I don’t really like the term ‘Bucket List’ as there seems to be some finality to the whole thing. What happens when you’ve completed your bucket list – are you allowed to add more? There are also places that I didn’t even know existed until yesterday. That’s why I called this article ‘Places that I want to visit – ‘ – and yes I realise that title won’t win any travel awards.

I’ll add a different place for each ‘Places that I want to visit -‘ article. They aren’t in any particular order. If you feel that I’ve missed somewhere amazing, it may be that I already visited. Or it may be that I’m not that interested – Rio de Janeiro, Machu Picchu, in fact anywhere in South America, are way down my list. I have a feeling that Rio de Janeiro and the Copacabana are all about the sexiness of the name and the reality would be a disappointment.

I really like abandoned places and really enjoyed our trip to Alcatraz Island. I did have a plan to visit Chernobyl, Ukraine, until the conflict made this impractical. Hashima Island is another abandoned place – now more famous for featuring in the James Bond movie – Skyfall. However, I believe that Pinewood Studios re-created part of the island in England, rather than the actual place being used as a location.

From Wikipedia:

Hashima Island (端島 or Hashima — -shima is a Japanese suffix for island?), commonly called Gunkanjima (軍艦島; meaning Battleship Island), is an abandoned island lying about 15 kilometers (9 miles) from the city of Nagasaki, in southern Japan. It is one of 505 uninhabited islands in Nagasaki Prefecture. The island’s most notable features are the abandoned and undisturbed concrete apartment buildings and the surrounding sea wall.

The island was known for its undersea coal mines, established in 1887, which operated during the industrialization of Japan. In 1959, the 6.3-hectare (16-acre) island’s population reached its peak of 5,259. The mine was closed in 1974, and all of the residents left the island soon after. Due to lack of maintenance several buildings have collapsed since, and other buildings are subject to breakage. However, certain collapsed exterior walls have been restored.

I’ve linked to pictures taken by Mark C O’Flaherty who wrote an Article about the island for the UK Independent newspaper.

‘Battleship Island’ (Mark C O’Flaherty)
Water feature: corridors are half flooded (Mark C O’Flaherty)

 

A decades-old television (Mark C O’Flaherty)

 

Haunted ruins: derelict apartments still display some of their original features (Mark C O’Flaherty)

 

A sea of ruins (Mark C O’Flaherty)

There are also some great pictures on http://www.hashima-island.com/