Dark Tourism Hot Spots Across the World That Netflix Brought to Light!
Outliers to conventional holidays are finding ways to not taper the travel bug in them. Giving in to oddity, these travelers are essentially drawn to weirdness. Weirdness that propagates everything from death, destruction, bad boys, war zones, to even possession! So much that there is a branch of tourism assimilating this idiosyncrasy - Dark Tourism. “Tourism that involves travelling to places associated with death and suffering”, if you were to Google it.
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In pop culture, Netflix with its mad impressive style of content creation came up with The Dark Tourist. Presented by the wackadoo New Zealand journalist, David Farrier, this documentary is sure to make you push your comfort zone and get out there to feel what it is like to be alive! Consisting of eight absorbing episodes, The Dark Tourist touches every aspect of dark tourism. Moving experiences, moral decisions and even ending up in a hospital are what keep viewers hooked to this documentary.
The episodes bring forward dark tourism across the continents of America, Asia, Africa, and Europe. Interpreting two to three dark paraphernalia per episode, here’s a list of what the documentary covers and where -
1. Colombia and Mexico - Meet Popeye and cross an international border illegally
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If you’ve had your share of watching documentaries and crave a real deal, the first episode of this show will only make it worse. From introducing you to the cosa nostra Pablo Escobar’s legacy to showing you spots where his hitman Popeye shot people dead to a mock illegal border crossing, you are only going to want more in these forty-one minutes!
2. Japan - breathing in dangerous radiation, robots serving you and the country’s suicide deadlock
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The second episode can be a major trigger if you are the crazy kind and something like radiation may make you chase a thrill. The adventures of exploring Tomioka’s Fukushima Daini Nuclear Power Plant, hiking through a forest with spirits of those who committed suicide, and to see what an island inspired by the Netherlands is like, will have you glued to the screen.
3. USA - JFK’s assassination, Milwaukee Cannibal and real-life vampires
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Joining David in this episode is fellow dark tourist Natalie as they take two tours about JFK’s assassination, take detours of the Milwaukee Monster Jeffrey Dahmer’s crime scenes and interact with real-life vampires. Sprawling across Milwaukee, Dallas and New Orleans, the episode engages you pretty well.
4. Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan - swimming in Soviet Union’s nuclear blast resulted lakes and a failed trip to the “Door to Hell”
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Escapism to and fro normal life has David being joined by yet another dark tourist Andy. The two zealous fellows set on to swim in a lake that is a result of the Soviet Union’s nuclear testing before David moves ahead to visit the closed city of Baikonur. Justifying rightly the risks of this sort of tourism is his stint at the Darvaza gas crater, also referred to as the “Door to Hell” which lands David in a hospital!
5. Cyprus and UK - mocking the World War II, a lampshade made from human skin to getting around a forbidden city
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There may be several places around the world that reenact the World War II, but the biggest one lies at a location near Europe’s Maidstone. After a trip to the hospital, David, in this episode has played it safe and sound out of the mock battleground! Next up is a visit to a vexed “dedicated” to Littledean’s serial killers, preceded by an attempt of trespassing the walled ghost city of Famagusta!
6. Cambodia, Myanmar, and Indonesia - Cleaning mummies, almost shooting a cow and being in an unusually quiet capital
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In a first, David experiences a moral dilemma as he is offered an opportunity to shoot a cow at Cambodia’s Phnom Penh shooting range. Enlightening you with unusuality of a country’s capital is Myanmar’s Naypyidaw before the highlight of this episode dawns. Cleansing a mummified corpse at the Ma’nene funeral rite in Indonesia’s Toraja is certain to make you want more of eccentricity!
7. Benin and South Africa - Voodoo festivals and conversations with white South African separatists
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Taking a notch higher with the abnormality, David is seen participating in Voodoo festival in Benin’s Ouidah. With some rites under the voodoo god, Thron’s rituals the episode is captivating, to say the least. The dangers of the township of Alexandra and conversations with Afrikaner nationalists and Suidlander survivalists form the latter part of this episode.
8. USA - Back to the USA for some haunted house tours, Manson family murders and a meet with a prepper
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The last episode, back in the USA has David bringing to you a tour of the house that is supposedly the world’s most haunted - McKamey Manor, a tour of the Manson Family murders, a visit to the creationist theme park of Ark Encounter and meeting a Virginia prepper!
All in all, one documentary that will have you glued this weekend! What are your dark tourism fantasies? Let us know in the comments section below!
