Ok hopefully we can share that country/s we loved and hated that we have visited….
I loved visiting japan,singapore,thailand,italy
I hated and would never go back to pakistan,israel,indonesia(bali),india
You?
Fave Country You Visited and The Country You Hated after Visiting
HappyBigKid on 18/05/2025 - 14:18
Last edited 18/05/2025 - 14:30
Last edited 18/05/2025 - 14:30
Comments
And only Bali singled out.
OP probably never left Kuta
Yah I'm 30 mins north of Ubud and love it. Came up here for 3 weeks to finish up writing a novel. It's my favourite place to escape too. But I'll go from here straight back to the airport, no stopping in between.
@apiecost: Yeah a novelist, not an English teacher lol. We use spell-check and have editors for typos ;-)
Title should be changed to a city or place, not a country.
Also needs type of activity. Resort chilling? Surfing? Scuba? Hiking? Alcohol/Food? Instagram? Ethnography?
Taiwan for favourite
Indonesia for least favourite
+1 for Taiwan.
taiwan is on my list too. did you eat the street food there?
No need, go to the night markets in either Shilin (Taipei), Taichung, Tainan.
Is that not street food?
I found Taiwanese street food sickening after a few days, everything at the markets is just deep fried and covered in oil.
cannot agree more! great place to visit but food wise can be a bit over powering and sickening after a while
Stinky tofu! Makes durians smell like perfume?
@mparf: I was nearly 30 when my Chinese bro in law lectured me about the king of fruits being durian. Took me about 5 of them to acquire and eventually like the taste of it. If it comes to fermenting tofu, another such bro in law had to have a piece of his tongue cut out because of fermented tofu. Some Taiwanese woman wanted to win me over with tofu. But she lost!
@mparf: it cant be frozen tofu otherwise your mouth gets sprayed with hot liquid as you take a bit. its not that stinky, some cheeses are worse
There are plenty of grilled food including veggies. When we went for two weeks we had a large variety of food every night.
Taiwan is well known for their street "small eats" and every region has their own specialties as well. Many different types of soups, noodles and glutinous rice type of eats. I really liked their fresh tofu pudding dessert shops as well. Overall I found their cuisine quite light- not too salty or sauce heavy. Even the tofu pudding shops I could just ask them to put on less syrup.
Taiwan #1.
LOL depends on who's history books you are reading. Lets not make this political, chill and enjoy the thread.
Check their comment history. It's a troll account.
All hail the great CCP
TAIWAN IS FREEEE
Hopefully but the UN is so useless!
Nope
Depends on the definition of a country Taiwan been seperate from China for 76 years though.
Taiwan calls itself a country and has a democratic system.
Let us know how you go with entering Taiwan with a Chinese visa from the Chinese embassy.
On an Australian passport? There will be no issue as the Chinese Visa will essentially be ignored and you can enter Taiwan visa free with an Australian passport
@cktftw: Depends what's your definition of big fail - at least my comment wasn't heavily negged by others :)
@SwaggyE: Apparently apart from 12 countries, you're wrong…
https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/countries…
Just sayin
@cktftw: Those other countries should let their immigration and ports of entry staff know. Seems like there are a bunch of people with a fake nationality sneaking into countries visa free with their fake passports, issued by a fake country.
with a Chinese visa from the Chinese embassy
Never knew "west Taiwan" had their own embassies. Go figure.
Bali is not a country.
This is why the title should be replace country with Cities.
Dammit I'm just planning a week somewhere and been wanting to go to Taiwan for ages… Not sure a week will cut it though
A week is fine to do Taipei. Great city and the night markets are fantastic.
Can't pick a favourite.
I wouldn't return to Mozambique in a hurry.Try Yemen for a change. Less boring….
India. And India.
lol India is a love or hate place. I’ve never met anyone who has described it as a middle of the road country
India is a love and hate place.
Poohole
That's an understatement.
Rural/regional India is a delight, the cities not so much
Goa is nicer…everyone speaks english food is great and more laid back. Rest of india i dont like
Omg! We found Goa the worst! Dirty beaches, overpriced resorts and its capital Panji had the white church closed all the time.
At least Puducherry had some French flavour left.
Big country, lots to see, endless arguments to settle.
Western Sydney?
Oi…
Everything that is true about India is equally false.
Thailand. Fiji.
Why do you hate Fiji?
It's overpriced for what it is now. Went on honeymoon 22 years ago there and last visited 2 years ago. Where there was coral, it's just dead. Massively overdeveloped. I've ticked it off the bucket list, no rush to go back.
We go every 2 years. I agree it has gotten expensive now. As for coral, you have to go out to the outer islands (Yasawas). Just got back last week and only snorkelled at South Sea Island. Plenty of coral and fish. And that's only 30 mins off the coast.
@samcro: Exactly, I love how people can visit a country then ride it off cause they didnt have the experience they were after, either by bad luck (weather) or bad planning (staying at some tourist trap resort). I've visited the Yasawas twice, last time the weather was so terrible but the diving was amazing and cant wait to go back!
@noslappers: Where did this person write (not ride) it off because of bad luck or poor planning? They said it was too expensive for what it is and massively overdeveloped. I for one totally agree with this having visited Fiji last year.
I love it how people make assumptions and write off others opinions just because they don't have the same opinion as them.
@samcro: Its kind of sad that you have to go to the outer islands. I remember snorkeling of the main island and being amazed, on my last trip it was all dead coral in spots I've visited before.
Costs have also gone up a lot, and the roads where full of massive busses.
I kind of wish I never went back, its kind of depressing knowing how much its changed.
Fiji ok….over prices? Well prob staying in 4 orb5 star places
Ppl there are friendly..it isnt always about how cheap it is
Australia. Australia.
Agree. Because I’m too poor to have ever been overseas.
Plenty of overseas locations end up cheaper than a holiday in Aus
Agreed, Sydney trains still in the sh#ttter
Japan, Australia
hated
italy, francewhich parts of italy did you visit? I'm curious as ive heard mixed reviews
Naples is the pits. If I ever go back, it will be too soon. On the other hand, we love the little towns accessible by train.
Roma was shit too
The modern part of Naples is an eye sore its ports, concrete, train station and filthy streets. remember the first time I arrived I was wondering what on earth I was doing there. But, the historic centre is amazing. Night and day from it's surrounds. Actually one of my favourite places in Italy.
@sAmiZZle: HAH! We walked out of Naples train station across the square to get pizza on the way back from Pompeii. Wife didn't want to venture out much further after that. Streets were crowded with people begging, touching us, trying to sell stuff etc. Even the pizza waiter kept asking us for tips. Got back onto the train and headed back to Rome.
@eek: Hahaha yes, I recall having the same impression disembarking at the train station. A city that hasn't been maintained since the 1970s. I remember going back a second time with a group of friends, we were driving in this time. When the city came into view, their mouths dropped in disbelief at the sight of rusty, dishevelled, old buildings. I had to reassure them it was ok. Believe me, once you get past that into the historic town centre it is amazing and definitely worth a look! The old buildings even take on a certain charm of their own of a bygone era and the undertones of a town affected by mafia influence. The further south you go in Italy, the more you see this undertone.
When I was in Italy I avoided Naples. Was only there to get between Pompeii and Rome.
Loved everywhere else I went while I was in Italy.
Naples has an edge to it, I loved it.
Agree on Naples, hate it. Got my phone stolen on the train from Pompeii to Naples last year
I had a fantastic time in both Italy and France. I'm convinced people who visit these places and come back bitching and moaning went it with some extraordinary expectations that could never be met, or just went mega touristy and didn't leave a 200m radius of Rome/Paris.
Yep totally agree, the Amalfi Coast is ugly af ;-)
I went to the F1 at Monza last year. Italy exceeded expectations. Highlights being Tuscany, Venice and Lake Como. But Rome and Florence were also great. I got sick at Sorrento and wasn't well enough to explore Amalfi. Sounds like I was lucky I got sick there and not during a different part of my trip.
Does Venice still stink?
@TEER3X: Most restaurants are owned by Chinese immigrants. Cutlery add on prices do leave a sour taste!
Your Italy highlights are exactly the same as mine.
@madreece: Same here.
Amalfi Coast and Florence were my favourites, Rome was great too. Tours out to the wineries and mountains are worth it.Make sure you punch your train ticket before boarding, or you’ll get a fine like we did.
Didn’t get great weather in Venice, a cool place to have seen but wouldn’t go back.
Highly recommend Italy if you’re willing to go off piste a bit.
I love Italy. I can't imagine anyone could hate the whole country.
I presume it would be same for France. It sounds like there are lovely places.
Though Paris would be the only city I could say that I hated. Waiters smoking in restaurants. Feeding dogs at tables. Paris is a filthy place.I loved Italy too! I enjoyed Rome (wished I had more than the 5 days there!), Pompeii, Florence, Venice (again, I wished I got way more than 3 days), and Milan.
Finished off with a Bernina train ride.
There's just so much in Rome I could do a whole trip just in Rome.
I think the problem is with so many awesome countries why would you continue to explore the rest of the country your initial exposure to was awful. I hate France and have no desire to ever go back and yes that is purely based on Paris, I don't think I have been to a "modern" city that is more filthy, unfriendly and crime ridden. People tell me the rest of France is great… but those same people told me they loved Paris.
Same I can’t imagine hating all of Italy! I even loved the experience at Naples although it was 100% as grimy and dodgy as people say, the contrast to northern italy was fascinating.
Italians generally don't like tourists, also Naples is known as a rough area, good pizza though :)
Italy is possibly my favourite place in Europe (that I've visited) - went to the Dolomites, Venice and Rome. Beautiful and unique!
Last time I checked, Bali is not a country.
Yeah i know part of indonesia that's why i put (bali) still hate it though.
Same with pakistan india israel disgusting IMO.
Why would you even go to those places?
One? You listed four for each.