Brightly lit central streets of tourist cities can be marked with signs like the halls of a five-star hotel, but you make a couple of wrong turns and get into the labyrinth of alleys where no one probably speaks any of the languages you know. The danger of getting lost in a modern metropolis is very real, and you shouldn’t rely on the kindness of strangers and your own intuition: the only reliable friend in this situation is the navigator in your phone. The internet should always work, – for example, through a single SIM-card that works all over the world. A study made a few years ago showed that it is not only tourists, but also the locals can get lost in the metropolis and look for the ways out for several hours. So, if you go to one of the places listed below, please, make sure your navigator is ready.
1. London
According to one research, 25% of Londoners believe that it is impossible not to get lost in their city at least once. Moreover, every third Englishman admits that he had at least once pointed a stranger in the wrong way – just because.
2. Beijing
Once upon a time Beijing was the largest city in the world and its wonders and secrets attracted businessmen and opium smokers, poets and thieves. Today you can get lost in the entangled streets of Beijing just because the city’s population does not really speak any language except Chinese: there will be no one to ask for directions.
3. Moscow
There was a time when the mazes of Moscow were driving people crazy, – even the city policemen. Moscow still keeps its secrets – do not get confused in the endless Small, Large and Medium alleys of the same name and in the First, Second and Seventh streets – and the street signs still need some work.
4. Bangkok
Bangkok seems to be a mixture of two cities in one: the city front, an elegant tourist facade is beautifully marked and arranged, and behind it there lies a real city – tangled, living its own life and completely incomprehensible to a European. And, in addition, it is believed that residents of Bangkok can deliberately point the tourist the wrong direction… Because they can. That’s why.
5. Paris
It might seem that Paris is so well-traveled and totally understood by tourists, but in the Golden Drop area or at St. Denis area streets turn into a labyrinth, and the further you go, the less English-speaking Parisians you meet.
6. Hong Kong
A city with an incredibly complex history, Hong Kong has passed from hand to hand for centuries, and it made the city grow in its own way: small villages were merged into the city, streets were renamed, dead ends became avenues, and avenues became dead ends… Plus the local subway is considered one of the world’s most intricate underground systems.