This article is written by Nisha Jha, who is one of India’s leading lady backpackers with extensive travel experience

Looks like I have a fixation for bizarre burgs.
Recently I wrote about an unusual town called Baarle in Europe. And Prague was confusing in a different manner.
In the quiet town of Derby in Vermont, US, there is the Derby Line dividing US and Canada. This is more of a straight line, in contrast to Baarle’s zigzagged ones, but passes through buildings and households.

The Derby Line in Vermont, USA, dividing the USA & Canada

So there are chances you may prepare your food in one country and eat in the other.

There have been cases of illegal immigration; hence a tighter security control has been established now. However, on the Derby Line the towns’ people have deliberately constructed a library and an Opera on the border. I am not sure what could be the real reason.

A border town in our own India is Coochbehar. I hope to visit it too sometime. There are pieces of land called Chhit-Mahals or enclaves, where Indian Chhit-Mahals lie completely surrounded by Bangladeshi Chhit-Mahals and vice versa.
Big difference is, that these borders are protected by BSF of India and Bangladesh (you need a visa to go across to the other enclave and no free movement) and probably the enclaves are also much bigger pieces of land than in Baarle.
The Wagah border in India is similar to Derby line. A straight line divides India and Pakistan at Wagah village but through the fields only. A lot of people suggest that there should be a Cricket Stadium exactly at the border.

Some more such places.-

Ceuta is a Spanish town completely encircled by Morocco.
Country of Lesotho is completely landlocked by Republic of South Africa.

Mount Everest is itself on the border of Nepal and Tibet. Summit ridge separates Nepal and Tibet. The more popular southern route is through Nepal and the less used (obviously political reasons) northern route is in Tibet, China.

Mt Everest, Nepal

I am sure there are many more examples and would surely like my readers to add to this list.

Nisha Jha

9 May 2011

Tales of Tangled Towns

Average Rating: 4.8 out of 5 based on 200 user reviews.

[ | | | | ]

The writer of this article Sandeep Gupta is a Delhi based professional writer who specializes in writing about luxury, budget travel, destination overview, travel tips

Medical tourism is one of the fastest growing sectors in the world. Thousands of people are traveling to various medical tourism destinations for the cheap treatment. Here are the top 5 medical tourism destinations in world.

India – In last decade or so, India has become best bet as the medical tourism destination. India is providing high quality treatment at very low cost to the tourists. Indian doctors and hospitals are among the best in the world, yet affordable for the travelers. India specialized treatment in vascular surgery, cardio surgery, dental care, organ transplant surgery. India claims to provide world class treatment for at 70 per cent less cost comparing to United States and England.

Panama – Medical tourism in Panama saves around 50 per cent in treatment comparing to United States. Although the cost in higher comparing to India and other Asian countries. US tourists prefers Panama because of quick access and plenty of budget flights from major US cities. Of course the treatment in Panama is also world class as several doctors are trained in United States. Tourists should consider Panama for open-heart surgery, knee and hip transplants, bone marrow etc.

Brazil – Medical tourism in Brazil is made popular for cosmetic surgeries. Thousands of tourists especially women, travel to Brazil to enhance their physical appearance. Brazil has some highly qualified surgeons and the hospitals are equipped with all the latest technology. This is the reason why more than 500, 000 medical tourists visits Brazil every year.

Malaysia – Because of advance medical service, tourists coming for treatment has reached a million mark for Malaysia. The treatment in Malaysia is cheaper than most of the popular medical tourism destinations. Yet the quality of treatment is quite high. The cardiac bypass surgery that usually costs around $10, 000 in USA, costs only $6000 in Malaysia.

Costa Rica – Medical tourism in Costa Rica is very much affordable. In most cases you would not have to wait for the treatment in Costa Rica. Cosmetic and plastic surgery is the specialty of Costa Rica. A surgery for Tummy Tuck will only cost 30 per cent comparing to United States. This is the reason why North American tourists prefers Costa Rica.

Average Rating: 4.5 out of 5 based on 256 user reviews.

[ | | | | ]