SH*THOLES OF THE WORLD: LET’S COMPILE A LIST

Since I just finished a road trip and passed through many Sh*tholes, I thought about making this post and decided that EDF would be the best location to get a perspective and start a list on Sh*tholes of the world. It would be difficult to give a precise definition of a Sh*thole but in general they are located in remote or overcrowded areas, usually with foul and/or extremes in weather and a majority population of criminals, ruffians, parasites, political charlatans, and uncultured and ignorant plebeians that are best avoided and certainly not worth knowing, all ensconced in a area of industrial bleakness, mind-numbing sameness in housing and buildings and businesses, and trash and filth and grim, and vicious traffic, and miles of roads and freeways and concrete, encapsulated with air not fit to breath - You know, Los Angles.

Or, Sh*tholes may also just be some shabby hole-in- the-wall town that looks and feels like it needs to be burned to the ground or just left to blow away in the wind, which would soon happen anyway by the looks of the empty and dilapidated buildings, trailers, and people. Now a Sh*thole can also be a region (West Texas, the state of Sinaloa in Mexico) but as noted above they are often associated with a city or metropolitan area.

It is helpful to give examples to aid in the definition and certification of known Sh*tholes. Certified Sh*tholes of America that I can speak to from personal experience (unfortunately):

Pecos, Texas
Fort Stockton, Texas
Barstow, California
Stockton, California
Los Angles, California
Espanola, New Mexico
Pueblo, Colorado
Naturita, Colorado
Pahrump, Nevada

On the international front, certified sh*tholes I have known:

Mexico City, Mexico
Culiacan, Mexico
Keelung, Taiwan
Beijing, China
Bangkok, Thailand

A bit of qualification: there can be numerous gem spots or that golden oasis area within a swirling cesspool that can make life and visiting tolerable and indeed a pleasure, but this does erase the fact that the whole general area is a certified Sh*thole. It is just a tolerable sh*thole. Anyone that has been to the Los Angles basin and surrounding environs or trespassed through many of the areas in Beijing or Bangkok should be able to relate to this quickly and easily.

For purposes of a list, Sh*tholes should be confided to a general region or city or metropolitan area. It is certainly possible to, say, call the entire subcontinent (some people call it India) a sh*thole with some justification but limits need to be imposed to make a list workable and useful. After all, given my temperament; I usually consider the entire planet a sh*thole – mainly because of the bipedal hominid inhabitants that infest the place, but that is another matter and beside the point.

Anyway, I have gone on a bit long so simply invite others to add to the nascent list given above, with qualifiers as necessary. For example, it is best I think to list Sh*tholes in two catergories: those to avoid at all cost and those that are still worth a visit, or at least a quick peak to dirty the feet and nose and assult the eye.


One more thing, some areas can be Sh*tholes but lift themselves out of that category by a variety of methods. Beirut, Lebanon, a certified sh*thole and hell hole in the 80’s, may now be lifting itself out of that category, or not - Just something to keep in mind.

Calcutta (now called Kolkata for some insane reason. [I learned this from a recent article in The Economist]) is a certified Sh*thole, just in case someone thinks it isn’t. Stick that in your eye and put it on the list.

-Zeno: I don't live in a Sh*thole but there are plenty of them surrounding me. Ugh.