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Following up my article about 5 of the most obscure places I’ve ever visited, I thought I’d follow up it up 5 crazy places I’ll be heading this year. I’m off on my Tibet to Ireland by land trip in less than 3 weeks, and although my plans only involve a map + a red line through it with Microsoft paint, I’m gonna be hitting up these 5 hidden gems:

Mongolia:

One of the first stops on my epic journey, this will be part of my journey on the Trans Siberian railway through Russia. Ulan Bator, Mongolia’s Capital, is the coldest capital in the world so I’ll be delighted with the -30 temperatures they’re currently posting!

Reindeer herding, horseback riding and hunting with eagles are high up my list on stuff to do here. It’s an open country, with little infrastructure and a sparse population – I can’t wait to get back into the depths of nature. Oh, and give me some of that fermented  yaks milk, that sounds right up my street.

Kazakhstan:

Surprisingly one of the biggest countries in the world, and certainly owners of one of the coolest flags in the world. I’ll be heading to its Capital, Astana, initially at least and they have some awesome new architecture kicking around thanks to all that oil money they have, check this out:

After that I plan to venture deeper into the country, but my Microsoft paint red line didn’t stretch that far yet so I’ll have to make it up as I go along!

Belarus:

Ever hear about anyone going to Belarus? Me neither, so I’ve got my visa and I’m ready to go! They have 2 UNESCO world heritage sites – a castle complex, and a cool national park so although it may be poverty stricken, and underdeveloped, it looks like it might really be an undiscovered beauty. Really excited about this one.

Transnistria:

Transnistria Tourism? A self-declared independent state from Moldovo, that sounds pretty cool to me! The UN refuse to acknowledge its independence, but it’s been autonomous for more than 20 years (gotta love the UN eh). It’s a very left-leaning state which always promises to be ‘interesting’ at the very least, I can’t seem to get enough of socialist propaganda! Transnistria is also home to apparently amazing wine and cognac, this sounds like the sort of place you plan to spend 3 days in, and you leave 3 weeks later. Fine by me!  

Kosovo:

Another “de-facto” independent country in Eastern Europe having broken away from Serbia a few years ago.

Both the Decani and Gračanica monasteries  are UNESCO world heritage sites, which alone is reason to visit, but Kosovo is famously beautiful so if you can put aside its political difficulties and venture in, it seems to offer a lot to travelers.

This little round up has just got me a lot more excited, I’ll be in eastern Europe in less than 2 months so if anyone wants to cross paths, let me know. Happy travels!