My Horrible Holiday Quiz | Geography

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. Too smelly! Many tourists visit this area in order to see bubbling mud pools, relax in natural hot springs and admire impressive geysers. But it stinks of rotten eggs! The smell is so pervasive that the town is referred to as "Sulphur City". What is this place called?

Answer: Rotorua, New Zealand

Rotorua is situated on New Zealand's North Island. The rotten egg smell is caused by hydrogen sulphide emissions from the geothermal activity which makes the region so attractive to visitors. Locals claim that the smell will grow on you, the longer you stay, and that you might even miss it when you move on.

2. Too wet! This city in Europe has canals instead of streets, with boats instead of buses and cars, and even the parts that are not normally underwater often get flooded at certain times of year. Which city is this?

Answer: Venice, Italy

The city of Venice is built on over 100 different islands in the Adriatic sea off the north-east coast of Italy. Flooding occurs most often during November and December when there is a particularly high tide combined with other factors such as high rainfall and the wind blowing water into the lagoon Venice resides in. New measures are constantly being devised to protect this unique city from turning into the next Atlantis.

3. Too high up! This ancient Incan capital has beautiful architecture and is a great base to start exploring the many of the fascinating historical sites in the region. However, at 3399m above sea level, altitude sickness can be a problem. Where in the world am I?

Answer: Cusco, Peru

Cusco has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is a major tourist destination. It is close to the ancient city of Machu Picchu which can be reached by a walking trail or by train.

Altitude sickness is caused by lack of oxygen. At higher altitudes, you take in less oxygen when you breathe because the atmospheric pressure is lower. Although the percentage of oxygen in the air is the same as at a lower altitudes, there are fewer particles of everything available, including oxygen, due to the lower density. The symptoms include headaches, drowsiness, dizziness and nausea. The best way to minimise the effects of altitude sickness is to increase altitude slowly to give the body time to acclimatise.

4. Too sandy! There's no denying that the only remaining "Wonder of the Ancient World" is an impressive sight, but there is an awful lot of sand around and it gets into pretty much everything! Where is this ancient structure situated?

Answer: Giza, Egypt

The Great Pyramid at Giza was built in around 2580-2560 BC, making it the oldest pyramid of the three in the Giza Necropolis, as well as the oldest of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. For 3,800 years, it remained unsurpassed as the tallest man-made structure in the world. Impressive indeed, but not as impressive as the ability of sand to invade every nook, cranny and crevice.

5. Too slippery! It might boast spectacular scenery, midnight sun, the Aurora Borealis and impressive shaggy musk oxen, but over 80% of this country is covered in ice. Its tempting sounding name was an early marketing gimmick. Which country/region is it?

Answer: Greenland

The story goes that when Erik the Red discovered Greenland (Groenland as he called it) he picked that name in the hope that it would sound attractive to settlers. The centre of Greenland is completely covered in ice, and only the coastal areas are green. In contrast, glaciers and ice caps cover only about 11% of Iceland.

6. Too busy! This city is home to a huge statue you can climb up inside of, several fascinating museums and a variety of fabulous shopping opportunities. However, with an estimated population of 27,858 people per square mile, and attracting over 50 million visitors a year, it's not surprising that it has been dubbed "The City That Never Sleeps". Which city am I describing?

Answer: New York City, USA

New York was first called "The City That Never Sleeps" in an article in the Fort Wayne News in 1912, but the phrase was popularised by the song "New York, New York" which contains the lyric "I want to wake up, in a city that never sleeps." Originally sung by Liza Minelli in 1977 in the score of a film of the same name, it was made famous by Frank Sinatra a couple of years later.

7. Too dry! One of the world's oldest continuously inhabited cities, as well as one of the highest capital cities in the world, this place has some amazing multi-storey buildings covered in intricate geometric designs. But with an average of only 41 rainy days per year, as well as a complete ban on the sale of alcohol in its country, this is definitely what you'd call a dry city. Which of the following is it?

Answer: Sana'a, Yemen

According to legend, Sana'a was founded by Shem, son of Noah (perhaps he was looking for somewhere he wouldn't get his feet wet, after his flood experience). Thanks to its high elevation (2250m or 7382ft) the temperature is reasonably moderate and constant compared to other cities on the Arabian Peninsula. Sana'a has mean highs of around 28C/83F in June and mean lows of 3C/37F in January (the coldest month).

8. Too rainy! At the right time of year, these coral-fringed islands are a tropical paradise, with white sandy beaches, shady palm trees and clear turquoise blue seas teeming with ocean life. Of course, if you're silly enough to go in the middle of monsoon season then you'll get drenched. Which of the following choices fits this description?

Answer: Perhentian Islands, Malaysia

During November and December the Perhentian Islands off the east coast of Malaysia have an average rainfall of over 600mm of rain per month. It's no wonder that the place is basically closed to tourists between November and January.

9. Too gassy! This amazing deep-blue volcanic crater lake in Central Africa is saturated with carbon dioxide, the same gas that makes soda water fizzy. The trouble is, it's also known as the world's deadliest lake, thanks to a disaster in 1986 where around 1700 people were killed by a sudden large release of carbon dioxide gas. Which deadly lake is this?

Answer: Lake Nyos, Cameroon

Lake Nyos earned a place in the Guinness Book of Records in 2008 when it was dubbed the world's deadliest lake. The lake is carbonated because it lies on an inactive volcano, over the top of a pocket of magma, which leaks carbon dioxide into the water from below. Usually, the carbon dioxide remains at the bottom of the lake, but an event such as a landslide or earthquake can cause the gas to suddenly explode out of the lake.

As carbon dioxide is heavier than air, it rushes along at ground level, suffocating any person or animal in its path.

This is what happened in 1986, killing people and livestock within 25km (16 miles) of the lake. Scientists are working on ways to prevent a similar disaster happening again, using techniques such as degassing.

10. Too broken! Admittedly this is an impressive structure, being the largest amphitheatre ever built, being almost 2000 years old and being right in the centre of of a cosmopolitan capital teeming with incredible art, architecture and culture. But it doesn't even look finished! Half of it's missing! Which ancient building am I talking about?

Answer: The Colosseum, Italy

The Colosseum is situated in the middle of Rome. It was built by the Ancient Romans in between about 72-80AD. Over the years it has been damaged by earthquakes as well as by people taking stones away to use for building.

Source: Author emiloony

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor Tizzabelle before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

My Horrible Holiday Trivia Quiz

It's not like I'm fussy or anything, but everywhere I visited on my around the world trip was really quite horrible!

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