brilliant article, loved it.
however, i tried checking out the beijing page and the first paragraph talks about bombay.
just letting you in on the secret, thats all
I've been going door to door in mid-american suburbs for the past few months or so as a political fundraiser. I have to say you're absolutely right about it being one of the worst places in the world to be. I get so depressed sometimes that I just want to see the apocalypse, just so those people could all die. That's pretty fucking bad, I reckon... There are probably some cities in Africa that feel left out, though (Johannesburg)....
Poor old Johannesburg. Yep, car jackings, rapes, violence, they're worthy contenders.
Better fix that beijing page sharpish...
Great article, all the cities listed deserve their place to some extent. I guess the author has never been to Africa, where you can find some of the worst shitholes on the planet as long as cities are concerned: Lagos, Cairo, Jo'burg, Nairobi, just to mention a few...
yeah, i thought about including Cairo with its weather forecasts of 'dust' and having met so many dodgy Nigerians on the road i'm guessing Lagos must be a whole lot of fun - what to do, there was just so much competition and i couldn't even give a shithole like Delhi its own place...
Yes, Tom, between Delhi and Bombay I'd have chosen the latter. Indian cities are shitholes, indeed, but you can still go there without running the risk of being sent back home in a black plastic bag... If we consider violence, crime and the indiscriminated use of weapons, then Lagos is even worse than any South American metropolis. And if you like the real adventure you should also go for a walk in downtown Jo'burg with your backpack, sun burnt white face and lovely blond hair... you can get stabbed for less than 20 bucks, cheap, ain't it??
jozi is just open africa in a modern city, plain and simple. no telling what the hell is going to take you out as you round the next corner.
Wow, you guys have got me wanting to go to africa.... I think Colon, Panama also deserves some consideration. More drugs go through that port than anywhere else, and to get through the city alive you have to take crazy zigzag patterns. The most redeeming factor about the city is that there's absolutely nothing good there, unless you like coke and guns. It's like the city in Star-wars where Jaba the Hut lived. Fucking beautiful.
Wow, Tom, Colon must be a great place to go!
The thing about downtown jo'burg is that all the skyscrapers and high buildings which used to be the city centre have been abandoned by the business community who moved to new (and safer) offices in the huge, enormous malls in the suburbs which reproduce Florentian piazzas (there's also Hotel Michelangelo...) and other fake monstruosities, protected by armed guards at every entrance (the only places in town where the white folk can walk around, go shopping, show off their wealth without any risk), leaving the downtown area to desperate Mozambicans, Zimbabwean immigrants, Malawian squatters and dodgy Nigerians who now control all the drug/prostitution business.
As per Lagos, well, Nigeria is so corrupted that not only the police will try to find something wrong with your papers every time they come accross you, but even at the airport, at the check in desk, your reservation can disappear and then appear again just when you show the employee a 10 or 20 $ note. Even the A/C engine out of your room on the 2nd floor must be secured with thick iron chains if you want it to be there tomorrow morning!
i'm booking my flight to Lagos now.
Anyone else want to join the massochistic traveler's club?