4 Iconic Spots Being Utterly Destroyed By Tourists

4

Visitors To China's Antarctic Research Stations Are Harassing Scientists

Some people simply aren't any good at fun. Instead of romping on a beach somewhere, they insist on burning their vacation hours in places adverse to life itself, like Antarctica.

Asya M/Adobe StockWe’re still unsure at what point “life-affirming” became code for “potentially life-ending.”

And it is a major pain in the ass for the scientists stationed there.

China maintains three research stations in the antarctic, which are not only a boon for science, but also for sadistic travel agents who -- for around $100,000 per person -- will ship boatloads of tourists out there with little to no supervision. As a result, the scientists regularly have to step in and play tour guide when they aren't stopping people from wandering off and dying a cold, lonely death.

In order to ease the scientists' burden, the Chinese government recently enacted laws banning tourists from littering and bothering the local flora and fauna, and you don't need us to tell you those laws are doing squat. It's not exactly like the scientists can kick them out -- if weather conditions aren't great, tourists have been known to get stranded on King George Island for hours, meaning that they have to hunker down with the scientists and eat their food. Food which is only delivered once a year.

This is, of course, to say nothing of their problems with shapeshifting aliens.

3

The Beach From The Beach Needs A Timeout Every Year

Back in 2000, the world fell in love with a fun, lighthearted little comedy called The Beach. You probably know it best for its video game adaptation, Far Cry 3.

20th Century FoxNot that The Beach didn't already have the video game tie-in well taken care of.

What? Is that not an accurate description of the film? We've never seen it.

Anyway, love for the movie has been so pervasive that all the way out here in the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand and Eighteen, the Thai government is forcing the Beach (the place) from The Beach (the movie) into a mandatory timeout.

2

Overfeeding Has Devastated "Rabbit Island"

When the internet found out that the abandoned Japanese island of Okunoshima was completely overrun with rabbits who love nothing more than snuggles and nose wiggles, everyone lost their goddamn minds and immediately started booking flights out there.

Case in point, try to keep a straight face and tell us you wouldn't sell your right arm to be that guy for five minutes.

1

Mount Everest Is Covered In Human Poop

We've talked before about the mounds of trash (and bodies) that litter its unforgiving slopes, but there are other reasons that Mount Everest is kind of a shithole. For example: the shitholes. At the moment, climbers go potty in two ways, depending on where they are on the mountain. At base camp, they go in toilet tents. Outside of civilization, they dig a shit pit like a goddamn yeti (we assume; we're not yetologists).

This has created what authorities refer to as a "fecal timebomb," and they do not understand why you're laughing about it. The amount of human waste covering the upper slopes of the mountain is so bad that in some parts, it's started leaking out of the glaciers. Some climbers refuse to boil snow for water up there, concerned that the lower boiling point at those temperatures isn't enough to kill any bacteria / germs / general ickiness.

Adam Wears is on Twitter and Facebook, and has a newsletter about depressing history that you should definitely subscribe to.

You really should check out some more DiCaprio movies -- might we suggest Catch Me If You Can?

Support your favorite Cracked writers with a visit to our Contribution Page. Please and thank you.

For more, check out 4 Insane Ways Tourists Are Ruining Famous Vacation Spots and 6 Famous Places That A-Holes Have Made Intolerable To Visit.

Also, we'd love to know more about you and your interesting lives, dear readers. If you spend your days doing cool stuff, drop us a line at iDoCoolStuff at Cracked dot com, and maybe we can share your story with the entire internet.

Follow us on Facebook. It's free.