No 419, Spam or Porn: Internet Cafes From Farflung Corners of the Globe

While living in Morocco last year, we made a trip to the Sahara Desert. The last town before the desert was a scruffy little outpost called M’Hamid. Because we’re self-employed, we needed to check our email. Happily, even M’Hamid had a (small, grungy) internet cafe:

Farflung travelers know that, wherever you are on the globe, there always seems to be an internet cafe nearby. I remember admiring one cafe owner in the small South African town of Hermanus. His lazy life of surfing and occasional tech support for young, hot Australians looked pretty appealing.

I got to wondering about where some of the most distant and remote internet cafes around the globe. Off I go to the Flickr.

To begin, here’s one from the other side of the Sahara, from Siwa Oasis in Egypt (photo by Jeff Werner):

A worrying backup power suppy in Manali, India (photo by alles-schlumpf):

A diversified business in Johannesburg, South Africa (photo by Esther Dyson–yes, that Esther Dyson):

There are more after the jump.

A cafe in Cusco, near Machu Picchu in Peru (photo by Daniel Lobo):

Next up is a rickety roadside stand in the state of Rajasthan in India (photo by Dave Morris–also check out these nice architectural shots):

Here’s a ‘cybercafe’, as they’re often called, on a United States Air Force base in Baghdad. That’s a lot of crew cuts in one tiny room (photo by Fotero):

Some sheep hanging out in front of a closed-up cafe in Gambia (photo by Victor de la Fuente):

Speaking of livestock, here’s a goat outside of a Ghanan cafe (photo by jntolva):

Monks check their email in Laos (photo by PIMboula):

A cafe in dire circumstances, at a refugee camp near Tindouf, Algeria (photo by Saharauiak)

It’s hardly remote, but I just liked this moody black and white shot of a London internet cafe (photo by Richard Holden):

No list like this would be complete without a ‘PC Bang’, the ubiquitous Korean internet cafes (photo by tawalker):

This sign was apparently on the wall of an internet cafe in Nigeria, home of the 419 scam (photo by Kate Raynes-Goldie):

And here are three more peculiar signs to finish things off (photos by tomeppy, contraption and matildaben, respectively) :

Near the end of writing this post, I also found this great Flickr group of 50-odd internet cafes.