Unique and unusual travel experiences

[Scarlett]

How about:

Robot restaurant and show in Japan.
Vytopna restaurant in Prague where your drinks are bought to your table on miniature railway cars.
Or visiting the town of F*cking in Austria. (yes we did get yelled at by a local farmer who thought we were another group of British tourists trying to steal the towns sign)
Will have to find some photos when back on the laptop.

 

[Glider_]

In a little town called Brunnen in Switzerland we visited the Victorinox museum and shop where you can assemble your own Swiss Army Knife. Mine is now one of my favourite travel souvenirs.
Swiss Knife Valley VISITOR CENTER Switzerland | Victorinox International

In Venice, getting a lesson and rowing a traditional batellina (like a gondola) ourselves through the canals and stopping for tasty snacks. Unfortunately they were not impressed by my hearty rendition of 'When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie..." Row Venice | Supporting the Venetian Voga Tradition and Sharing It with the World

Diving in Truk Lagoon, Micronesia, on WWII wrecked naval ships and aircraft was exciting, sobering, and unforgettable.
Blue Lagoon Dive Shop, Truk Lagoon. Air - Nitrox - Mixed Gas

We love driving experiences, so a few of our favourites;
- driving through the famous Shibuya scramble crossing in Tokyo, Mario-Kart style in a real go kart dressed up as Yoshi. It may be super touristy but it was also SUPER fun. [MariCAR Shibuya] Real Life SuperHero Go-Karting / Street Go-Kart Tour
- Touring the sights of Berlin in an old Trabi. Our little procession of Trabi's turned up at the Brandenburg gate after the tour busses had all left so we drove right up to it and became part of the attraction with tourists taking photos of us lined up in front of the gate.
http://www.trabi-safari.de/index.php?language=en
- Learning to drive a Centurion tank in NZ. What a great day! So sad they've closed now, and very glad we did it when we could. Hot tip; if you ever somehow end up driving a tank and someone offers to let you run over a car with it. Do it. Don't even ask how much it costs.
The Vehicles - Tanks for Everything : your ultimate tank driving, military vehicle driving and off-road driving experience

 

[Hvr]

It was 1992 and I was in Hong Kong. The US Navy was also in town on their way to the Persian Gulf. Hong Kong harbour was full of US Navy ships.

I booked a short tour to Guangzhou and it turned out it was me and several USN personnel. Great people and we had a good time. As we were returning to Hong Kong one of them asked me if I wanted to tour his ship.

Of course, "which one are you on?"

"Oh, the aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk."

Turns out he was a navigator and I got a tour of the ship including the 'ready room' where air crews prepared for their mission.

This sort of tour would not be possible today due to security concerns. I was fortunate enough to have everything line up to get a wonderful opportunity to see something very few civilians would ever get the chance to experience.

Whilst there are events and experiences we plan for, by taking a chance and seeing what it in front of us many memorable travel moments are there for us to enjoy.

 

[AisleSeat]

Diving in Truk Lagoon, Micronesia, on WWII wrecked naval ships and aircraft was exciting, sobering, and unforgettable.
Blue Lagoon Dive Shop, Truk Lagoon. Air - Nitrox - Mixed Gas

This is on my wishlist

 

[Glider_]

This is on my wishlist

And a very worthy destination it is! Incredible. I recommend going as soon as you can, as the wrecks are slowly but surely degrading.
My tip for getting there is to use a Lifemiles redemption as United is one of the very few airlines to fly into Chuuk and it can be extremely expensive to get to from Australia but the redemption is really reasonable and provides great value even in Y. We were lucky to go when United flew CNS-GUM-TKK but I don't think United fly from CNS anymore.

 

[Quickstatus]

but I don't think United fly from CNS anymore.

Correct- have to go via Japan (NRT, KIX, NGO) or HKG

 

[vetrade]

How about:

Robot restaurant and show in Japan..

Some Robot Restaurant pics to help you out..................It's different! .





This one certainly wasn't a robot

 

[Deleted member 29185]

My nephew and my neices partner drove a rickshaw 3000Km across India to raise money for a charity.Unfortunately can't find their blog which was hilarious.A rickshaw apparently isn't very comfortable when you have Delhi belly.

I recall, after multiple (many multiple) gin slings in the Long Bar, having rickshaw races around the foyer of Raffles . Ended up wearing umbrella hats and sunglasses (late at night) climbing the spiral staircase to nowhere in the garden bar and having tourists taking photo's of us. Gin slings can be dangerous weapons in the wrong hands!

And if you are ever in Bowling Green Kentucky, there is the Corvette Factory and Museum to visit

Now that is my kind of place. I always kick myself for not buying an Indy pace car special that came up at a reasonable price once.

Correct- have to go via Japan (NRT, KIX, NGO) or HKG

Easier to go BNE/SYD/CNS - POM - TKK

Some Robot Restaurant pics to help you out..................It's different! .
View attachment 152741

View attachment 152742

View attachment 152743
This one certainly wasn't a robot

That looks like the set of a movie ... Dr.Who meets Rocky Horror!

 

[Denali]

As I was in Ohio for a couple of weeks, we looked at doing a weekend road trip and found the Kentucky Bourbon Trail

At the time, it was get 6 distillery stamps in your KBT passport and you got a free tshirt, they had a different design every year, but now they offer a drinking glass.

Makers Mark was just beautiful and our fav but there was also Woodford, Jim Bean, Wild Turkey and many others. Overnight at Bowling Green (Corvette visit as my previous post) before hitting a few more on the way back to Ohio.

Got to dip and label our own bottles in the red wax at Makers Mark

 

[AisleSeat]

Another great one was another trip with Mrs AS. Up in the Arctic Circle doing dog sledding, trudging about in thigh deep snow and sleeping in a traditional sami tent. Our bed was reindeer skins on top of bushy pine boughs with very warm sleeping bags. (The lights were obscured by cloud sadly).
We went with this company: EXPERIENCE TROMSO - ARCTIC NORWAY

 

[RB]

When we visited Madrid we were a little confused as to why people were jostling for a particular photo. This is my shot



This is an interesting blog article A View of Madrid: A Plaza in the Sun.

 

[RB]

The No28 tram in Lisbon gets a lot of publicity. Another feature we enjoyed was the Santa Justa Lift Santa Justa Lift in Lisbon - Price and operating hours
We got a photo as we walked to Lisbon Castle

 

[Quickstatus]

Unique to me but I’m sure not to Japan-philes

Was in Shinjuku station looking for an exit when a station uniformed assistant came up to me to assist with directions.

Nice!!

 

[amaroo]

2009 we got to share the Sri Panwa restaurant with the then Prince, now King of Thailand. We arrived at the resort quite late having travelled most of the day from Laos. At check-in I asked to book a table at the restaurant, was told it was closed. After I replied with a few reasons I thought this was unacceptable, some phone calls were made and we were allowed to book the table.

Approaching the restaurant there was a heavy presence of uniformed police and military - thought that was a little strange. When we entered the restaurant it was clear something special was going on .... military people everywhere and only one table of diners. We were seated and proceeded to witness a night of extraordinary table service.

Only uniformed military men served the table.... always approaching and withdrawing from the table on their knees with head bowed.... just like the movie The King and I.

There are some benefits travelling with kids and grandparents.... doubt we would have been allowed access as a couple.

 

[amaroo]

When I first visited my (then future) in-laws in OH, we drove down to the Amish country. Future Mrs AS and I wandered off and found ourselves sitting in a barn watching a cattle auction completely surrounded by Amish men and their sons.

We were the only 'English' in the place.

We came across Amish in Belize ... wasn't expecting that.

 

[OZDUCK]

For those travelling with kids, or just people like us, a visit to the Steiff Toy Museum is a bit of fun. It is in Giengen an der Brenz, Germany and we were taken to it from our friends near Stuttgart. It has a very interesting collection of historic "Teddy Bears" and other toys. A fabulously kitsch interactive display, playrooms, workshops and a discount store attached. Musical dioramas etc. There is also a on-site cafe with various dishes with toy related names. Fun for kids of all ages.

Shop & Factory Outlet - Steiff Online Shop United Kingdom



I am the one without the Steiff Tag in my ear

 

[Quickstatus]

2009 we got to share the Sri Panwa restaurant with the then Prince, now King of Thailand. We arrived at the resort quite late having travelled most of the day from Laos. At check-in I asked to book a table at the restaurant, was told it was closed. After I replied with...
We were seated and proceeded to witness a night of extraordinary table serrvive

So your DYKWIA was effective!!

 

[trooper]

Probably not quite what the OP was thinking of..... but my experience in 90/91 was unusual..if not unique. Sydney to Diego Garcia to Muscat to the Persian Gulf...and home 6 months later via Singapore and Darwin and Brisbane...yes, all by sea. Gulf War 1. An experience I wouldn't give away for anything...but wouldn't repeat under any circumstances...lol

 

[Quickstatus]

Probably not quite what the OP was thinking of..... but my experience in 90/91 was unusual..if not unique. Sydney to Diego Garcia to Muscat to the Persian Gulf...and home 6 months later via Singapore and Darwin and Brisbane...yes, all by sea. Gulf War 1. An experience I wouldn't give away for anything...but wouldn't repeat under any circumstances...lol

Can’t be Aussie flagged. We only have little Tinnies. Who owns the battle cruiser?

Edit: ok I got the answer

 

[Wanderlust_tim]

Probably not quite what the OP was thinking of..... but my experience in 90/91 was unusual..if not unique. Sydney to Diego Garcia to Muscat to the Persian Gulf...and home 6 months later via Singapore and Darwin and Brisbane...yes, all by sea. Gulf War 1. An experience I wouldn't give away for anything...but wouldn't repeat under any circumstances...lol

Definitely not what I was thinking of, but I imagine one that has some very interesting and at times difficult stories attached to it.