DXBtoDOH

I suspect most of us get around a lot. What has been your worst / most regretted holiday destinations?

For me it's probably Bali. It wasn't bad but it was nowhere near what the hype might lead you to believe. And Kuta was sheer horror.

Also in Indonesia was Pulau Ambon and Pulau Saparua. Former is a trash infested island en-route to a handful of decently pretty beaches with decent snorkelling at the latter. While the end destination was fine, it took 5 separate flights and a rickety ferry that left you thoroughly shattered, only to discover that the dive centre you were sold on hadn't really been in operation for the last five years and most of the coral were dead (to be fair we did still see some stunning ones). Altogether just not worth the time and money beyond the sense of being in a very remote part of Indonesia.

Brains1983

Same here. Nothing wrong with it, but nowhere near the paradise it's sold as.

Millhouse

Budapest.

What a miserable place. Shite food too.

iggle

Boracay for me

I’ve been twice. The first time I went it was February and the weather was perfection, I loved it so much. It was like a paradise and I really enjoyed my time there so much I convinced my partner we should go there. When we went it was in Feb, it was humid sticky and gross. The 24hr flight, driving from manila to the 2nd airport was a disaster. The long bus trip, a boat trip just was shocking. White Beach was disgusting full of Mc’ds and Stars buck. I got the sh!ts and we got scammed on a boat trip. Absolute disaster of a trip.

I am going Zanzibar this week, I am concerned its going to be a nightmare.


FYI Seychelles has been my favorite holiday, highly recommend it

Dorothy

Cambodia. Other than a semi-alright couple of days in Siem Reap the place was a shithole full of beggers and middle aged western men on sex tourism trips.

Millhouse

Can you please give Iggle very specific directions of where you stayed. I think he would be interested.

iggle

Hahaha. I've done many things I regret and i have many weaknesses (Eastern European Girls). But that is something I would not be interested, i don't pay directly. I pay indirectly with shoppings, meals and holidays!!

Who's the bigger idiot?

scrubbedexpat141

Koh Samui (specifically Chaweng Beach). It's just Malia or Magaluf for Aussies / Japs / Koreans. It was cool, but not what I was expecting / hoping for I guess. Other parts of Samui were unreal though, so maybe it's a bit unfair.

Bangkok (the second time round) however, what a pit. Awful, dirty city full of *****. Terrible place.

co durham boy

Jamaica - The stench of brutal violence is thick in the air outside your hotel . A very dangerous place even for a seasoned traveller .

Going on the piss on a Saturday afternoon around Montego Bay was a bit of a schoolboy error , no harm done but hairs on the back of your neck stuff .

Manila - not the friendliest city on the planet . Ermita had a higher murder rate than Chicago in the 90's , dodged a few scenarios in that city over the years . Tourists are prime meat , everything from taxis , money changing and hookers.

Bahtatboy

Can someone please come along and say that Millie's experience was unlucky. I'm spending 3 precious days of my next leave there ... (I felt I should've opted for Prague).

scrubbedexpat141

We were in Martinique years ago, during carnival season. Huge procession with tunes and floats and stuff. Within about 30 seconds it went from a party to a full blown riot. We legged it back down the marina to our yacht. Horrid.

DXBtoDOH

I liked Budapest. It's definitely more nitty gritty than Prague but it's still a pleasant city. Great river through the centre. Fantastic architecture.

Go to some of the baths. Széchenyi baths are the largest/fanciest but I also liked Kiraly because it's one of the original Turkish baths.

There's caves/caverns under the Buda Hills that are fun to explore.

Beer is cheap. Mood is convivial. Prices are good. Tram system is terrific for getting around the city. Some good museums and churches to see.

Food, however, is a mixed bag. Much better in Prague. It wasn't bad in Budapest but it only has echoes of what must have once been a great culinary heritage. The one exception was the Central Market which had lots of spicy Hungarian sausages on offer and there's also plenty of goose liver pates in the restaurants. If you care about food, then plan your restaurants carefully via tripadvisor reviews and you should be fine, but don't expect to easily walk into a random restaurant off the street and have a great meal.

scrubbedexpat141

I liked it, went at Christmas with work, lucky enough to stay in the Intercon looking at the river and castle and bridge etc.

Pretty cool city, don't get fleeced in a strip club buying the girls drinks like a couple of lads did. Horror show.

davidhendry

Rothesay is pretty shit too.

Davie.

scrubbedexpat141

Sounds like London.