Talk Elections

AFRICA AND THE MIDDLE EAST

1. Kabul, Afghanistan
2. Tehran, Iran
3. Baghdad, Iraq
4. Damascus, Syria
5. Tel Aviv, Israel
6. Jerusalem, Israel
7. Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
8. Mecca, Saudi Arabia
9. Alexandria, Egypt
10. Cairo, Egypt
11. Algiers, Algeria
12. Tripoli, Libya
13. Casablanca, Morocco
14. Dakar, Senegal
15. Accra, Ghana
16. Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire
17. Lagos, Nigeria
18. Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
19. Nairobi, Kenya
20. Kampala, Uganda
21. Kinshasa, DR Congo
22. Harare, Zimbabwe
23. Antananarivo, Madagascar
24. Maputo, Mozambique
25. Johannesburg, South Africa
26. Cape Town, South Africa
27. Durban, South Africa
28. Beirut, Lebanon
29. Amman, Jordan
30. Dubai, UAE

In the qualifying round, Doha, Qatar and Marrakech, Morocco were excluded from the competition. Jerusalem, Israel; Alexandria, Egypt; Casablanca, Morocco; Mecca, Saudi Arabia; and Beirut, Lebanon joined.

JOIN
Casablanca
Luanda
Mecca
Jerusalem
Alexandria

REMOVE
Doha
Marrakesh

Join:
Jerusalem, Israel
Mecca, Saudi Arabia
Casablanca, Morocco
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania Alexandria, Egypt
Timbuktu, Mali

Remove:
Doha
Marrakech

IN
Fes, Morocco
Jerusalem, Israel
Casablanca, Morocco
Alexandria, Egypt
Mecca, Saudi Arabia

OUT (oh my, i have plenty i would like out :P)
Doha
Durban

Join:
Alexandria, Egypt
Casablanca, Morocco
Jerusalem, Israel
Luanda, Angola
Tunis, Tunisia

OUT
Doha
Durban

Join:
Jerusalem
Alexandria
Casablanca
Tunis
Beirut

Remove:
Marrakech
Maputo

JOIN:
Jerusalem
Mecca
Alexandria
Timbuktu
Beirut

OUT:
Kampala
Harare

Join:
Jerusalem, Israel
Makkah, KSA
Beirut, Lebanon
Jeddah, KSA
Casablanca, Morocco

Out:
Kampala, Uganda
Marrakech, Morocco (Doha isn't a major city but it's a nice place and one of the nicest cities on the Persian Gulf).

QUALIFYING ROUND: RESULTS

VOTES FOR REMOVAL
Doha -4
Marrakech -4
---------------
Durban-2
Kampala -2
Maputo -1
Harare -1

VOTES FOR ADDITION:
Jerusalem +7
Alexandria +6
Casablanca +6
Mecca +5
Beirut +3
---------------
Luanda +2
Timbuktu +2
Tunis +2
Fes +1
Jeddah +1

Pairings for the next stage will be announced shortly.

PART TWO STARTS NOW

ANTANANARIVO, MADAGASCAR
()

VS

BAGHDAD, IRAQ
()

Vote for your preferred city. Voting will last for at least 24 hours.

Fifty years ago, my vote might have been different, but in today's world the choice is pretty clear. Antananarivo.

Antananarivo, much for same same reason as hughento.

Never been to either of these and i don't think i'll be planning a trip there any time soon ;D

I vote Baghdad because of it's history (despite all the problems today). And also because i know nothing about Antananarivo (well, it's in Madagascar, there ends my knowledge :P)

Baghdad

We'll have 2 ways of voting, basically: what we know today and what we think because we've gone to a city; what we know about History, with a capital "h".
That will be pretty funny.

Baghdad

Antananarivo

Baghdad,  Antananarivo has had violence recently,not even close to the same scale obviously but it lacks many things that makes baghdad more interesting.

Baghdad

Baghdad wins.

KAMPALA, UGANDA
()

VS

RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA
()

Vote for your preferred city. Voting will last for at least 24 hours.

What's there to see in Kampala? I have absolutely no idea and the Wikipedia page is not very helpful :P

I vote for Riyadh, even though i would probably die in those summer temperatures (though i guess that the arid climate helps). Didn't Hash live in Riyadh? or i got that wrong? maybe he can tell us more :D

Riyadh

Neither. Both would be horrible in almost every way. I'm voting for Kampala just because Riyadh is leading.

Riyadh

Yes I did. What should I tell you guys?

Riyadh, I guess....

Riyadh

Riyadh wins.

ALEXANDRIA, EGYPT
()

VS

KABUL, AFGHANISTAN
()

Vote for your preferred city. Voting will last for at least 24 hours.

Alexandria

Well, i just wanted to know how it is to live there and if you enjoyed it, just out of curiosity :)


This one is pretty easy for me.
Alexandria was the most beautiful city i saw when i went to Egypt in 2005 and the history of the place is fascinating. Of course you need to have a bit of patience because the traffic there is horrible (although it is much worse in Cairo which has the worst traffic i have ever seen, plus basically no traffic lights and people crossing the road on foot at all times) But it is worth it. In fact if you want to go to Egypt, Cairo is fine and all and probably you should spent a day there to see the pyramids and whatnot, but i would highly recommend staying most of the time in Alexandria. Luxor and Aswan were nice too, but it's no contest really.
Kabul is eeehh, well, i don't know but i can't imagine it being better than Alexandria.

So i vote Alexandria

I am going to vote kabul because probably no one else will.Plus i kinda like the town from what i have seen in photos.

I'm actually pretty interested in both, and I'm going to vote Kabul because they play cricket there.

How is that a good thing? ;D :P

Alexandria

Alexandria

Alexandria

Alexandria

Alexandria

Alexandria wins.

DURBAN, SOUTH AFRICA
()

VS

LAGOS. NIGERIA
()

Vote for your preferred city. Voting will last for at least 24 hours.

Durban. Apparently a lot like Adelaide but more racist. Better than Lagos, I'm guessing, anyway.

LAGOS. NIGERIA, more important than durban and also something of an interesting mess.

Lagos

Lagos

Lagos

Well, either winning would be fine, so i'll stick with my "try to make things interesting" meme :P

I vote Durban

Durban

Durban

Its much better than Lagos



Nigeria is a mess, but not in a good way

Lagos wins (Fab's vote acts a a tiebreaker, favouring Lagos).

ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA
()

VS

AMMAN, JORDAN
()

Vote for your preferred city. Voting will last for at least 24 hours.

Amman, Jordan

I was planning on going to Jordan a couple of years ago but it didn't work out, pity because the city looks interesting. Don't really have much to say about Ethiopia :P

I vote Amman.

ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA

Addis Ababa, for the sake of competition.

I don't follow, where did he vote in that round?


Amman, Jordan

Addis Ababa

In the organisational thread, he listed his preferences for each matchup. I intend to use them only as tiebreak votes.

Amman's pretty much an open-air trashcan, but I vote Amman anyway. There are nice Roman and Greek ruins in Amman.

Addis Ababa

Amman wins.

NAIROBI, KENYA
()

VS

HARARE, ZIMBABWE
()

Vote for your preferred city. Voting will last for at least 24 hours.

Nairobi

Nairobi, even if it's probably less safe. Seems like a pretty cool place to spend a little while.

NAIROBI, KENYA

I went to Harare for just a day and a half when i visited Zimbabwe in 1999, didn't like it that much. The focus of my trip there wasn't Harare though, in that trip i spent a week in South Africa (Cape town and Johannesburg) and then spent another week in Zimbabwe in a great place near the Victoria falls. That was one of the most amazing vacations i had, luckily i took my video camera there.
Never been to Nairobi but it looks more interesting than Harare, that's for sure :P

I vote Nairobi

Nairobi

Nairobi,

Nairobi

Nairobi

Nairobi wins in out first unanimous vote.

CAIRO, EGYPT
()

VS

BEIRUT, LEBANON
()

Vote for your preferred city. Voting will last for at least 24 hours.

Meh.

Beh.

Behr.

Beer.

Bier.

Beirut.

This choice is more difficult than it seems at first glance.

I vote Cairo.

Cairo.

BEIRUT, LEBANON

Very hard choice.

I vote Beirut.

Beirut.

Tony Horwitz described Cairo as an 'overturned ashtray'. That's quite accurate.

Yep, Cairo has some cool stuff, but except for the main Tourist areas, the rest of the city is pretty awful. Plus the absence of traffic lights, the huge traffic jams and the total pedestrian and vehicular anarchy are major turnoffs (i mean, for a day it was sort of hilarious seeing how people crossed the highway on foot while dozens of cars were driving like they are in a Fast and the Furious movie, but after a day you start to get the sense of how dangerous it is :P).

I vote Beirut.

Beirut

Beirut

Beirut

Beirut

Beirut wins.

TEHRAN, IRAN
()

VS

DAMASCUS, SYRIA
()

Vote for your preferred city. Voting will last for at least 24 hours.

Damascus

Damascus

Haven't been to any but i have only heard good things about Damascus, while i can't say the same for Tehran

I vote Damascus

Damascus, I guess.

Damascus

TEHRAN, IRAN

Damascus

This group sucks pelotas. Tehran, just because Damascvus has won and Tehran deserves some recognition.

Damascus wins.

MAPUTO, MOZAMBIQUE
()

VS

JERUSALEM, ISRAEL
()

Vote for your preferred city. Voting will last for at least 24 hours.

Jerusalem obviously but I'd actually like to go to Mozambique one day.

Jerusalem of course

JERUSALEM, ISRAEL

Jerusalem

Lourenço Marques

Nothing to add except that i think this is an easy one.

I vote Jerusalem

^^^

Maputo.

I feel contrarian.

Jerusalem

I'd actually rather visit Maputo, I think.

Jerusalem wins.

CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA
()

VS

ALGIERS, ALGERIA
()

Vote for your preferred city. Voting will last for at least 24 hours.

Cape Town

Cape Town

Cape Town

Why is the picture for Algiers the same as the picture for Cape Town?

I vote Cape Town

Never been to Algiers but i went to Cape Town in 99 and i had a very good time (well, the best time a 12 year old can have :P), so this one is easy for me.

I vote Cape Town

When I first saw it, I thought "Wow the two cities look so much alike!"


I vote for Cape Town

Cape Town

sorry about the picture mixup.

Cape Town, for the record.

Cape Town wins.

ABIDJAN, COTE D'IVOIRE
()

VS

DAKAR, SENEGAL
()

Vote for your preferred city. Voting will last for at least 24 hours.

I'd like to visit both, briefly. Slight edge to Dakar for historical reasons.

Dakar

Ugh, i have no idea, neither really look appealing :P

I vote Dakar just because my parents went there decades ago and they somewhat enjoyed it.

Dakar, I guess...

ABIDJAN

ABIDJAN

Dakar

Dakar

Dakar

Dakar wins.

MECCA, SAUDI ARABIA
()

VS

DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
()

Vote for your preferred city. Voting will last for at least 24 hours.

Mecca

Theoretically, I can only visit one of the two. I vote for the one I can go to, even if I don't particularly want to go there. Dubai.

DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

^^^^^^^^ this

I was in Dubai in January and while it's  nice enough city if you have loads of money or if you are a local guy (they basically don't work and get everything in a silver platter from the government). It was probably the only trip where i completely cut spending in things that were not eating or accomodation because everything is too friggin expensive, i can't afford to go on vacation in july thanks to this :P
It's nice to visit once but the city is too much of a parody of what you could possibly do if you had loads and loads of cash to spend for no reason whatsoever except to say "Hey, look at me, the tallest building in the world!". And even the locals think that it will be a ghost city in the next few decades. They are spending way too much and oil is not going to last forever.

I vote Mecca

Dubai

Mecca. Dubai is gross.

Makkah.

Dubai

Mecca wins, after my vote was discounted.

KINSHASA, DR CONGO
()

VS

CASABLANCA, MOROCCO
()

Vote for your preferred city. Voting will last for at least 24 hours.

Casablanca

I have no idea what the hell is there to see in Kinshasa. From what i saw in Casablanca it doesn't really differ from any other big city in the "western world", i spent there 3 days and i hardly ever saw women dressed like anything other than what regular western girls wear. while far from being the best city in Morrocco, Casablanca is certainly good and modern enough to win this.

I vote Casablanca

CASABLANCA, MOROCCO

Casablanca

Coups.

I vote Casablanca, obviamente.

Casablanca

Casablanca I guess....

Joining the throng and voting for Casablanca.

Casablanca

I just land on that thread, and well, I fear it wasn't a pic of Baghdad here. ;D

Well, it isn't hard for me to vote against a city from that region with such an awful hot wet climate that is the one of Congo, and I find the fast modernity growing in Casablanca quite interesting on some levels, not on all though.

Then Casa' as we say in France.

Casablanca wins.

ACCRA, GHANA
()

VS

JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA
()

Vote for your preferred city. Voting will last for at least 24 hours.

Johannesburg

Johannesburg

Johannesburg

Johannesburg

Just spent a day in Johannesburg but it was nice enough. Never been to Accra and, again, i don't know what can i really see there.

I vote Johannesburg

Johannesburg

Johannesburg

Jo'burg.

Johannesburg

Johannesburg for a 12-0 unanimous vote.

Johannesburg wins.

TEL AVIV, ISRAEL
()

VS

TRIPOLI, LIBYA
()

Vote for your preferred city. Voting will last for at least 24 hours.

TEL AVIV

Tripoli might be a interesting experience however. :P

I'd be interesting in visiting both, potentially, but probably Tel Aviv first.

Tripoli

Why not ?

Both seems equally interesting, but Tel-Aviv looks like worthing more than some tourist guided tours.

Tel Aviv wins the final round in this group.