Challenge Yourself; The Most Difficult To Get To Places On Earth:

In this post, I thought I would talk about places that are hard to find or are treacherous to access, for the traveller looking for more of a challenge.

1.   Fanad Lighthouse/Head, Co. Donegal, Ireland:

To start, I thought I’d mention somewhere in Ireland. Even though it may not be the remotest place to get to and there are actually roads that lead to it, it is worth mentioning.

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Fanad Lighthouse is located 55°16′45″N right at the top of Donegal. The nearest town is Ramelton, which is 25km away. The place is ancient, there is evidence of ancient civilisation during the Mesolithic period (3,800 – 3,200 BC). Fanad  is actually a peninsula and has its own GAA club.

Google Maps tells us that it will take four to five hours to reach Fanad Lighthouse from Dublin.  This would be via toll roads, the M1, N2, Northern Ireland and private roads (which could result in major detours).

http://www.donegalcottageholidays.com/towns/images/fanad.jpg

2. La Graciosa, Canary Islands:

Although the Canary Islands are a popular tourist destination, two of the islands do not have airports. One of those is La Graciosa, the smallest and most northern of the islands. La Graciosa isn’t only difficult to get to, access to the island is very restricted. Apart from the capital (Caleta del Sebo), a tiny fishing village further north and the beaches with designated routes to them, you can’t go anywhere on the island. To get to the island, you can fly to Arrecife, Lanzarote’s capital which is a four hour flight from Dublin. From there, you must drive halfway up the island to a small town called Orzola. There is a half hour boat ride from there to Caleta del Sebo.

http://enjoylanzarote.net/beach/el-salado/

The island is an archipelago as it is counted as part of Lanzarote. There is no place in the world that looks anything like La Graciosa – not even its neighbouring islands can match the dirty, sandy  29 km ²  landscape with four dormant volcanoes and rare flora and fauna.

It is one of the few places in Europe left with dirt roads (the few buildings are all on a beach). Only designated drivers with government issued licenses can drive you anywhere. The population is 700, and many people don’t even live there full time.

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I have actually visited the island for a day and it’s gorgeous – golden beaches, a turquoise sea and a friendly people. However, the economy relies on tourists brought over by two boating companies and the island needs to develop more.

3. Ittoqqortoormiit, Greenland:

Most people are aware that Greenland is the largest, most dispersedly populated island in the world. However, the town of Ittoqqortoormiit is one of the loneliest, most difficult to reach places on earth. It has a municipality the size of England – but with a population of 500, that gives each person 150 square miles to themselves.

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The town is fishing/hunting village on the east coast. Greenland’s eight airports are all on the east coast of the country or right down in the south. So with the village being on the eastern side, you can imagine how difficult it is to get through the snow and ice all the way across the largest island in the world.

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Ittoqqortoormiit was once called Scoresbysund. When translated in to English, that means Constable Point. Air Iceland has actually started to encourage tourists to visit the region, with helicopter flights and airplane rides to the nearest airport being offered. There, they say ‘there are many possibilities to ski, hike and fish.’

4. Kerguelen Islands:

Some people call the Kerguelens the ‘Desolation Islands’, with good reason to do so. To get there, you can fly to Charles De Gaulle Airport in Paris. Then, you take a flight to Mauritius or Madagascar. From there, you must go to Reunion Island. This takes nearly 22 hours! From Reunion Island, there is a boat which takes six days to reach the Kerguelen Islands.

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So, in other words, you can travel to the islands and back in just a fortnight!

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Although there are no natives living there, in a fashion similar to Antarctica there are scientists and engineers who research the islands all year round. French has claimed the area as their territory. The only actual population is a breed of cattle which are endangered in Madagascar. There is one main island – Grand Terre which is surrounded by another 300 or so smaller islands.

5. Motuo County, China:

For my last place, I thought I would talk about somewhere that isn’t a remote island. Motuo County has been claimed as the last place in China to be left untouched. Located in the southeast of Tibet, in south west of China, the county is the only place in China without road access.

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In 2010, the Chinese Government said decided to build a motorway to Motuo because it was the last county in China without one. However, after spending millions the government has decided that is nearly impossible to make a road to get there. In fact, in the 90s, the government made a makeshift road to get there which last three days due to avalanches and mudslides.

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To visit, you can only try safely in November because of the weather (avalanches, mudslides, rocks falling, torrential rain, slipping and leeches). Generally, hikers go to Pai in northern Thailand to start their journey. To get to Pai, you fly to Chiang Mai Airport which takes 16 hours and 30 minutes, with stopovers in Munich and Bangkok. From the airport, it is a four hour drive with minimum traffic to Pai Town. After Pai Town, you can get to the Hidden Lotus (Motuo) in just four days. There are four stopovers, one each day trekking through the Himalayas. After four days, there is a terrifying walk over a 200m long suspension bridge.