Dharavi Slum, Mumbai, India
Immortalized by the Oscar winning Slumdog Millionaire movie, Mumbai’s
Dharavi Slum is not only the largest slum in India, but in entire Asia.
Home to almost 1 Million people, Dharavi Slum greets visitors with
stomach turning odor, presence of piling garbage and human waste and
endless displays of poverty, disease and depressing living conditions.
It is difficult to predict whether sudden influx of money from
Thanatourism delivers any realistic improvements to this Dark Tourism
Destination, but reports say that much of the revenue goes directly to
the community which is now more than excited to showcase their God-awful
standards of living. Good business sense dictates that in order for
them to keep this easy revenue coming, they will have to ensure that
people within continue looking poor and sick and both odor and garbage
remain as stringent and in visitors’ face as ever. But as it goes in
impoverished communities, loan sharks will make sure that regardless of
how much Dark Tourism revenue the slums generate, the poor will get
poorer while the rich get richer.
Cu Chi Tunnels, Saigon, Vietnam
A 75-mile-long underground tunnel system located below Cu Chi
district of Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) was used by Viet Cong
freedom fighters to run military campaigns against occupying US forces.
In 1968, Cu Chi Tunnels served as the base from where Viet Cong launched
Tet Offensive which ultimately aided in humiliating withdrawal of US
forces from Vietnam.
Back then, Cu Chi Tunnels were full of deadly spiders and wandering
scorpions, offering little space with unbearable humidity and had many
passages wired with booty traps. Today, the site is a popular Dark
Tourism Destination and a prime example of how former warfare can be
turned into a lucrative tourist attraction.
Popular, easy to access corridors have been widened to accommodate
inquisitive tourists and a firing range has been set up to offer more
authentic experience for those with trigger happy fingers. For $1, you
get to fire a shot from an AK-47 rifle that was used during the Vietnam
War and munch on a simple food guerrilla fighters used to live on.
Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Visitors to Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh will not be able to avoid
aggressive tuk tuk drivers who will accost them on every steps with
offers to take them to the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, or as it is
commonly referred to by locals – The Killing Fields. This former high
school was turned into a Security Prison 21 (S-21) in 1975 by the
ruthless Khmer Rouge regime to torture and execute unwanted individuals.
The most shocking part of the visit to Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum is
that despite unspeakable atrocities done to the prisoners, locals, many
of whom lived during the Khmer Rouge regime seem to be more than excited
to have it in their capital as it attracts hundreds of tourists every
day. Instead of trying to forget what the Strychnine Hill (the meaning
of Tuol Sleng in English) represents, Cambodians are excited to have
this Dark Tourism Attraction in their capital and won’t hesitate to tell
visitors about the piles of skulls and bones that can be found there,
for as long as they get the tourists to pay them for transport to the
site.
The Zone of Alienation in Chernobyl, Ukraine
Opened to tourists in 2002, the site of the Chernobyl nuclear reactor's
meltdown and the surrounding area is now considered to be safer than a
short flight, in terms of exposure to radiation. In fact, a small number
of locals still live in the area (around 500 - it's cheap, for obvious
reasons!), but it still makes for a chilling experience. The disaster
occurred in 1986, and has since caused an estimated 47 clearly
attributable deaths, 28 of which occurred soon after the disaster
(others were from related causes later). The increased cancer risk in
the area in the past, though, means total estimated additional (early)
deaths due to the Chernobyl disaster are put in the 4000-5000 range by
many. With 350,000 people having been evacuated due to the disaster
(14,000 from Chernobyl itself), you'll find much of the city still left
exactly as it was on evacuation on April the 26th 1986. That's seriously
haunting.
Devil’s Island, French Guiana
Set up by French Emperor Napoleon III in 1852, the smallest and
northernmost island of the Iles du Salut archipelago north of French
Guiana housed the most notorious penal colony in the world until 1952.
Vast majority of convicts sent to the disease infested Devil’s Island
never made it out of the ghastly, inhospitable environment it provided.
Nowadays, Devil’s Island is one of the prime tourist attractions in
French Guiana and one of the most popular Dark Tourism Destinations
among the tourists seeking macabre tours. A visitor can enjoy access to
the cells in which inmates died, the headquarters from where the prison
was run or the cemetery with graves of people whose lives were claimed
by the island.
Ground Zero, New York City, USA
The 9/11 attacks in which two planes flew into the World Trade Centre
buildings in New York City, claiming lives of nearly 3,000 people,
count as the most notorious modern history attacks in the world.Needless to say, macabre site of such worldwide significance draws
attention of many Dark Tourism enthusiasts and counts as one of the most
important Dark Tourism Destinations in the world. This top 10 list
would not be complete without the WTC site on it.
Auschwitz Concentration Camp, Poland
The largest of all Nazi concentration camps, Auschwitz (or Oswiecim as
it is called in Polish) is believed to have served as an extermination
camp for more than one million people, most of which were Jews. Majority
were killed in camp’s gas chambers, while others died of disease or
starvation. Set up by the architect of the holocaust Heinrich Himmler,
Auschwitz was also the site where evil “Angel of Death” doctor Josef
Mengele performed his experiments on live people.
The numbers are outward signs of the stunning brutality and
immeasurable pain that made up daily life at Auschwitz, a place where
mass murder became an industry. In just about five years, 1.6 million
prisoners arrived at the camp’s ominous gates. Most came in cattle cars.
Among them, only 400,000 were registered as inmates. The rest went
straight to the gas chambers and were then incinerated in the camp’s
five crematoriums. More than one million people died in this factory of
death.
Due to its notoriety, Auschwitz is one of the most visited Dark
Tourism Destinations in the world today. The popularity of the site is
so huge, the access is only granted to organized tour groups during peak
hours of the peak season. Tours are a source of massive revenue for
Poland’s travel industry.
The River Kwai Bridge, Thailand
While most of WWII fights took place in Europe, other parts of the
world were also heavily involved. Much of South East Asia was under
Japanese occupation between 1942 and 1943 and plans were to also invade
India. To accomplish the goal, Japanese troops stationed in Burma
(today’s Myanmar) needed more support but since no convenient
infrastructure was available, the decision has been made to build a
railway that would connect Kanchanabury in Siam (today’s Thailand) with
West Burma’s Moulmein.
The quarter of a million people, both Asians as well as the prisoners
of war from the Allied (Commonwealth, American and Dutch) nations were
forced into labor to get the construction underway. Camps were built in
both Burma and Siam starting the railway from opposite ends to meet in
the center. Due to food shortages, workers suffered from malnutrition.
Medical supplies and sanitary facilities were either nonexistent or
insufficient giving malnourished and overworked people little chance to
battle off malaria, cholera or the tropical ulcer which were common in
these areas.
Construction of the 416 km long Siam – Burma railway (the Death
Railway) took 16 months, during which an estimated hundred thousand
workers, of which approximately 13,000 were the prisoners of war died.
Their bodies were buried alongside the tracks wherever they’d dropped.
Travellers wishing to get the glimpse of what conditions the Death
Railway workers lived and died in can visit one of the three museums
that contain graphic photographs and tools used by the prisoners to
build the railway. A cemetery with the remains of about 7,000 workers is
only a short drive away. It is also possible to hop on a train and take
a ride on the Death Railway the construction of which claimed so many
lives. To have memorable pictures, most Dark Tourism visitors do not
pass on the opportunity to walk along the River Kwai Bridge with the
infamous river after which it is named in the background.
London Dungeon, UK
London Dungeon would be precisely what Dark Tourism is all about. It is an exhibit of macabre events from medieval history that offers believable glimpses into torture, plaque, serial killing and more.
Although London Dungeon started as a museum of macabre history, the
visit now includes interactive, actor led experiences, rides and special
effects.
Children’s Memorial, Yad Vashem, Jerusalem
This unique memorial, hollowed out from an underground cavern, is a
tribute to the approximately 1.5 million Jewish children who perished
during the Holocaust. Memorial candles, a customary Jewish tradition to
remember the dead, are reflected infinitely in a dark and somber space,
creating the impression of millions of stars shining in the firmament.
The names of murdered children, their ages and countries of origin can
be heard in the background.
Pont de l’Alma Road Tunnel, Paris, France
Pont de l’Alma is a road tunnel near the bridge of the same name in
Paris, France where Princess Diana of Wales died on August 31, 1997.
Princess’ boyfriend Dodi Al-Fayed and their driver Henri Paul who was an
acting head of security at the Ritz Hotel (owned by Dodi Al-Fayed’s
father Mohamed) also died in the accident.
The Flame of Liberty, which is an exact replica of the Statue of
Liberty’s flame sits above the entrance to the tunnel and is considered
the unofficial memorial to Princess Diana.
The DMZ (most easily accessed from South Korea)
Marking the notorious divide between North and South Korea, and presently
a riskier spot to drop in on than it has been in the recent past, the
DMZ offers up a weird contrast between the environmental benefits of a
human-free environment, and an emotional marker that separates a country
that many residents still see as being one. On the tours, you'll see
the heavily guarded meeting spots where North and South Korean diplomats
talk out a fragile truce (or not, as the case may be), head down into
the tunnels burrowed by the North Korean military in an attempt to
infiltrate South Korea, and see elderly South Koreans in tears at the
border, leaving messages for loved ones they haven't met in nearly 60
years. The separation of Korea was fast and divisive, and the emotions
still run high. The best tour to take is with the USO, as the American
military have a little more access than the South Korean tourism
offices. You can't visit the DMZ alone.
Hiroshima Peace Museum
Hiroshima, Japan
Over one million people every year visit the Hiroshima Peace Memorial
Museum, which displays the belongings of those killed by the atomic bomb
dropped there in 1945. It's divided into sections telling the story of
Hiroshima until the bomb, and the damage inflicted by it.
Pere Lachaise Cemetery
Paris
Paris
Paris's largest cemetery is home to luminaries including Edith Piaf,
Oscar Wilde, Frederic Chopin, Molière, Marcel Proust and Jim Morrison,
attracting visitors from all over the world.
Titanic Museum
Titanic Museum
Belfast, Ireland
Opened this year to coincide with the centenary of the Titanic disaster,
the Titanic Belfast Museum is located on the slipways where RMS Titanic
was built and tells the story from her construction to her end, at the
bottom of the Atlantic Ocean.
World War One Battlefields
Ypres, Belgium
The area around Ypres saw some of the fiercest fighting of WWI. The town
is now home to the Menin Gate, commemorating soldiers who have no
grave, and the In Flanders Fields Museum -- thousands visit every year.
