10 hells on earth

Chernobyl is creepy!

Sweet Jebus. If you thought your vacation was bad, take a look at the top 10 hells on earth. I actually shuddered when I read some of the candidates on AskMen.com's list.

Consider taking an adventure, visit them at your own peril or better yet, thank your lucky stars you live where you live:

1. Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea - Type of hell: Disease

With over 115 new HIV and AIDS cases diagnosed every month, the capital of Papua New Guinea is in trouble. With the population expanding at an uncontrollable rate, unemployment levels have rocketed, income levels plummeted and gang members, known as raskols, have been known to carry out bank robberies with M16 machine guns and hijack cars wielding machetes.

2. Linfen, China - Type of hell: Darkness

Linfen, China, is sooty and dark, located in a 12-mile industrial belt, and affected by the 50 million tons of coal mined each year in the nearby hills of Shanxi. There's no
escaping the smog.

3. Bujumbura, Republic of Burundi - Type of hell: Corruption

With the lowest GDP per capita in the world, Burundi is the poorest country on the planet and is scarred by a history of genocide, mass killing and assassinated political leaders. Not only that, but a pool of 178 countries found that Burundi's people had the poorest satisfaction of life in the world.

4. Pyongyang, North Korea -Type of hell: Oppression

While its modern-day facade may look like any other Western city, underneath it's entirely autocratic. Radios and TVs have only one channel which broadcasts special programs controlled by the government, bicycles are banned as part of a political regime to restrict movement and interaction.

5.Oklahoma City, United States - Type of hell: Natural disasters

Located in the direct path of "Tornado Alley," the worst time to visit would be from March to August. Tather is pretty much expected. The severe weather season makes Dorothy's Kansas look positively calm, with Oklahoma City being the city worst affected by tornadoes in the United States.

6. Chernobyl, Ukraine - Type of hell: Radiation

Famed for a nuclear explosion that tore through the city in 1986 and contaminated most of its living organisms, Chernobyl is certainly not the kind of place you'd like to vacation in. Everything is still largely abandoned and remains as it was 20 years ago, with hundreds of miles of uninhabitable space, deserted buildings and poisoned lakes and rivers.

7. Mogadishu, Somalia - Type of hell: Lawlessness

With the collapse of central government in 1991, Mogadishu is largely lawless, with no structure of real peacekeeping present, despite a failed effort in 1992 by the U.S. marines. Indeed, Mogadishu certainly won't be found in any glossy vacation brochure anytime soon.

8. Yakutsk, Russia - Type of hell: Environmental extreme

Officially the coldest place on earth, temperatures here often drop to a hypothermia-inducing -58°F, and if it drops below this (which it often does), children get the day off school. Another hellish aspect of Yakutsk is its isolation -- a whole six time zones away from Moscow.

9. Dhaka, Bangladesh - Type of hell: Pollution

Despite enduring political instability, military suppression and devastation from war and natural disaster, the capital of Bangladesh faces a new crisis over critically high pollution levels. Rapid industrial development has filled the city with so much smog it is causing environmental damage, with 9.7 million tons of waste dumped in the river by the city each year.

10. Baghdad, Iraq - Type of hell: Conflict

The city has been irreversibly damaged by the Gulf War and years of Saddam Hussein's dictatorship, bringing the once vibrant city to its knees. Lootings, robberies, kidnappings, and sexual assaults have been rife, but it is the daily slaughter of troops, journalists and civilians that terrify the most.

Good grief. You know, I'm actually planning a visit to Kiev in the next few weeks and am seriously considering taking a tour of Chernobyl. I can't help it. It just seems so macabre/cool and I'm attracted to the danger. You can tour Chernobyl - with a geiger counter no less - for about $280/per person (for a party of two, less for more people).

If I do it, I'll definitely record the journey here. As for the other places? I think I'll wait a bit to check them out - especially that terrifying place called Oklahoma City.

Oh, the humanity!!

Top 10 hells on earth [Askmen.com via Reuters]
AskMen.com [Official Site]
Chernobyl Tour from SAM travel company [ukrcam.com]

[Photo via Flickr]