Quote:
Originally Posted by SuperUberBob
There's so much international travel and so much connectivity between people that it's almost impossible for a place to be off the radar unless there's next to nothing to do there.
Ehh there's def some places that are off most people's radar, usually because they're in PITA locations.
At least in Asia there's a quite a few places that I really liked in the last couple of years that felt relatively undiscovered.
Kyrgyzstan - fantastic country, amazing for hiking, insanely cheap, interesting mix of asian + russian culture, yurts everywhere, visa on arrival, surprisingly well set up for tourists etc. Uzbekistan is interesting also, and they just started doing visa on arrival last year. Before that it, was a real hassle to get a visa.
Raja Empat, Indonesia. One of the most picturesque island chains you'll ever see, perfect for scuba diving and snorkeling, it has the highest amount of marine diversity in the world, you stay in family run homestays bungalows, some of the bungalows are built sitting out over the water, white sand beaches all around etc. Also has birds of paradise to see and these strange looking marsupials called the cuscus that wander around. Out of all the beach locations I've been to in the world, this is the closest thing to paradise I've ever seen, even if you sleep on on a mattress on the ground and there's no wifi. I'm hoping too many people don't find out about this place!
El Nido and Coron, Philippines. Has the gorgeous karst formations like Thailand but way less people. Also has fantastic scuba diving and snorkeling, some underwater caves than you can only visit at low tide, easy to rent a scooter and explore, decent party scene on the beach. I think some popular instagrammers have started to catch onto this is one in the last year or two though, so getting more popular quickly.
Guizhou, Yunnan, and Sichuan in China. Major Language barrier, but some absolutely stunning mountain scenery, fascinating minority cultures, great hiking and climbing opportunities, really good food, and in W Sichuan you can experience Tibet without having to book a tour inside the TAR (Tibet Autonomous Region).
So you certainly can still find some pretty neat, pretty untouched spots around, it just takes some work to get there usually.