Novel tour idea for those who gave up on planning independent trips to Hell
 

I obviously can't paste in the whole article without violating copyright, but posting a short excerpt is OK:

<<VORKUTA, Russia, May 30 - This broken-down Arctic coal town does not offer much when it is comes to economic prospects. The mayor works with what he has.

A graveyard for gulag inmates who were shot during an uprising in 1953.

Soldiers celebrating a holiday in Vorkuta, a city built by prisoners.
"My dream is to build a gulag," the mayor, Igor L. Shpektor, declared the other day in an outburst that stung like the bitter chill of late May in a place whose history is inseparable from the Soviet Union's notorious system of penal labor.

He meant a gulag for tourists. "Extreme tourism," he explained.

Then he spun an improbable vision of hard times and hard bunks, where tourists could eat turnip gruel and sleep in wooden barracks in a faux camp surrounded by barbed wire and guard towers, patrolled by soldiers and dogs.>>

An excellent suggestion for some of our recent troll posters. Vorkuta sounds like a better option to Moldavia.

Right. We could send them to Vorkuta on special assignment to write a trip report for everyone.

or ,for those who prefer a warmer climate,Guantanamo Bay.

Will I have to learn much Russian to enjoy Vorkuta? Or can I get by in English?

;)

Best wishes,

Rex

There's no need to learn Russian. For a small rental fee, you can have earphones and listen to a simultaneous translation of the guards' abuse into the language of your choice.

Boy, this is tough. I have to make a choice between Vorkuta and Hell?
sheesh!

Maybe parents can use this as a threat?

Clean your room or I'll send you to Vorkuta.

You have it good here, just think of all the people living in Vorkuta.

I brought you into this world, and I can send you to Vorkuta.

The concept seems somewhat trivializing of the misery and horror that so many suffered. Liepaja, Latvia has something similar.

That's exactly what some of the people interviewed for the article said, Will Travel. But the mayor doesn't seem to care. Apparently he just sees an opportunity to bring money into the town and doesn't seem to be concerned about taking advantage of its tragic history.

As long as there's NO tipping.

Tipping? No. But to give it an authentic feel, bribes are allowed.