Latest place you've visited ?

In the same vein as the other thread in here, such as the list below, I thought it might be nice to know where people go on holidays or just on trips to visit new places.
I guess this could be stickied if enough people find this interesting.

• Last game(s) you bought
• The TV Series discussion thread
• What I've Been Watching: The Catch-All Film Thread
• The ever-popular "Currently Listening" thread
• What are you reading ?
• What games are you playing now?

I will start.

In the past few weeks I have visited Agra and Goa in India.

Agra:
So Agra is near Delhi in India's North-west. It houses one of the most famous monuments in the world, the Taj Mahal as well as several other important historical sites of the Mughal Empire.

I was there only for two days and we visited the following places:
Mehtab Bagh
Baby Taj - Tomb of I'timād-ud-Daulah
Taj Mahal
Radhoswami Bagh

We hired a guide for both days who was very open to going wherever we wanted. He explained the history of each place to us and was quite good. Although his demeanor felt a bit strange - he talked a bit like a robot - he was very thorough and could answer most of our questions.

So on two each place:

Mehtab Bagh:
This is just a garden opposite the Taj Mahal on the other bank of the river. It was really nice to see the Taj from this side and allowed for fun pictures too.

Baby Taj - Tomb of I'timād-ud-Daulah:
This was the inspiration for the Taj Mahal apparently as the wife of the emperor wanted to be buried in a nice tomb and she was referring to this place.
She got a 'bit' more than she expected probably, but the Baby Taj is certainly worth a visit and probably before seeing the Taj.

Taj Mahal:
The reason people come to Agra. I felt in awe of this building and it is certainly an architectural marvel. It is certainly worth visiting.

Radhoswami Bagh:
This is an unusual visit for tourists who go to India apparently. It's a temple that's been under construction for 100 years or so. It's outside structure is all made of beautifully-decorated marble. There is apparently a curse that says it will never be finished. Even so, in its current forum it is quite beautiful.
Parts of the inner sanctuary is being renovated as the inner inner one is just a box basically, but that can be entered at the moment.

I think two full days is perfect for Agra. The only two places we 'missed' were the Agra Fort and Fatehpur Sikri.

According to our guide, the fort is not worth it so much as the army controls most of the place. He told us Fatehpur Sikri is certainly worth a visit. Well, this means I could go again in ten years and see if the Radhoswami bagh temple has been finished

Goa:
Goa is a beach resort. It's an old Portuguese colony so you can still see lots of European influences in the buildings' architecture.
I'm not a beach person so I was a bit bored of the beaches. Apparently Old Goa was supposed to be very special, but after having seen places like Florence, it does not compare to the nice European cities.
Old Goa just had lots of old churches and it may be worth a visit, but it's not a MUST in my opinion.

All we did was sit next to the beach, reading books, relaxing, drinking.
Apparently we went there off-season, so it's much more lively from November to January.
The weather was great though, so it's perfect if you want to relax a bit after having visited some other places in India.

Nice idea!

For me it was a national park South Eastern Australia called Wilson's promontory national park. The accomodation is 25km in from the park boundary so really are IN the park. Great scenery, walks, beaches (too cold to swim by our standards), lots of wildlife even some non-poisonous (looking at you pibbur).

Relaxing, enjoyable, just stunning. http://parkweb.vic.gov.au/explore/parks/wilsons-promontory-national-park

Hurls said:

...even some non-poisonous (looking at you pibbur).

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Liar!

...

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I must admit my knowledge of Australian wildlife mainly stems from Animal Planet and National Geographic which possibly may be a bit biased. After all, I've never seen a "72 harmless and friendly animals in Australia" programme.

pibbur who hasn't been anywhere, except London, more than a year ago.

Hurls said:

Nice idea!

For me it was a national park South Eastern Australia called Wilson's promontory national park. The accomodation is 25km in from the park boundary so really are IN the park. Great scenery, walks, beaches (too cold to swim by our standards), lots of wildlife even some non-poisonous (looking at you pibbur).

Relaxing, enjoyable, just stunning. http://parkweb.vic.gov.au/explore/parks/wilsons-promontory-national-park

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I've added that to my list of places to visit.

Hurls said:

Nice idea!

For me it was a national park South Eastern Australia called Wilson's promontory national park. The accomodation is 25km in from the park boundary so really are IN the park. Great scenery, walks, beaches (too cold to swim by our standards), lots of wildlife even some non-poisonous (looking at you pibbur).

Relaxing, enjoyable, just stunning. http://parkweb.vic.gov.au/explore/parks/wilsons-promontory-national-park

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Great just GREAT!, give me even more places to visit in Australia.... like my list wasn't too long already! Thanks a lot.

As people probably already know last place I visited was Australia... there is a thread about it.

@Ripper - yes stunning place, really need use of a car to get there

@GG - happy to be of assistance I'll look for more suggestions!

Hurls said:

Nice idea!

For me it was a national park South Eastern Australia called Wilson's promontory national park. The accomodation is 25km in from the park boundary so really are IN the park. Great scenery, walks, beaches (too cold to swim by our standards), lots of wildlife even some non-poisonous (looking at you pibbur).

Relaxing, enjoyable, just stunning. http://parkweb.vic.gov.au/explore/parks/wilsons-promontory-national-park

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That sounds great.

It's similar to what I did in Kakadu National Park outside Darwin.
They have some accommodation inside the park and it was perfect for the few days we were there.

um, I was just in the restroom. Does that count? I'll spare you any details

I'm not much of a traveler. My last trip, that I really went somewhere, was in 2007 and I went to Niagra Falls, which is amazing. I also visited Cooperstown, NY which is the home of the Baseball Hall of Fame. This is required visiting if you're any type of American Baseball fan.

I've been to Las Vegas several times too, but it's a gambling mecca and most folks have been there. It should also be visited at least once and everyone should take a helicopter tour at night. A unique experience that can't be found anywhere else in the world.

I just got back from Clearwater, FL where my GF and I stayed for the last few days. She starts a new job tomorrow and wanted to take a short vacation beforehand. Our room was right across from Clearwater Beach, and the weather was perfect the entire time.

Uh, I was in Glasgow for a conference a couple of weeks ago. Apart from a visit to the Hunterian Museum to look at the medical specimens I pretty much just caught up with friends in the pub, though. It wasn't really a good trip for sightseeing.

Next week I'm in Oxford, but, again, that's for business. I never go anywhere for fun these days.

crpgnut said:

um, I was just in the restroom. Does that count? I'll spare you any details

I'm not much of a traveler. My last trip, that I really went somewhere, was in 2007 and I went to Niagra Falls, which is amazing. I also visited Cooperstown, NY which is the home of the Baseball Hall of Fame. This is required visiting if you're any type of American Baseball fan.

I've been to Las Vegas several times too, but it's a gambling mecca and most folks have been there. It should also be visited at least once and everyone should take a helicopter tour at night. A unique experience that can't be found anywhere else in the world.

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I love travelling. I suggest you make some time to travel a bit around different places in the world. I would suggest places with different cultures as a that would always be a unique experience.

We went to Florida in late April. Spent 4 days at Universal studios, a day at Busch gardens and 3 days at the beaches in Clearwater and Johns pass area.

Good family time and great weather. Kinda pales in comparison to the Taj Mahal but when that's the first place listed there's no where to go but down from there.

sakichop said:

We went to Florida in late April. Spent 4 days at Universal studios, a day at Busch gardens and 3 days at the beaches in Clearwater and Johns pass area.

Good family time and great weather. Kinda pales in comparison to the Taj Mahal but when that's the first place listed there's no where to go but down from there.

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I'm in India for work, so the flight to Delhi was quite cheap compared to flying from the UK
Would likely have talked about my trip to Wales otherwise

Pladio said:

Would likely have talked about my trip to Wales otherwise

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There's naught wrong with a holiday in Wales!

sakichop said:

We went to Florida in late April. Spent 4 days at Universal studios, a day at Busch gardens and 3 days at the beaches in Clearwater and Johns pass area.

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I went to Busch Gardens just last month. I used to really like that park, but I was disappointed on this most recent trip. It seemed like the price of most things had nearly doubled since the last time I went (about 7 years ago), and the park had actually gotten smaller.

Pladio said:

I'm in India for work, so the flight to Delhi was quite cheap compared to flying from the UK

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I'm envious. The Taj Mahal looks incredible in photos, so I can only imagine how majestic it must be in person.

I've been to Japan for work a couple times in the last two years. Most recently in June. I visited a lot of tourist things, like various shinto temples, a kabuki show, Shibuya square.

One of the most interesting things, was a little art museum that I went to by myself. I didn't have any cell signal, so I only had pictures on my phone of the map. Nor did I speak/read Japanese, so I didn't know what to expect at the museum. It was difficult to find, it was a small place hidden in a residential area in a small town. My reason for going was to see some traditional Japanese art, but when I found it, they only had German art.

Menigal said:

There's naught wrong with a holiday in Wales!

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Lol, no there isn't. Llandudno, Conwy and Caernarfon were actually very nice to visit for a long weekend.

It's just not as 'magnificient' as the Taj

Korplem said:

I've been to Japan for work a couple times in the last two years. Most recently in June. I visited a lot of tourist things, like various shinto temples, a kabuki show, Shibuya square.

One of the most interesting things, was a little art museum that I went to by myself. I didn't have any cell signal, so I only had pictures on my phone of the map. Nor did I speak/read Japanese, so I didn't know what to expect at the museum. It was difficult to find, it was a small place hidden in a residential area in a small town. My reason for going was to see some traditional Japanese art, but when I found it, they only had German art.

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Haha, what did you think of Kabuki ?

I found it very odd when I saw it. It was good for the experience, but I am unlikely to ever go again

My impression was about the same as yours. Interesting and incredibly odd. I am also unlikely to go again. It's one of those things that doesn't seem like it will ever get better with repetition.

Oh, I also went to the Robot Restaurant (?). I think that's what it's called. It could be described as a modern kabuki -- meaning the exact opposite of a traditional kabuki (and this is just my opinion, btw). Instead of a men only show, it was women only. In skimpy clothing. Fighting robots. It was crazy. Before the show, there is a waiting room with so much visual stimulation, I almost felt blind. The first picture is the waiting room. The second is in the actual show.