The 30 Sh*ttiest Cities In The World (According To 30 Travelers)
“Manila, Philippines. It is like everything imagined in some dystopian novel in real life."
1. MANILA, PHILIPPINES
“Manila, Philippines. It is like everything imagined in some dystopian novel in real life. Thick, acrid exhaust from Vietnam-era Jeeps idling in unimaginable traffic spews out and blankets every surface in a layer of filth. High above the concrete jungle, billboards in English advertise luxury goods to the sect of the populace that can afford them. Malls are the main attraction and places of gathering, promoting a consumerist culture that eclipses even that of America. The street food is, generally, awful. It’s the only major Asian city that I have spent time in that I felt concerned for my physical well-being in potential robbery scenarios. I absolutely love some rural parts of the Philippines, though, and stomach Manila to be able to return to those places.”
2. BEIJING, CHINA
“Beijing. What even is that place? So disgustingly dirty. Children urinate and defecate in the street. Their pants pull open at the crotch with snaps so they can do this. The public restrooms, if you can even call them that, are literal holes in the ground with piles of shit and bloody tampons in them with no toilet paper and no proper way to wash your hands. Their national monuments are so poorly cared for. The Forbidden City, for example, looks like you could blow it over. Their homeless are so horribly disfigured and uncared for it is shocking. The smog/pollution. Anyone who says China will take over the world one day has never been to China.”
3. KABUL, AFGHANISTAN
“Kabul, Afghanistan…place where I stayed was attacked by the Taliban. The security guard was killed and some of my colleagues were wounded. Not only that, most of us ended up with tapeworms after eating the food; seems the farmers used human waste to fertilize their farms and the fruits and veggies were not washed property by the kitchen staff. It was a common sight to see old abandoned Russian tanks on the side of the road, lots of the houses have bullet holes and winter can be brutally cold in Kabul as heater is not available in most places.”
