Five more AMAZING places you are FORBIDDEN for visiting

Julio Moreno Top 10 Style Lists , 3 Comments
Five more AMAZING places you are FORBIDDEN for visiting

The last list of amazing places you can’t visit has thus far been my most successful list, so why not make another?! As the world develops and gets smaller every day, the places you CAN’T visit are actually becoming few and far between. Nevertheless, there are some more incredibly difficult or near impossible places you’d love to visit, but simply can’t. Let’s get started shall we?

 

5) Saint Helena

Napoleon

The name might ring a bell, but high school history was so long ago, you probably forgot. St. Helena is an island (as many on this list are) between Brazil and Africa in the South Atlantic Ocean. As one of the most remote places on earth, it was where Napoleon Bonaparte was exiled to spend the rest of his days after nearly conquering the whole of Europe. It has been UK territory for centuries and is said to be one of the most pristine examples of Georgian architecture. In addition, it is also a Gold Tier “Dark Sky.”

 

Let’s Get Going!

Well, technically you can, if you have a ton of time and money. The voyage can only be done on the RMS St. Helena which leaves from Cape Verde. The cost is a bit over $3200 for the cheapest cabin and takes about 18 days. That doesn’t take into account the time and money to get to Cape Verde in the first place. Safe to say, this little luxury will cost in the neighborhood of 4k. An airport is under construction which should make it more accessible, but for us simpletons, it remains forbidden.

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A Trip to Piha

Julio Moreno New Zealand , 0 Comment
A Trip to Piha

My first month in New Zealand was shit. Absolute shit. From the stress of looking for a job, to one of the worst housing experiences one can have, I was not enjoying this so called ‘paradise’ at all. After a month though, I got a job, found a so-so car, and moved to a new place… it was time for a little trip to explore what NZ has to offer (more on that first month later).

Piha 1

A few weeks ago, I saw a picture of Piha on Reddit (I can’t believe I didn’t mention Reddit on this post) and realized it was just a 40 minute drive from my house. Clear skies, the sun shinning, oh yeah, the beach was calling. Read more →

Seokguram Grotto and Bulguksa Temple

Julio Moreno South Korea, UNESCO World Heritage Site , , , , 2 Comments
Seokguram Grotto and Bulguksa Temple

Location: Gyeongju, South Korea

Bell in BulguksaVisited: Sept, 2010 / March, 2011 / Oct, 2013

Site Type: Cultural

Inscribed: 1995

Background and Opinion:

This, Korea’s oldest UNESCO site, is actually a dual submission of ‘two temples’ which are adjacent to each other, the large Bulguksa Temple, and the smaller cave temple of Seokguram. Bulguksa was first built in the 8th century during the Silla period and serves as one of the few remaining examples of their architecture.

Seokgatap Pagoda
Dabotap Pagoda

One particularly impressive part of the temple is the set of two stone pagodas known as Seokgatap and Dabotap. While nothing has ever been found (officially) inside of Dabotap, the former had a number of relics dating back from the construction of these structures in 750 CE. One of these relics was a piece of the oldest known remaining woodblock print of the Mugujeonggwang Great Dharani Sutra. The two pagodas, the relics and five other structures account for a total of 8 national treasures in Bulguksa alone, 7 of which still remain on site today. Read more →

Temple of Preah Vihear

Julio Moreno Cambodia, UNESCO World Heritage Site , , , 0 Comment
Temple of Preah Vihear

Preah Vihear 2Location: Preah Vihear Province, Cambodia

Visited: August, 2014

Site Type: Cultural

Inscribed: 2008

Opinion and Background:

It is not every day that UNESCO causes a war, but that is exactly what happened in 2008 with the inclusion of Preah Vihear to the World Heritage List. The history is long and complicated, but in short, reports coming from the UNESCO meeting in Quebec, Canada exacerbated a century long dispute between Thailand and Cambodia about where exactly their border lies. This led to a number of cross border clashes between 2008-2011, making Preah Vihear only recently accessible for tourists to see.

The Path to Preah Vihear Read more →

10 Korean Quirks and Oddities

Julio Moreno South Korea 0 Comment
10 Korean Quirks and Oddities

If you are one of the tens of thousands of expats who call Korea your home, this entire post will come of no surprise. However, for those of you whose experience of the South (the sane one) is limited to the occasional K-pop hit, CNN, and that one guy you knew who taught there, these are some things they might have left out of their rosy tale of highlights and nightmares. You know, that mildly-interesting stuff.

 

1) The Kimchi Fridge

Photo Credit: Nagyman
Photo Credit: Nagyman

Kimchi is one of the staple side dishes in Korea with a penetrating smell that even I can sense (for those who don’t know, my sense of smell is terrible). Unless you live in Korea though, you probably aren’t aware that Koreans have a specific fridge where they ONLY store kimchi. This kimchi fridge serves three purposes.

First, it frees up space in the main fridge. Many Korean families make kimchi to last the entire year during the harvest when cabbage is cheap, accumulating to a shit ton quite a lot of kimchi. Second, the smell is something even Koreans are conscious of. It is best to separate it from the rest of the food as no variety of Tupperware will stop it from making everything in your fridge smell like pickled cabbage. Finally, the fridge can change the conditions of its compartments to divide everyday kimchi, kimchi for soup, and so on.

 

2) Men Spit Before Peeing

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