Île aux Fouquets (aka Île au Phare)—Snorkeling and Urban Exploring from Mahébourg

All this happened on December 9th, 2021. I passionately wanted to visit the abandoned lighthouse at Île aux Fouquets (also known as Île au Phare) from Mahébourg. We joined a boat trip organized by a snorkeling shop/tour operator in Mahébourg. This included three snorkel sessions. This post doesn’t contain underwater photos taken by me, so if you’re disappointed because I only took pictures of concrete, you’ve been forewarned. Contents1 Arranging the Trip2 Getting Snorkeling Gear in Mahébourg3 Snorkeling at Île aux Aigrettes4 Wakashio Oil Spill Cleanup and Salvaging Efforts5 Urban Exploring at the Île aux Fouquets Abandoned Lighthouse6 Snorkeling inContinue reading

The Cutest Nameless + Abandoned Observatory in Samarkand

One completely spontaneous find in Samarkand was this adorably small abandoned observatory in Central Park (Uzbek: Markaziy Bog’—Russian: Центральный парк). We walked past it one evening (19th of July) on the outside and I snapped some photos. Since the best restaurant for vegetarians – Old City Restaurant – in Samarkand is located a stone’s throw away from Central Park, I knew we’d be back. Here’s a Google Satellite view of the observatory where you can clearly see the observatory’s round metal roof: From the ground behind the fence, it looked much like an abandoned observatory, but I couldn’t be sure.Continue reading

Urban Exploring at Mandalay’s Abandoned Airport (Chanmyathazi)

I love abandoned places. I especially love abandoned airports. So when I saw on the map that there’s one right in the city core of Mandalay, I knew I needed to visit Mandalay’s abandoned airport. It’s called Mandalay Chanmyathazi Airport (VBC), named after the township it’s located in. Spotting it on the Map When Googling “Mandalay Airport” there’s no mistake where you need to go to or will arrive at. Mandalay International Airport (MDL) is located a whopping 38 kilometers outside of the city. But passengers didn’t always need to travel that far to fly away from Mandalay. When scrollingContinue reading