As a man with personas related to both travel and drinking I have been privy to some rather amazing bars. Therefore I have decided to put together a list of the 15 best bars to visit before you die.
Yet while mots of these lists will put boring places in New York, Paris and the like my list is aimed at the extreme, or adverture trailer. After all who doesn’t like their booze with a side of danger.
The 15 best bars to drink in before you die
In order here are our 15 places, although there could have easily been 30! Many of these are almost more concepts than actual bars,.
All though are very special and have more than earned their place on our 15 best bars to see before you die.
15) Restaurant Cart on the Trans-Siberian
This one only just creeps in and is essentially the restaurant cart (which changes) on the Trans-Siberian Railway. This become particularly important when you hit Russia as you will spend 5 days here.
Medicare food and god awful service, buy they do have vodka, Could it bow more Russian?
14) The Czech Bar in Rason
The first of three North Korean bars on the list – Rason us the very special economic zone of North Korea and is technically visa free. In fact when you arrive here from Yanji it is weird even by DPRK standards.
Great beer here as they literally imported a Czech guy to set up the place. I even briefly met him
13) Heaven Supermarket Beijing
Wheel there are two very different incarnations of Heaven Supermarket they both share the same theme. And that is it is basically a liquor store where you can sit in a bar environment and drink cheaply.
One day will recreate this bat somewhere else.
12) North Korean Whole Foods Dandong
OK, so this is a North Korean version of who foods supermarket, but it his lofated in Dandong and on the birder with the DPRK. Here you can eat, drinking get served by North Koreans.
Oh and if that was not enough they also have Taedonggang.
11) LA Cafe Manila
After a nuclear war there would be cockroaches and LA Cafe left. This place survived Covid while the rest off the whole of Ermita died on its ass.
What makes this 24 hour bar so special? Well you finally get to now what it feels like to be a girl….
10) Firewater in PNG
Not a bar, but a secret place where you go to buy this illegal moonshine. This is an iconic thing to do in PNG and is where I got my nickname Paiawara Man.
Such a thing that there is even a song about the stuff.
9) The DMZ Bar in Hue
This place has been going since 1994 and is THE place too go in Hue. They have great food here, but it is all about the nightlife with things pretty much pumping here every night.
And fun fact I also gad a DMZ Bar
8)The Nauru Pub Crawl
Not a single bar, but in fact 4 in the only country where you can do a pub crawl within a day. Thew set included Jules on Deck, the Menem Hotel, Bayview and the Od’n Aiwo Hotel.
7) Railway Street in Hanoi
We do have our favorite bar here, which is called Coffee Chill 96, which sells great moonshine, but the street is so epic you cannot go wring no matter where you actually end up.
Best visited after 8 pm when you can get real up close and personal with the trains, although do try not to get too drunk.
6) The Communist Bar in Beirut
Not a communist themed bar, but quite literally a communist bar that actual communists sit, drink and talk about red stuff. This used to be a hidden gem until I opened my big fat mouth.
We visit here on all of our trips to Beirut.
5) Hospital Bat in Kiev
What can I say bout this place aside from kudos fro still standing. Here they have a famous shot where you are put ins a straight jacket, set on fore and have your head whacked with a barrel. Really it is more fun than it sounds.
Still an epic place and indeed where I spent my birthday last year.
4) The Diplo Pyongyang
The Diplo is part of YPT folklore that it is unlucky not to have come higher. This has been the backdrop for some of the most iconic moments of YPT’s tours to North Korea
And remember what foe sin the Diplo truly stays right where it is, in the Diplo.
3) Armenian Club in Tehran
Whilst moonshine is very much a thing in Iran, contrary top popular belief Christians can drink legally here. This comes at the Armenian Club where people get dressed up to the nines and create an amazing atmosphere.
That they make their own vodka and wine is but a mere bonus. .
2) The Barber Shop Damascus
When you think of Damascus a great night out is not necessarily what you picture, but hey its what you get. This place serves great drinks and acts a bit like a speakeasy too,
Top tip, go to the toilet here, and before you say what I think you will get your head out of the gutter.
1) The Random Access Club in Pyongyang
While it is rumored that you cannot go to the Diplo wthout an invite, you really cannot go to the Random Access Club without one. This is the UN bar in Pyongyang and yet it mostly resembles the type of thing you would see on a student campus.
Getting here is not easy, but it can be done off you know the right people.
And this is our 15 bars to drink in before you die, of course not that we would wish that upon you…….