was what we called "the pit", such an awesome swimming hole. It was never too far of a drive from civilization overall for any of them, but you definitely didn't want to forget anything.
I remember one time, my bf and I decided to go camping. So we started driving and found a nice little set up. We start unloading and tried to start setting up. But OMG the mosquitoes were like the second coming of the apocalypse. We also didn't have any bug spray. We didn't want to leave our stuff unattended, just in case, as this place wasn't way out in the boonies, but we were paralyzed by the mosquitoes. So he left me there to get bug spray, and I stayed behind, sitting in our unmade tent for shelter. It was a sad site to see.
We probably should have just left all together, but it was already so late...and well...I'm stubborn, and wasn't going to let it get the best of me.
 

maggiedemi

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This house. You can't get more remote than this, surrounded by nothing but forest and coyotes. :sigh:
 

mani

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The slow boat to China... it was a pre revolution boat that had been revived as China emerged back into the world, at least to some degree. It went from HK, where I was living, to Shanghai, back in 1983, so China really hadn't opened up properly to tourism. There was a swimming pool that was as deep as it was long and in high seas it would get the most amazing 'swell'.. you would never have got in it.
We went first class which meant we had little extras like towels on our beds in the shape of flamingos and and I bought a bathing suit (before I'd actually checked out the pool situation..) in the little shop that looked like it belonged on a 10 year old, with little frills around the bottom. First class meant we had a larger menu.. for example, along with the congee for breakfast, you could have jellyfish. (we were the only Westerners).
It was a hoot!

Also, not so exciting for someone like Norachan Norachan , but once later in the 80s I stayed in a place near Kamicochi, in the Japanese Alps. We hiked a way and stayed in one of the lodges, avoiding the monkies that were very keen on our cameras. I had a communal bath that felt like you could have boiled a lobster in it.. the women watched the Westerner very closely to make sure she had washed myself scrupulously before getting in. I still remember that agonising process, but once in, if you didn't move a muscle, it was very relaxing. It was a wooden tup apparently there was a fire burning under it to keep it warm.. I had visions of those cartoons where the cannibals boil their dinner in a big pot. And it was one of the most exquisite places I've ever walked. Very beautiful.
 

neely

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The most remote place I've ever stayed was in a forested area of southwest England. It was absolutely breathtaking! The most unusual place I've ever stayed was in an abandoned school that was renovated into a hotel in Portland, OR. Some of the rooms had literature inspired themes.
 

Silver Crazy

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We did a motorcycle trip up through Northern area of South Australia and down south heading towards the coast..its all desert and salt lakes.
It rained and we got stuck and couldn't move for a week.
The ground turned to glue and you couldn't even walk ten steps without having to knock 4 inches of mud of your boots.
It seemed like a disaster at first but turned out amazing with the wildlife coming to visit as and watching the place come alive after the rain. Night time you could almost read by starlight.
And all the locals getting to know we were stuck out there and fussing on us making sure we were OK (we had radio..pre mobile phone era.) it was pretty amazing. A station owner flew his plane over us every day making sure we were safe.
It was difficult but really enjoyed myself and loved the isolation. The Police housed us for a few days while we cleaned everything up and got fed and were ready to get on our way.
Will never forget it.
 

Tobermory

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I can think of three, all very different from one another. The first is Paradise on Whitefish Bay on the Upper Peninsula in Michigan. The UP is a long way from anywhere and a place you want to avoid in the winter! The second is Waterton Lakes Park in Canada. It’s in southern Alberta and borders the stunning Glacier National Park in Montana. The third is Chaco Canyon in New Mexico which was a major center of ancestral Puebloan culture a thousand years ago. To stand by the ruins in the high mountain desert with nothing but the wind and sun is amazing.
 

NY cat man

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I can think of three, all very different from one another. The first is Paradise on Whitefish Bay on the Upper Peninsula in Michigan. The UP is a long way from anywhere and a place you want to avoid in the winter! The second is Waterton Lakes Park in Canada. It’s in southern Alberta and borders the stunning Glacier National Park in Montana. The third is Chaco Canyon in New Mexico which was a major center of ancestral Puebloan culture a thousand years ago. To stand by the ruins in the high mountain desert with nothing but the wind and sun is amazing.
Did you ever go to the shipwreck museum just up the road from Paradise?
 

Tobermory

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Did you ever go to the shipwreck museum just up the road from Paradise?
I don’t think so although it sounds like the kind of place we would have visited. I was just a kid—10 or 12 years old—when we vacationed in the UP. Dad loved to load us up in the car and drive us off into the middle of nowhere although they were big on taking us to museums, national parks, historic sites (I think I’ve been to every Civil War battlefield), etc.
 

NY cat man

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I don’t think so although it sounds like the kind of place we would have visited. I was just a kid—10 or 12 years old—when we vacationed in the UP. Dad loved to load us up in the car and drive us off into the middle of nowhere although they were big on taking us to museums, national parks, historic sites (I think I’ve been to every Civil War battlefield), etc.
We were there in '99. They have, among other things, the original bell from the Edmund Fitzgerald, made famous by the Gordon Lightfoot song.
 

cassiopea

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Most remote would probably be Cabot Trail in Cape Breton via Car and stopping regularly for hiking - did the full loop! Recommended for anyone who loves scenic routes, beautiful nature, hiking and local unique historical sights and food.


(Not my pics)









Most unusual....hard to pick just one! But first comes to mind is The Sedlec Ossuary in Kutna Hora in the Czech Republic.


(My pic)

IMG_20170622_192406.jpg
 
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Tobermory

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We were there in '99. They have, among other things, the original bell from the Edmund Fitzgerald, made famous by the Gordon Lightfoot song.
Now I can’t stop humming “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.”
 
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