The world’s trickiest places to travel to

Nowadays we can get to almost any location on the face of the earth within a day or two; but there are still places that are incredibly tricky to reach.

The YouTube channel RealLifeLore recently found an old map that showed how long it took to travel from London to places around the world in the 1910s. He then compared it with the time it takes to travel the same distance today.

For over a hundred years ago; for example, it took about 20 days to travel from London to San Francisco; compared to just about half a day today. A trip to Sydney took around 40 travel days, when today you can do it in about one day’s time.

Now, it’s not exactly big news that our ways of travel are constantly improved – trains, boats and cars and aircraft have significantly simplified and shortened our traveling time during the last century. But this transformation is nevertheless fascinating –  just like there are actually places where it’s still very hard to get to.

RealLifeLore on Youtube immersed himself in the topic, and tried to find the trickiest places to reach on our not so small blue planet. The Island of Polynesia, was among the most difficult to reach, as for places with a resident population proved to the British crown colony of Pitcairn in Polynesia in the South Pacific also proved to be one of the toughest challenges.

The archipelago has only 49 inhabitants and no airport. The island can only be reached via a ship that departs every three months. To get here from London, you will have to fly to Tahiti via Los Angeles and from there – to the island of Mangareva, where you have to wait for the boat to travel the additional 32 hours. So the total time for the trip (if you have the maximum timing) is just over two and a half days, and don’t expect any spa, bars or a lot of casino games on the way: it will only be you, your travel partner, maybe a bed and your luggage.

It will be even tougher to get to the Kerguelen Islands, a French territory in the middle of the Indian Ocean with only 130 recorded residents. The nearest populated place is Madagascar about 1000 miles away. The Kerguelen Islands also lack an airport and to get there you have to board a ship which departs only once every three months. The journey from London takes about a week via flights to Madagascar, and from there a six day long trip by boat.

As humans we’ve been to the moon as well as the bottom of the ocean; but there are still mountains where few, if any, humans have yet to reach. Mount Everest, with its 8848 meters, is the world’s tallest mountain and has been climbed by around 4,000 people. This is not an easy feat; it is estimated that one in twenty who try to climb the mountain die during the attempt.

The world’s second highest mountain K2, located on the border between Pakistan and China, is 8611 meters; it’s a even harder challenge for mountaineers. Only about 300 people have managed to reach the top, and one in five of those who have tried, died during the attempt.

So if you you want to be first of all people to set foot in a place where no one has yet been able to reach; you should set your sights on the mountain region of  Machu Chhish in Kashmir. Its peak is around 7453 meters. The place is very difficult to reach, and according to RealLifeLore no one’s ever managed to get there, yet.

Best of Luck!