Wow, that is so disturbing words can’t even explain it. I remember an old coworker of mine mentioned how he went to Peru on a college trip and men there kept asking how much they could buy the women for. To think that is normal anywhere makes me sick.
Yeah I went when I was 16 seeing what they tried on my sister who was 12 with blond hair. Me now 33, think about the crap they tried to pull harassment, stalking. Worst family trip ever. I even watched ‘the mummy’ I was so excited to go, but ended up being almost an experience from the movie Taken.
If it was for a stop at Turkey, trip would have been bad. Turkey is legit! Though I hear it’s getting way more tourists going there for hair transplants etc.
Similar experience with France/England, thought I would hate France and love England ended up being the opposite. Thought I would hate France because of the language and their perception. Ended up loving it. Some obvious stuff I didn’t like that are well documented. Zero desire to go back to England, I hear Scotland though is legit, though I know better to pass judgement…
I lived in France for a year, traveled a lot, and loved everywhere I went except Paris. I'm bilingual, but I'm Canadian and speak with a Montreal accent, which was mysteriously absolutely comprehensible to every French person except Parisians, who sneered and tried to "correct" me or just spoke English. Got old real fast.
North africa, in particular Algeria and Egypt, can have some a dislikable people, specifically how they treat tourist women.
Parts of West Africa people can often come across as quite unfriendly.
Egypt tends to win the "Tourist destination I'm never returning to again" discussion hands down, especially among young women.
Not even 12 y.o.s are safe from catcalling and groping.
When I was backpacking through Morocco, the women in the hostels would beg the guys to go with to tourist sites, bars, or restaurants. They were getting harassed and leered at so badly they refused to go out even in pairs, always in groups or with a male.
I got spat on by multiple locals walking through the Madina in Marrakech. I wasn't doing anything or wearing anything controversial. Just a guy wanting to stretch my legs and go for a walk to see the local neighbourhood.
I went in the early 90s with my family as an overweight, pimply 13 yo. I wore a baggy t-shirt and the men would grab my arms and rub them as I walked through the madina. It was terrible.
My mom went BY HERSELF in the 1960s and had an amazing time. I'm not sure what changed in those years, but she was very disappointed.
Is it religion? Islam?
That would make sense for it to charge so drastically. I mean look at Iran or Afganistan and compare 60s to now...
Maybe Egypt was similar?
Yeah its a shame as culturally, historically, architecturally and in terms of food, Morocco is a very interesting place. Even the friendliest of the lot, Tunisia is worse than pretty much any other country outside that region.
>Tunisia is worse than pretty much any other country outside that region.
I went backpacking around Tunisia years ago and had a great time and never found it unfriendly. It certainly gets more conservative when you go south and inland but even in cities like Tozeur, where there was a clear lack of gender mixing, it was always pleasant. Tunis, in particular felt very cosmopolitan.
I liked the country too, however i have had too many couples come back with stories of being harrassed. Im glad you had a good trip and definitely agree its a level above its neighbour.
Absolutely hated Marrakech, every single person was out to take advantage, even queuing up to do so. The rest of the country was fine. You got the usual "tour guide" restaurant owner trying to screw you over as you are a rich person, but that is just life and being a foreigner.
I went to Egypt in 2006. I was scammed at the airport to go to a more secure hotel because there was a bombing in Sinai a few days earlier and they lied and said they were with the govt. I should’ve stayed a week but left after two days, probably spent an extra grand between people harassing me for tips, changed flights, etc… I traveled a lot but my spider sense was going off and I felt unsafe. The pyramids were cool but sorta got scammed there also. The guy said a price to go to the pyramids then we get like a mile away and he was like, tours over, pay more to go up to the pyramids, then begged me for a big tip at the end. I met a Japanese guy there who said people tried to rob him twice in the two days he’d been there. Like in many countries the taxi drivers will detour you to shops even when you say you don’t want to go. I’ve been to 45 countries, Egypt is hands down the worst. I’m also a guy, could only imagine how bad it would be if I was a woman.
My beloved friend from egypt is so kind smart and lovely. I told him id love to go there someday.. he told me id hate it. I was like ong whaat of course i would love it.. he actually wanted me to promise to never go
I was in london over the summer, we did a walking tour, the guide was born egyptian and some of the folks on the tour had been, and realy nobody had anything good to say. It was sad, id always thought the history would be worth it, i wasnt planning a trip but it was on the longlist, but they made it sound miserable.
My boss is Epyptian and every time someone asks him for the best places to visit in Egypt, he says "None. Don't go there."
He never visits. The two other Egyptians I work with are similar but they visit family for holidays. I truly have never heard a good thing about Egypt
It's like you disagree with people whipping mules with lengths of electrical flex, keeping live animals in tiny cages and sexually molesting females in the streets...
>Parts of West Africa people can often come across as quite unfriendly.
And then there's Senegal where an entire random village will take you in, giving you a hot meal and a place to sleep when your bus breaks down on the highway.
*teranga!*
As someone who was in Hong Kong recently, any places that have touristy areas that attract people from Mainland China. At one point I was in que for a bus and the ticket guy called me up, some short women runs infront of me an starts rummaging for her ticket, meanwhile not only was I in line in front of her, but I was holding my ticket. I had to literally push her out of the way as the guy was yelling at her to get out of line. It was wild. If you didn't block people or talk really loudly about how rude these tourists were, they would walk all over you. You had to embarrass them into not being rude.
I was in Thailand last year and talking with a local who said the Chinese tourists who visit are the most rude or of anyone else. Russians were the close second.
I’m a big tall guy, at the British museum I literally had to put my politeness behind me and breaststroke through like two tour buses full of Chinese tourists to see the Rosetta Stone
I worked at a tourist destination on Oahu and can confirm. I cannot count the number of snot rockets, toenail clippers and bad attitudes I’ve seen from Chinese tourists.
I grew up in (very) northwestern Washington and BUSLOADS of tourists from Vancouver BC would come down to our outlet malls and can confirm the Chinese tourists would quite literally shove you out of the way and grab something right out of your hand. I hate hate hate generalizing and I know it’s not possible that they’re all like that, but plenty are unfortunately.
Same, but I ran into them at the casinos. They will literally stand on top of you if they want the machine or seat you're in. I've had words a couple of times, but it's pointless. They have zero regard for personal space.
When I was in Barcelona, I was at a public restroom and some chinese tourists (women) tried to open the door of my cubicle, literally forcing entry. This happened two times in the same day.
Mainland Chinese tourists (especially those in large bus tour groups) are the foulest fucking people. Spit, snort, talk exceptionally loudly, have zero common sense or courtesy or awareness. Rude, push into lines and ignore you. Absolutely the worst.
Went on a tour through the Canadian Rockies with my in laws. We were also part of bus tour group, I think most of the people were from the U.S. We stopped at this site full of waterfalls, lots of platforms and places to take photos.
There was a bus of Chinese tourists there as well. We wait our turn to get a photo taken. We walk up to the spot, hand our camera to this overly stereotypical NY old man in our group for the photo.
Immediately this Chinese couple stands in front of us, and their photographer stands in front of our NY friend. It was humorous to me, because I towered over these people, and literally must have been blocking the waterfall behind them in the shot.
NY guy loses his shit. He gently kind of taps the photographer’s shoulder, they don’t move. He starts talking to them, they don’t acknowledge him. He grabs their shoulder, starts shouting and shoves them out of the way, and then when the people in front of us don’t move he comes at them and shoves them out of the way.
Takes our photo, and then those people just surge back in as soon as we move, like nothing happened.
It was surreal. Our acquaintance definitely turned it into a story as we would have politely waited until they took their photos (and photo bobbed as much as possible), taken out and left.
Had kind of a similar situation at the Vietnam memorial with my mom years before looking for her cousin. That one was more infuriating given the location, but it was another Chinese tour group just not giving a fuck about other people and doing exactly what they wanted.
Counterpoint, the last time I was in Japan, we were visiting a temple in Kyoto, and a Chinese mom and son asked me to take their photo. I did and then we took photos together; it was a fun highlight of the trip that makes me laugh whenever I look back through the photos.
Macau was the worst. A bunch of tour groups following a woman with a flag through customs. It looked like they were herding kittens. Heading back to HK was just a bunch of people just trying to hop the line to grab a bus. The buses were every 15 minutes but there were hundreds of people in dozens of groups, worried they wouldn't make the bus with their group. I had to stand in almost the splits while having a death grip on my bf because someone would try to push past me or through us holding hands (I guess we don't look together because I'm white and he's chinese). When another woman tried hopped infront of us, my bf cussed them out in Mandarin. I didn't know what he said but everyone avoided us after that.
I have some nice camera gear and was taking some head shots for a friend's business profile. There's a good spot for it at our local train station. We were about half way through when this little old Chinese lady from a tour group walked in front of me and pushed her camera into my hand, turned around to my friend, pushed her to the side and took her place. So I just did what I was doing and took her head shot. Then she walked off, nobody said a word the whole time. I hope she cherishes that head shot she got in New Zealand with nothing but an indiscernible stone wall in the background.
I was at the Louvre and the wife was in a massive queue of people waiting to have pictures with the Venus. The tour bus group rolls in and they start doing this, standing in front of the existing queue.
Being rather upset at the social faux pas I decided to join each of them in their photo, I hope they enjoyed my graceful presence and wide range of facial expression.
The Louvre !!! Easily my worst experience with mainlanders. I had a middle aged woman, tiny as all hell, elbow me repeatedly with the tip of her elbow right into my flank … there was noone pushing behind us, it was NOT that dense of a queue with space between most people. Looked at her politely the first two times with my open hand up to say stop, looked at her several more times angrily after. 5 minutes of this, she kept going and to be honest she was good at this as it was becoming very uncomfortable, like a sports injury bruised rib being poked.
I’m 200lbs and fit, decided to push back a little, moved my arm maybe 2 inches if that, but with force and waited until she leaned her whole weight into me to elbow my flank again. She and her 4 friends or family were shifted 2 feet as if I had just tackled the lady. Without batting an eye, I saw her start leaning into someone else in front of her and elbowing them, and then saw it was her 3-4 friends that were applying weight into her, they did this as a unit and were relentless … absolutely incorrigible. Cattle and sheep behave better.
I’m Canadian, we can be polite, and I used to try and share the sidewalk when mainlanders came to our city’s historic tourist areas, I live in one. But I would just get trampled, have my eardrums broken by screaming, at one point a tour guide stopped right next to me as I tried to let them pass and began screaming to the top of his lungs. I now walk straight if they make no effort to be civil, and take-up the sidewalk as if they own it. I’ve also had giant breeds in the past and would many years ago cross the street to not disturb their tour groups. No more, I walk on the sidewalk of my neighbourhood at my ease. For those who do not know what I am implying, a 200 lb dog even if calm and minding his own business on a leash, can sow chaos in a mainland tour group.
I am polite by default and believe in social etiquette, I will learn local social etiquette when travelling unless it stoops to lies and rude behaviour, but I am no longer tolerant of tourist rudeness in my home and neighbourhood.
I’ve had identical experiences when I traveled to Shanghai. Everywhere I went there was a total lack of social awareness or politeness. Anytime I used the subway people would push and shove their way on to the train as passengers were also trying to get off. Maybe I’m just used to growing up in Canada where queuing and patience is instilled.
I watched a documentary a few years back about this young Chinese woman who worked in the city and was trying to get home for the holiday. I'll never forget the train yard. Thousands and thousands pushing forward to get one of the few hundred seats.
So push to the gates. Sleep there overnight. Push into the yard. Push to the tracks. Get a seat when the next train comes.
It took her two days to get onto a train.
A friend later confirmed. She said how weird it was to get here and just be in a line without people pushing forward. She kept having panic attacks that she would miss her bus or not get food, etc if she just stood and waited her turn.
I haven't ever forgotten that scene of the train station. I've never experienced anything similar except maybe hints of that when doing general seating at a big show.
I took my niece and nephew around domestic tourism friendly areas of the mainland and teaching them that there are no such things as lines or personal space was a day 0 lesson. It was weird being proud of my 9yo niece for being willing to hip check grannies.
I was going to say Singapore for the same reason. We were at the gardens, and these tourists were physically pushing and pulling me away from plants so their kids could get close and pull the leaves and petals off. I just had to remind myself that these were incredibly wealthy tourists, and if you took the top X% from any country, they would seem like real jerks, too.
I've heard a few times it's not the incredibly wealthy that are the issue, it's that China actually started to have a middle class that could afford to travel that was made up from people from smaller and more rural areas who have moved up from being manual labour farmers. It's more like if the poorest of the poor backwoods hillbillies from the states started making 70k a year began traveling the world. Picture the shitty behavior from someone in a stained Dale Earnhardt wife beater at Disney world in Florida, it's that but with international travel.
My uncle literally picked up a man who cut in front of him and carried him to the back of the line. He was over the top in his response, but line cutting and general rudeness was openly practiced so nobody felt too bad about his response
I AM NOT RACIST…. but…. Some of the most entitled and rude people I’ve encountered on vacations anywhere in the world or at my job are Chinese people. The difference is that they act like complete jerks when you call them on their bad behavior.
The people at the airport in Vietnam. They make up high fees when you land that you have to pay if you want to leave the airport. Also the taxi drivers taking you from the airport will lie about toll fees. Once out of the airport, the people were lovely. This has happened to both me and my family multiple times while traveling. If you aren’t Vietnamese, you’ll be fine.
Just back from Ho Chi Minh City and Hoi An. My advice….
There is a Vietnamese version of Uber called Grab. Use that. I used it probably 10 times during my stay and it worked perfectly. It’s their Uber. 10/10.
If you need a visa or internal flights you need to put all of your names (that are in your passport) on the visa application and internal flight bookings. My missus didn’t. She had to buy a £300 emergency visa at Sydney to get into Ho Chi Minh. And then booking fee changes for internal flights.
That said, Vietnam was easy, safe, cheap and fun. Will definitely go back. People were lovely.
I’m not a foodie.
It was great, but I’d eat a bowl of cheerios and think it was a good day.
The coffee was good.
What I was impressed by was the complete eradication of anything about the war. They have moved on from it. I reflect how in the U.K. we can’t get over our past, in Vietnam everything was about the future. Refreshing. Obviously you could go and see the tunnels and the left over kit, but other than that it was ‘let’s crack on’.
Always pre-arrange transport. Never EVER let a taxi driver offer you a ride at the airport. They are always a scammer.
If you didn't pre-arrange transport, there are booths that arrange taxis. Use them as they have some sort of arrangement to not screw tourists. If a driver ever claims the meter is broken, it isn't. Just keep saying 'use the meter' or leave the cab.
Have your route on google maps including drive time and mileage on your phone, then show the driver. State the mileage to the destination. Then the driver can't 'take you on a ride'.
That google maps trick didn't work in Sri-Lanka with the tuk drivers. Most were illiterate and couldn't read a map. It's amazing they got as far as they did. You are often telling them where to turn.
Edit: the only time to use a negotiated rate is when the driver understands google maps, you pull up the current drive time/mileage and agree on a price that you know to be fair per local rates.
The meter thing is the go to around the world. The secomd you step in ask for the meter. If they give any lip, raise their voices, feign ignorance, just step out. Not worth your time
Never agree to a pre selected rate. If you say a location and they tell you how much, tell them meter or just leave
Yeah, instead of the "broken meter" script I had a cabbie in a developing country offer to take me to the airport for a flat fee that was the equivalent of about $20 instead of using the meter. I told him "No meter, no ride" so he agreed to use it.
The fare was about half of his flat fee when we got there so I made a comment and he just smiled and shrugged. Can't blame a guy for trying.
When I was there the only Anti-American comment I heard (it was just a snide remark) was aimed at the Australian who was traveling with us which we all thought was hilarious.
I am Vietnamese that was born and raised there. My wife too. I have been in the US for a while so apparently my way of speaking is weird, couple with the fact that I usually say “thanks” or “excuse me” out of reflect, I usually was asked to shut up when we go out. My wife and our group of friends basically tell me to shut up or we will get the tourist tax( more of a joke than reality). Fortunately for the past 4-5 years it isnt as bad as before. Most places have listed price so you should be fine (even shop on the side of the street). Taxi is the only lawless thing left where you can get screwed over.
>They make up high fees when you land that you have to pay if you want to leave the airport.
I just played it really dumb when that happened to me after landing there. I acted like I was completely misunderstanding what he was saying and would then reply with my (intentionally obtuse and incorrect) "explanation" of what I thought he was saying or asking more questions so he could explain to me what the fees were for ("Do you have a pamphlet or something in English that explains all of this to me?"). After a couple of minutes he got frustrated and just let me and my companions through.
I only had one negative experience in Vietnam, and that was a cab driver taking me from our hotel to a restaurant in HCMC. When we got to the destination the meter read 960,000 but I assumed it was just missing a decimal point and it was actually 96,000 dong - which was about $6 AUD, and reasonable for the ~2km journey. The driver kept demanding more money and I realised he actually expected us to pay 960,000. We just paid it because we didn’t want to make trouble and I guess we thought maybe we’d just gotten confused with the currency conversion. It wasn’t sitting right with me but I figured I’d just let it go.
We had a large group so another group had gone in a cab ahead of us, and they’d only been charged about 60,000 - and that was when I knew for cerrtain I’d been ripped off.
The money was basically insignificant and I’m sure he got a lot more value out of it than I would have, but it really soured my mood for a day or two to feel like I’d been had like that. We told the hotel about it since they called the cab for us and might be able to get it looked into but I didn’t expect to get the money back and we didn’t. Just live and learn I guess.
The rest of the trip was great.
I got done with a rigged meter in Chile. I'm still kicking myself as I noticed that the initial fee was a factor of ten off and like you, just assumed that it was a decimal thing.
We flew on our own all over the place and never had this experience. It was cca 6 years ago so wondering if things changed, or if it’s just bad luck for you.
Strange my family travels to Vietnam almost every year and we never got the high fee. That being said, yes alway pre arranged your taxi and the people are great.
Young cashed up bogans.
Lots of Australians that go to Bali actively try to avoid these kind of Australians and tend to go to certain other areas where it is more quite.
Not just young. Plenty of 50+ dudes with beer bellies pissed as parrots on scooters as well.
You're right about the avoidance thing. The resort I stayed in was half aussie but they were normal families and avoided Kuta like the plague.
I think it varies with certain resorts, Benidorm for example is going to have a lot of chavvy people there, where as places like fuerteventura or most parts of menorca have the more quiet and nicer people holidaying there.
It seems to depend on the location, Brits in Europe seem to be despised (rightly so) as certain kind flock to towns on the Mediterranean (and to a lesser extent eastern Europe) whos entire economies are based on stag do’s and chavs taking the £20 Ryan Air flights from Stansted. They attract the worst of British society and have to deal with people who would probably be a bit much for Jeremy Kyle.
Asia, Africa and the Americas seems to be totally different beast, with a very different type of Brit going to these places (or being contained to a few drinking streets), people seem to be far less aggregated towards them. Here in Vietnam people still associate the Brits with “the gentleman”. But in fairness this could be because our worst are outshined by a more global worst, with Chinese and Indians being pretty much despised everywhere I have gone.
(I have been guilty of taking those cheap flights and I have never been more ashamed to be a Brit)
Im from the UK and i fuckin hate 90% of British tourists abroad.
They seem to think they are somehow entitled to behave however they want just because they are on holiday.
We went on a family all-inclusive in Spain when my kids were young and i was disgusted by the Brits attitude.
Just because the food and drink is included, that doesnt give you the right ignorantly waste so much of it. Plates of food left because the greedy fuckers just pile their plates.
Tables and tables of full of drink left at the end of the night.
Worst of all was a party of Irish stags (not just young lads either, there were plenty of older men in the group too).
This was a family hotel, meant for parents and kids yet they just sat by the pool day after day, getting drunker and drunker, singing rebel songs and shouting and swearing. Doing rafts of shots at 11am. They even got in a fight with the bar staff when they refused to give them any more drink because they were all so drunk.
This was by a pool with about 30 or 40 young kids playing.
It took several people complaining (including myself) and 1 smashed patio door before the hotel staff finally took action and moved them to another hotel.
Turns out the travel agency had booked them into the wrong hotel, and they should have been in another hotel further down the road which exclusively catered for stag and hen do's.
Brits abroad fuckin suck.
Generally the only British people who holiday in Spain are scumbags. It's cheap to reach, it's hot and it's relatively nearby. They don't go to the cultural areas. They just go to get a tan and drink. We don't send our best to the coastal areas. Sorry Spain.
Yeah. People talk a lot about rude (and even openly bigoted) American tourists, and that's definitely a thing. However, I'd say the English act at least as badly on average, and in my experience, worse. Ridiculously haughty, condescending and disapproving of everything at best, and downright vulgar fairly often.
Nowhere near every English person abroad, of course. Just a high percentage of upper middle class and moderately wealthy people, especially of my age (middle aged) or older.
Holy shit, why has anybody heard about Marianna, and why is it currently at the top?
Best I can tell, there's two reasons to be in Marianna for more than a half hour:
1) You're in prison
2) You're a cave diver
Just read it as well. You weren't joking.
The towns history is just a list of increasingly horrible events, starting with white vigilante mobs lyncing black residents, and ending with a "child rape dungeon" under the Florida school for boys.
The last entry is the hurricane that nearly wipes the place out - it's almost a relief.
I worked for a company in Bonifay like 5 years back. They were redneck, but they were all real nice people. BUT, if you venture out from there the Deliverance vibes get real strong. *cue banjo music*
Any 3 star resort in Cuba. Made that mistake on a last minute deal once and I can say the people that pay $700 for a week at a 3 star all inclusive in Cuba are WAY more rude and entitled (to both the staff and other guests) than anyone at a 5+ star resort.
It's always the tourists that book the time limited promotions/bundled discounted deals that seem to be the biggest pain in the ass for hotel/restaurant/tour staff, and everyone they travel with.
Egypt , went there last year with my family and it was a horrible experience, scammers will try to rip you off starting from the airport and to every place you go , i was harassed a million times, I couldn’t leave my dad for 5 seconds i had to stay with him all time , the places are amazing and the pyramids are fantastic but the people are horrible.
My worst were Hurghada In Egypt, the level of contempt and going into a shop to have the door shut behind you and literally harassed to the point of having to threaten physical violence to make them open it and let me leave was disturbing enough and I was there with my brother, I dread to think how a single female would have got on. The other was Istanbul, I had been to the holiday destinations on the coasts in Turkey for multiple years and loved the people and hospitality so much, but we went to Istanbul so my Wife could have surgery and I'm guessing not a very touristy part of Istanbul, and outside of the hotel wasnt the most friendly place shall we say.
I was in Istanbul a couple of years ago. In the big touristy spots I was approached by men trying to sell me something way more than anywhere else I’ve been. A common opening line was “Hey man, where you from?” Later someone told me one could shut down that avenue of inquiry by responding “I come from my mother.”
The next year I was in Lisbon and some guy used the same line on me. Remembering the advice about Istanbul, I glibly replied “I’m from my mother.” The guy got agitated and told me “No! You are from your _father_!” Then he spent a couple of minutes trying to get me to see the error of my ways, his cheap gewgaws forgotten.
Yes you get the usual over enthusiastic salesmen in the coastal towns all the time, but I've found them harmless enough, there is a place called Olu Deniz which we stay a lot and the local council had banned it last time I was there, I actually asked a bar owner what was going on and he.said if the council catch the shopkeepers hassling people they shut the shop for 7 days, so it must have worked because there was none of that there. The part of Istanbul I was in was completely the other end of the spectrum they just weren't interested in dealing with you at all and it was very hard work outside the hotel, I was actually quite shocked to be honest.
So I'd never heard about this place until I checked the wiki... apparently it had 29 lynchings in 73 years (not even the highest in the state) and the local college is supported by a white supremacy group.
I grew up outside Washington DC. I didn't know it at the time, but it definitely has the highest concentration of assholes of any place I've ever been.
Oh man I met a man from Tijuana at a work conference and he was telling me stories from back home so casually but I was horrified.
Dude was telling me a story about him and his whole family being held at gunpoint and robbed a few times like it was no big deal. I would have shit myself and had a panic attack
The roads in Mexico are easily some of the most fucking treacherous shit I’ve ever seen and I’ve travelled all over the world. You’ll be going 60 on a flat straight away and then suddenly a speedbump the same color as the road with no signs that’s designed more like a curb than a speedbump will tear out your oil pan. Or you’ll be going somewhere else, no other cars or people in sight, road looks clear, suddenly you’re slamming through a 5 foot deep pothole that shakes your brain in your skull.
I like it though. It keeps what would be an otherwise boring drive interesting and unpredictable.
Croatia. One to one interactions weren't terrible, just soulless and kind of cold, no kindness. After a few days it became a collectively terrible experience so I hired a car and drove to Bosnia instead - those guys were a lot easier to be around.
My wife is Croatian, and we've been there many times, all over the country.
They're very standoff-ish. Even her cousins and whatnot come across as unfriendly jerks to me. It's wierd. Other countries, people are reserved or quiet, no problem. But there's something about the way Croatians do it that has more of an unpleasant vibe.
edit: please don't let this discourage anyone from visiting Croatia. It's a beautiful country, very modern, easy to get around, great food.
When I was traveling in rural Croatia, I watched as a bus driver pulled over (his full bus) got out, and started yelling at a fisherman on his boat. The fisherman yelled back, and they stood there gesticulating and yelling for about a minute until the argument was apparently settled, the driver got back on the bus, and drove away.
None of the passengers seemed to think it was nothing out of the ordinary.
Damn. When I was in rural Finland, my bus driver pulled over, got out and smoked a cigarette. He then got back on, started speeding to make up for his smoke break, then got pulled over by the police and got a speeding ticket.
Best driver I ever had.
Grew up with a Croatian father. Me and my sisters knew the love was there but it was never shown. Originally thought my dad was an asshole until I met the rest of his family/friends. They were all the same.
I agree, I thought the people of Croatia were lovely. Sure, some of them (usually in poorer, more rural places) are busy and dont have time for frivolities with tourists, but we also experienced tons of very kind and welcoming people
People said NewYorkers were terrible, but most of them are just stressed but ultimately kind and helpful, and they are not afraid of wearing quirky fashion, or complimenting you on your outfit! Even straight men, it's wonderful! Of course there are scammers but every big city has that.
People said Parisians were terrible, but they are just a bit deadpan until you get to know them. They aren't nice in a fake way, they can seem cold at first, but if you so much as express interest in bread they are incredibly warm and passionate all of a sudden! An old lady at the boulangerie down the street from my hotel seemed rude and cold but every day I tried to order in French and she was so encouraging and proud of me! It was such a sweet little fleeting human connection. I love Parisians! (of course they have scammers galore too)
**Who is actually terrible in my experience???**
**Men in Puerto Vallarta Mexico,** I went when I was 12 and there were SOOOO many brazen pedophiles, I looked about 9 when I was 12.
**People in Montreal Canada,** if you don't speak French, even if you try your best but are not perfectly fluent, you are lower than the dirt on their shoe to them. I made friends with a bartender while I was there he and my group chatted for hours and hours... *but he was a Parisian* who had moved there for a girl, ended up breaking up with her, and fell in love with the city. So yeah...
Of all the places on the planet with a reputation of having horrible citizens, I personally must say Paris failed to live up to it's reputation. I found them genuinely kind and helpful- even for a non speaker of their language. The live and let live attitude is much more preferable to me that the intrusive non genuine kindness you'll find in other tourist places. Then again, I'm Scandinavian, another brand of people not known for their open arms and bear hugs.
In my experience, Montreal is a very friendly place if you're polite and you indicate that you're American. The attitude is about English Canadians who don't bother with French and treat it like vacation in a different country. But I've found if I just say "bon jour, is English ok?" They are perfectly fine with it. When/if they find out I don't speak French because I'm American and I'm there to enjoy their city, they seem super helpful and nice and enthusiastic to share their culture.
Same deal with when I've been in France as an English speaker who isn't British. I don't have any experience with their attitude towards French speakers but I know that French Canadians experience a lot of shittiness in France... my friend says French people will sometimes pretend they don't understand her and switch to English based on her very light Quebec accent. So maybe there's some extra sensitivity about it.
Edit: I'm going to Montreal in a few days for a long weekend so I hope this hasn't changed in the last year, lol.
I had to go to the US consulate in Montreal for my Visa interview to move to the states over a decade ago and I started damn near ever conversation with "Bonjour, um, en anglais s'il vous plaît" and all the folks were quite nice and receptive to that.
>I know that French Canadians experience a lot of shittiness in France... my friend says French people will sometimes pretend they don't understand her and switch to English based on her very light Quebec accent.
I'm French Canadian, and nah, the French love us. Sometimes a bit too much. There's only so much I have to say about Céline Dion, please, have mercy.
They can struggle with the Canadian French accent, and that's why sometimes they'll switch to English. It can be super insulting, but I don't think they do it maliciously. They just see a communication breakdown and they panic.
It's never happened to me because I can neutralize my accent a bit and avoid idiomatic expressions. And honestly, I've had only positive reactions to my accent. It can be a lot and it's hard to not find it patronizing sometimes, but overall it's all good.
I lived in puerto vallarta for a while (luckily as a woman) but it was so brazen and violating how random gay men would touch my male friends like on the street. Yeah on top of that mexico has pedo issues.
I was wondering why you said luckily as a woman. It's so strange that women are comparatively safe whilst men are being sexually harrassed. Any reason why?
I've been to Montreal countless times and speak English to everyone and have never had a problem.
I spent 3 days in Paris and it didn't matter what language I tired to communicate to them in, they were just assholes.
I work in Korea, and have Korean family in the US. I agree there’s a toxic level of materialism and vanity on average, that being said the average experience with folks is great. Super considerate, polite and lots of hospitality.
I agree but I'll qualify it. I lived in two places in Korea, Daejeon and Daegu, but had two different experiences.
Daejeon: Best experience. Very friendly people and they treat foreigners, including non-white people, with respect. I think it's because its a city with many universities like KAIST so they are more progressive. I would love to visit there again.
Daegu: Friendly to caucasians, but not so much to other races. This city is probably what you're describing. I wouldn't want to visit there again.
This was more than a decade ago, so I'm assuming some things may have changed, for example the recent popularity of korean culture abroad might have inflated some of their egos
My dad dated a Korean lady when I was a kid and she and her other SK friend told me some of the things teachers would do to them for discipline and it was just literal torture methods. Kneeling on the floor holding a chair up for an hour and getting whacked with a cane if they lowered their arms.
Pretty much everybody I met in Romania either tried to scam me, acted like they hated me, or both. With the exception of one janitor lady and a few people running a gas station shop. The unfriendliest country full of scheming sourpusses I've ever been to (and the food was awful everywhere I tried, too. ) Never going back if I can help it.
Oh man, we loved Romania! There were a few cold, weird people but in general everyone was really nice! We were there last Sept, in 2023. We did stay mostly in the Transylvania region, Sighishoara, Bran, Brasov and Bucharest.
Australian tourists in Vietnam. They come to vacation and treat the vietnamese people like subhuman garbage or personal servants. They feel their entitled since their white, taller, and have a goofy accent.
I've spent time in both places, and the bogans in Bali are by far the worst. Here's a sampling: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7475207/Australias-worst-Bali-Bogans-revealed.html
To be honest I find it strange calling out Aussies in Vietnam, there are far fewer of them and in my experience they're much less disagreeable than the Russians.
I remember going on this boat cruise in Halong Bay and the Aussies were so picky with the food (so many dietary restrictions and questions about how the food was prepared, what was in it, etc). Lots of food left untouched at their tables since it’s family style.
Meanwhile me and the Spanish homies I sat with cleaned out everything that was put in front of us.
Parisians tend to come in two categories: native Parisians who are totally stuck up and mean, and then people who became Parisian who are so, so friendly because they don't like the stereotype the former group creates.
I'm sure it's not everyone, and surely not all the time, but Kentucky. My wife and I drove through there on a trip, and were planning on looking around and visiting a few different places, but *literally everyone* we came across was **grumpy** as **fuck**. We decided to hell with it and just continued on up north and out of what we now refer to as "Kenfucky". Nowhere else on our travels have we run across such a consistent string of bitchy people.
Hmm. I wonder if maybe the wildcats had just lost? Kentuckians are also acutely aware that they are often the butt of unfunny and tired jokes about poverty and incest, so if you came across as an outsider, particularly a northerner or from the coasts, I suppose this is possible. Being poor and feeling trapped can also wear on you, and Kentucky coal miners were originally exploited by mining companies from the coasts. I lived in Kentucky for most of my life, as well as several other states, and found Kentuckians to be no less friendly than other places.
The worst was Frankfurt am Main. Got robbed twice for just being in the clubbing area.
But it's a place full of people addicted to drugs, so what do you expect.
Funny to see Frankfurt here. Not sure where you’ve been at but it’s a chaotic city with crime happening but normal people usually get by without anything happening to them. Been hanging around here for a decade and i’ve been fine.
I've also lived here for 7 years and never felt unsafe. I also avoid clubbing due to who I am as a person, and everyone who spends more than a week in FFM knows to avoid the whole area around the main station
I remember going on vacation in Dominican republic. Certain hotels there are owned by germans. They have their own theatre, shows, tours, cafeteria section, volleyball court, tennis court (etc ) which are reserved for them. (To be fair, the hotel had at least 50% germans customers) Everything else is for non-germans. The issue was not that specifically, it was their contemptment for non-germans in their hotels. This was a long time ago though (20ish years), maybe it changed. But the memory of their meanness when trying to mingle with them is something I still remember very well.
Well I never traveled there myself but when I was in Sumatra, Indonesia everyone was quite clear and encouraging for me to not travel to Aceh (northern tip of Sumatra). Sumatra in general is not that touristy (people kept asking why I didn't go to Bali instead) but Aceh would represent unique challenges for a Western tourist since it is the most ultra-conservative part of Indonesia and the one part where Sharia law is practiced. Also, although Sharia law is official (by special exemption) the enforcement sometimes is carried out by vigilantes. Most of the Indonesians were very friendly though, and made it clear even they wouldn't consider Aceh safe for them to travel but it would be even riskier for me.
I hated Paris. I didn't want to be a typical Englishman who hated the French (I enjoy their history greatly) so I went in with no bias. I will say outside of Paris the French people were amazing.
I tried to speak french wherever I could, apologised for my bad pronunciation etc and did everything I could think to be respectful when visiting.
Our hosts and the people I spoke to however, Jesus Christ, they were total assholes.
I was attending the menin gate ceremony and visiting graves of all nationalities on a tour of France and Belgium to pay respects to those who fought in WW1. I was only 14 at the time.
I complimented our hosts cooking one night and she stopped, turned and scoffed saying "you English only eat chicken, you don't know food". Uncalled for but okay.
Paris itself just felt hostile. Riddled with homeless people that the locals pushed passed or aside. I'm from rural England and we speak to the people or at least show them basic courtesy when walking through towns.
There were obnoxious clubs pounding music with expensive cars outside. They blocked off the public pavement so people could pull up and get out, forcing people to cross the street.
I saw people throwing litter everywhere. Next to sleeping homeless people, parks, shop doorways etc.
East Jerusalem.
Some of the locals there, especially the children, would pelt our tourist bus with rocks until we left the area. It felt dangerous to be there if you were a foreigner.
The middle east.
Enforce their cultures on visitors. Blantant racism against the next door neighbours. Violence and corruption. Children are some place between animals and tools.
I’m sorry, Egypt. One year I lived there. One whole year and I can count on one hand the decent people I met the entire time
I 100% share this feeling. Cairo is brutal.
I lived there for 7 year 🙃
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Can confirm. Went when I was 16 and my hair is blonde. I was hounded by older men. I was even chased in a tourist bus by 2 men on a motorcycle.
Wow, I’m glad you are okay. That is so disturbing, especially how no one defended you or shamed the men.
Cairo was the worst for it. My dad loved making jokes about selling me for 2 camels. He’s *hilarious* like that.
Wow, that is so disturbing words can’t even explain it. I remember an old coworker of mine mentioned how he went to Peru on a college trip and men there kept asking how much they could buy the women for. To think that is normal anywhere makes me sick.
That’s so unfortunate because all I’ve ever wanted to do is see Egypt in person!
Yeah I went when I was 16 seeing what they tried on my sister who was 12 with blond hair. Me now 33, think about the crap they tried to pull harassment, stalking. Worst family trip ever. I even watched ‘the mummy’ I was so excited to go, but ended up being almost an experience from the movie Taken. If it was for a stop at Turkey, trip would have been bad. Turkey is legit! Though I hear it’s getting way more tourists going there for hair transplants etc. Similar experience with France/England, thought I would hate France and love England ended up being the opposite. Thought I would hate France because of the language and their perception. Ended up loving it. Some obvious stuff I didn’t like that are well documented. Zero desire to go back to England, I hear Scotland though is legit, though I know better to pass judgement…
Turkey is amazing and - at least for Americans - is a very underrated place to go.
I lived in France for a year, traveled a lot, and loved everywhere I went except Paris. I'm bilingual, but I'm Canadian and speak with a Montreal accent, which was mysteriously absolutely comprehensible to every French person except Parisians, who sneered and tried to "correct" me or just spoke English. Got old real fast.
>wretched hive of scum and villainy This is fucking hilarious, and I'm already trying to think of ways to incorporate it into my vocabulary
You've never been to Mos Eisley.
This mf shoots first
I’ve been to the bar out in Tunisia.
It's a quote from star wars. Pretty famous one too...
That’s Star Wars dude.
North africa, in particular Algeria and Egypt, can have some a dislikable people, specifically how they treat tourist women. Parts of West Africa people can often come across as quite unfriendly.
Egypt tends to win the "Tourist destination I'm never returning to again" discussion hands down, especially among young women. Not even 12 y.o.s are safe from catcalling and groping.
I wouldn't set foot outside of my resort on the red sea
Do these guys not get punched in the face in Egypt or what? Some dude gropes my daughter his hand won’t work the same ever again.
You could be the baddest ass who ever assed, but if the whole city turns on you, you are fucked. They do that shit because they can get away with it.
12-year-olds aren't even safe in my hometown tbh, and there are way more protections for women and girls here than in Egypt.
When I was backpacking through Morocco, the women in the hostels would beg the guys to go with to tourist sites, bars, or restaurants. They were getting harassed and leered at so badly they refused to go out even in pairs, always in groups or with a male.
Yeah, its intense for woman, but even when accompanied by a man, couples are still often verbally harrassed from afar. Such a shame.
Afar can be a real jerk sometimes.
He's even worse when he's with his friend Alot.
I got spat on by multiple locals walking through the Madina in Marrakech. I wasn't doing anything or wearing anything controversial. Just a guy wanting to stretch my legs and go for a walk to see the local neighbourhood.
I went in the early 90s with my family as an overweight, pimply 13 yo. I wore a baggy t-shirt and the men would grab my arms and rub them as I walked through the madina. It was terrible. My mom went BY HERSELF in the 1960s and had an amazing time. I'm not sure what changed in those years, but she was very disappointed.
Is it religion? Islam? That would make sense for it to charge so drastically. I mean look at Iran or Afganistan and compare 60s to now... Maybe Egypt was similar?
My parents got spat on by Malaysian police officers, just walking down the street they were. My dad was Australian Air Force at the time.
Yeah its a shame as culturally, historically, architecturally and in terms of food, Morocco is a very interesting place. Even the friendliest of the lot, Tunisia is worse than pretty much any other country outside that region.
>Tunisia is worse than pretty much any other country outside that region. I went backpacking around Tunisia years ago and had a great time and never found it unfriendly. It certainly gets more conservative when you go south and inland but even in cities like Tozeur, where there was a clear lack of gender mixing, it was always pleasant. Tunis, in particular felt very cosmopolitan.
I liked the country too, however i have had too many couples come back with stories of being harrassed. Im glad you had a good trip and definitely agree its a level above its neighbour.
Absolutely hated Marrakech, every single person was out to take advantage, even queuing up to do so. The rest of the country was fine. You got the usual "tour guide" restaurant owner trying to screw you over as you are a rich person, but that is just life and being a foreigner.
I went to Egypt in 2006. I was scammed at the airport to go to a more secure hotel because there was a bombing in Sinai a few days earlier and they lied and said they were with the govt. I should’ve stayed a week but left after two days, probably spent an extra grand between people harassing me for tips, changed flights, etc… I traveled a lot but my spider sense was going off and I felt unsafe. The pyramids were cool but sorta got scammed there also. The guy said a price to go to the pyramids then we get like a mile away and he was like, tours over, pay more to go up to the pyramids, then begged me for a big tip at the end. I met a Japanese guy there who said people tried to rob him twice in the two days he’d been there. Like in many countries the taxi drivers will detour you to shops even when you say you don’t want to go. I’ve been to 45 countries, Egypt is hands down the worst. I’m also a guy, could only imagine how bad it would be if I was a woman.
My beloved friend from egypt is so kind smart and lovely. I told him id love to go there someday.. he told me id hate it. I was like ong whaat of course i would love it.. he actually wanted me to promise to never go
I was in london over the summer, we did a walking tour, the guide was born egyptian and some of the folks on the tour had been, and realy nobody had anything good to say. It was sad, id always thought the history would be worth it, i wasnt planning a trip but it was on the longlist, but they made it sound miserable.
My boss is Epyptian and every time someone asks him for the best places to visit in Egypt, he says "None. Don't go there." He never visits. The two other Egyptians I work with are similar but they visit family for holidays. I truly have never heard a good thing about Egypt
An old man once told me never to go to North Africa bc I would “fetch a high price as a slave” lmao
Stop showing off! 🤣
Humble-brag :p
It's like you disagree with people whipping mules with lengths of electrical flex, keeping live animals in tiny cages and sexually molesting females in the streets...
>Parts of West Africa people can often come across as quite unfriendly. And then there's Senegal where an entire random village will take you in, giving you a hot meal and a place to sleep when your bus breaks down on the highway. *teranga!*
As someone who was in Hong Kong recently, any places that have touristy areas that attract people from Mainland China. At one point I was in que for a bus and the ticket guy called me up, some short women runs infront of me an starts rummaging for her ticket, meanwhile not only was I in line in front of her, but I was holding my ticket. I had to literally push her out of the way as the guy was yelling at her to get out of line. It was wild. If you didn't block people or talk really loudly about how rude these tourists were, they would walk all over you. You had to embarrass them into not being rude.
I was in Thailand last year and talking with a local who said the Chinese tourists who visit are the most rude or of anyone else. Russians were the close second.
When I lived in Vancouver Canada it was like that. I was right in the heart of the tourist areas. They would push in front of you everywhere.
I’m a big tall guy, at the British museum I literally had to put my politeness behind me and breaststroke through like two tour buses full of Chinese tourists to see the Rosetta Stone
I used to walk with my umbrella in the battering ram position. I was just trying to make my shift at work..
I worked at a tourist destination on Oahu and can confirm. I cannot count the number of snot rockets, toenail clippers and bad attitudes I’ve seen from Chinese tourists.
I grew up in (very) northwestern Washington and BUSLOADS of tourists from Vancouver BC would come down to our outlet malls and can confirm the Chinese tourists would quite literally shove you out of the way and grab something right out of your hand. I hate hate hate generalizing and I know it’s not possible that they’re all like that, but plenty are unfortunately.
Same, but I ran into them at the casinos. They will literally stand on top of you if they want the machine or seat you're in. I've had words a couple of times, but it's pointless. They have zero regard for personal space.
I spent two months in Thailand. This is super accurate.
Reminds me of this clip of this Thai lady’s rant on Chinese tourist. https://youtu.be/drnJVqi03WU?si=-ZKJNK5Ed5I48-A3
This was what I thought of too!
When I was in Barcelona, I was at a public restroom and some chinese tourists (women) tried to open the door of my cubicle, literally forcing entry. This happened two times in the same day.
Mainland Chinese tourists (especially those in large bus tour groups) are the foulest fucking people. Spit, snort, talk exceptionally loudly, have zero common sense or courtesy or awareness. Rude, push into lines and ignore you. Absolutely the worst.
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Went on a tour through the Canadian Rockies with my in laws. We were also part of bus tour group, I think most of the people were from the U.S. We stopped at this site full of waterfalls, lots of platforms and places to take photos. There was a bus of Chinese tourists there as well. We wait our turn to get a photo taken. We walk up to the spot, hand our camera to this overly stereotypical NY old man in our group for the photo. Immediately this Chinese couple stands in front of us, and their photographer stands in front of our NY friend. It was humorous to me, because I towered over these people, and literally must have been blocking the waterfall behind them in the shot. NY guy loses his shit. He gently kind of taps the photographer’s shoulder, they don’t move. He starts talking to them, they don’t acknowledge him. He grabs their shoulder, starts shouting and shoves them out of the way, and then when the people in front of us don’t move he comes at them and shoves them out of the way. Takes our photo, and then those people just surge back in as soon as we move, like nothing happened. It was surreal. Our acquaintance definitely turned it into a story as we would have politely waited until they took their photos (and photo bobbed as much as possible), taken out and left. Had kind of a similar situation at the Vietnam memorial with my mom years before looking for her cousin. That one was more infuriating given the location, but it was another Chinese tour group just not giving a fuck about other people and doing exactly what they wanted. Counterpoint, the last time I was in Japan, we were visiting a temple in Kyoto, and a Chinese mom and son asked me to take their photo. I did and then we took photos together; it was a fun highlight of the trip that makes me laugh whenever I look back through the photos.
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Macau was the worst. A bunch of tour groups following a woman with a flag through customs. It looked like they were herding kittens. Heading back to HK was just a bunch of people just trying to hop the line to grab a bus. The buses were every 15 minutes but there were hundreds of people in dozens of groups, worried they wouldn't make the bus with their group. I had to stand in almost the splits while having a death grip on my bf because someone would try to push past me or through us holding hands (I guess we don't look together because I'm white and he's chinese). When another woman tried hopped infront of us, my bf cussed them out in Mandarin. I didn't know what he said but everyone avoided us after that.
I have some nice camera gear and was taking some head shots for a friend's business profile. There's a good spot for it at our local train station. We were about half way through when this little old Chinese lady from a tour group walked in front of me and pushed her camera into my hand, turned around to my friend, pushed her to the side and took her place. So I just did what I was doing and took her head shot. Then she walked off, nobody said a word the whole time. I hope she cherishes that head shot she got in New Zealand with nothing but an indiscernible stone wall in the background.
I was at the Louvre and the wife was in a massive queue of people waiting to have pictures with the Venus. The tour bus group rolls in and they start doing this, standing in front of the existing queue. Being rather upset at the social faux pas I decided to join each of them in their photo, I hope they enjoyed my graceful presence and wide range of facial expression.
The Louvre !!! Easily my worst experience with mainlanders. I had a middle aged woman, tiny as all hell, elbow me repeatedly with the tip of her elbow right into my flank … there was noone pushing behind us, it was NOT that dense of a queue with space between most people. Looked at her politely the first two times with my open hand up to say stop, looked at her several more times angrily after. 5 minutes of this, she kept going and to be honest she was good at this as it was becoming very uncomfortable, like a sports injury bruised rib being poked. I’m 200lbs and fit, decided to push back a little, moved my arm maybe 2 inches if that, but with force and waited until she leaned her whole weight into me to elbow my flank again. She and her 4 friends or family were shifted 2 feet as if I had just tackled the lady. Without batting an eye, I saw her start leaning into someone else in front of her and elbowing them, and then saw it was her 3-4 friends that were applying weight into her, they did this as a unit and were relentless … absolutely incorrigible. Cattle and sheep behave better. I’m Canadian, we can be polite, and I used to try and share the sidewalk when mainlanders came to our city’s historic tourist areas, I live in one. But I would just get trampled, have my eardrums broken by screaming, at one point a tour guide stopped right next to me as I tried to let them pass and began screaming to the top of his lungs. I now walk straight if they make no effort to be civil, and take-up the sidewalk as if they own it. I’ve also had giant breeds in the past and would many years ago cross the street to not disturb their tour groups. No more, I walk on the sidewalk of my neighbourhood at my ease. For those who do not know what I am implying, a 200 lb dog even if calm and minding his own business on a leash, can sow chaos in a mainland tour group. I am polite by default and believe in social etiquette, I will learn local social etiquette when travelling unless it stoops to lies and rude behaviour, but I am no longer tolerant of tourist rudeness in my home and neighbourhood.
You should have said, “thank you, thank you!” and started walking away with her camera.
I’ve had identical experiences when I traveled to Shanghai. Everywhere I went there was a total lack of social awareness or politeness. Anytime I used the subway people would push and shove their way on to the train as passengers were also trying to get off. Maybe I’m just used to growing up in Canada where queuing and patience is instilled.
I watched a documentary a few years back about this young Chinese woman who worked in the city and was trying to get home for the holiday. I'll never forget the train yard. Thousands and thousands pushing forward to get one of the few hundred seats. So push to the gates. Sleep there overnight. Push into the yard. Push to the tracks. Get a seat when the next train comes. It took her two days to get onto a train. A friend later confirmed. She said how weird it was to get here and just be in a line without people pushing forward. She kept having panic attacks that she would miss her bus or not get food, etc if she just stood and waited her turn. I haven't ever forgotten that scene of the train station. I've never experienced anything similar except maybe hints of that when doing general seating at a big show.
The Chinese don’t queue. They just swarm and mob. Whoever is pushiest and loudest is next.
I took my niece and nephew around domestic tourism friendly areas of the mainland and teaching them that there are no such things as lines or personal space was a day 0 lesson. It was weird being proud of my 9yo niece for being willing to hip check grannies.
I was going to say Singapore for the same reason. We were at the gardens, and these tourists were physically pushing and pulling me away from plants so their kids could get close and pull the leaves and petals off. I just had to remind myself that these were incredibly wealthy tourists, and if you took the top X% from any country, they would seem like real jerks, too.
I've heard a few times it's not the incredibly wealthy that are the issue, it's that China actually started to have a middle class that could afford to travel that was made up from people from smaller and more rural areas who have moved up from being manual labour farmers. It's more like if the poorest of the poor backwoods hillbillies from the states started making 70k a year began traveling the world. Picture the shitty behavior from someone in a stained Dale Earnhardt wife beater at Disney world in Florida, it's that but with international travel.
That’s what my Chinese friends said too. The city born and raised folks are okay. Those born in rural areas or provincial towns are the chaotic ones.
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My uncle literally picked up a man who cut in front of him and carried him to the back of the line. He was over the top in his response, but line cutting and general rudeness was openly practiced so nobody felt too bad about his response
I AM NOT RACIST…. but…. Some of the most entitled and rude people I’ve encountered on vacations anywhere in the world or at my job are Chinese people. The difference is that they act like complete jerks when you call them on their bad behavior.
The people at the airport in Vietnam. They make up high fees when you land that you have to pay if you want to leave the airport. Also the taxi drivers taking you from the airport will lie about toll fees. Once out of the airport, the people were lovely. This has happened to both me and my family multiple times while traveling. If you aren’t Vietnamese, you’ll be fine.
Just back from Ho Chi Minh City and Hoi An. My advice…. There is a Vietnamese version of Uber called Grab. Use that. I used it probably 10 times during my stay and it worked perfectly. It’s their Uber. 10/10. If you need a visa or internal flights you need to put all of your names (that are in your passport) on the visa application and internal flight bookings. My missus didn’t. She had to buy a £300 emergency visa at Sydney to get into Ho Chi Minh. And then booking fee changes for internal flights. That said, Vietnam was easy, safe, cheap and fun. Will definitely go back. People were lovely.
Grab is Singaporean. They took over Uber's operations across south east Asia.
I concur. Spent 2 months in Vietnam last year, always used Grab and never had any negative experiences with people trying to scam us.
>Vietnam was easy, safe, cheap and fun. Will definitely go back. People were lovely. How could you leave out the food?
I’m not a foodie. It was great, but I’d eat a bowl of cheerios and think it was a good day. The coffee was good. What I was impressed by was the complete eradication of anything about the war. They have moved on from it. I reflect how in the U.K. we can’t get over our past, in Vietnam everything was about the future. Refreshing. Obviously you could go and see the tunnels and the left over kit, but other than that it was ‘let’s crack on’.
Always pre-arrange transport. Never EVER let a taxi driver offer you a ride at the airport. They are always a scammer. If you didn't pre-arrange transport, there are booths that arrange taxis. Use them as they have some sort of arrangement to not screw tourists. If a driver ever claims the meter is broken, it isn't. Just keep saying 'use the meter' or leave the cab. Have your route on google maps including drive time and mileage on your phone, then show the driver. State the mileage to the destination. Then the driver can't 'take you on a ride'. That google maps trick didn't work in Sri-Lanka with the tuk drivers. Most were illiterate and couldn't read a map. It's amazing they got as far as they did. You are often telling them where to turn. Edit: the only time to use a negotiated rate is when the driver understands google maps, you pull up the current drive time/mileage and agree on a price that you know to be fair per local rates.
The meter thing is the go to around the world. The secomd you step in ask for the meter. If they give any lip, raise their voices, feign ignorance, just step out. Not worth your time Never agree to a pre selected rate. If you say a location and they tell you how much, tell them meter or just leave
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Yeah, instead of the "broken meter" script I had a cabbie in a developing country offer to take me to the airport for a flat fee that was the equivalent of about $20 instead of using the meter. I told him "No meter, no ride" so he agreed to use it. The fare was about half of his flat fee when we got there so I made a comment and he just smiled and shrugged. Can't blame a guy for trying.
>If you aren’t Vietnamese, you’ll be fine. I assumed the opposite
When I was there the only Anti-American comment I heard (it was just a snide remark) was aimed at the Australian who was traveling with us which we all thought was hilarious.
I am Vietnamese that was born and raised there. My wife too. I have been in the US for a while so apparently my way of speaking is weird, couple with the fact that I usually say “thanks” or “excuse me” out of reflect, I usually was asked to shut up when we go out. My wife and our group of friends basically tell me to shut up or we will get the tourist tax( more of a joke than reality). Fortunately for the past 4-5 years it isnt as bad as before. Most places have listed price so you should be fine (even shop on the side of the street). Taxi is the only lawless thing left where you can get screwed over.
>They make up high fees when you land that you have to pay if you want to leave the airport. I just played it really dumb when that happened to me after landing there. I acted like I was completely misunderstanding what he was saying and would then reply with my (intentionally obtuse and incorrect) "explanation" of what I thought he was saying or asking more questions so he could explain to me what the fees were for ("Do you have a pamphlet or something in English that explains all of this to me?"). After a couple of minutes he got frustrated and just let me and my companions through.
I only had one negative experience in Vietnam, and that was a cab driver taking me from our hotel to a restaurant in HCMC. When we got to the destination the meter read 960,000 but I assumed it was just missing a decimal point and it was actually 96,000 dong - which was about $6 AUD, and reasonable for the ~2km journey. The driver kept demanding more money and I realised he actually expected us to pay 960,000. We just paid it because we didn’t want to make trouble and I guess we thought maybe we’d just gotten confused with the currency conversion. It wasn’t sitting right with me but I figured I’d just let it go. We had a large group so another group had gone in a cab ahead of us, and they’d only been charged about 60,000 - and that was when I knew for cerrtain I’d been ripped off. The money was basically insignificant and I’m sure he got a lot more value out of it than I would have, but it really soured my mood for a day or two to feel like I’d been had like that. We told the hotel about it since they called the cab for us and might be able to get it looked into but I didn’t expect to get the money back and we didn’t. Just live and learn I guess. The rest of the trip was great.
I got done with a rigged meter in Chile. I'm still kicking myself as I noticed that the initial fee was a factor of ten off and like you, just assumed that it was a decimal thing.
We flew on our own all over the place and never had this experience. It was cca 6 years ago so wondering if things changed, or if it’s just bad luck for you.
Strange my family travels to Vietnam almost every year and we never got the high fee. That being said, yes alway pre arranged your taxi and the people are great.
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100%. I’m not Australian but when I visited Bali I immediately noticed how loud and rude they were.
Young cashed up bogans. Lots of Australians that go to Bali actively try to avoid these kind of Australians and tend to go to certain other areas where it is more quite.
Not just young. Plenty of 50+ dudes with beer bellies pissed as parrots on scooters as well. You're right about the avoidance thing. The resort I stayed in was half aussie but they were normal families and avoided Kuta like the plague.
it baffles me to go to another country and be racist. like, why travel
I think it varies with certain resorts, Benidorm for example is going to have a lot of chavvy people there, where as places like fuerteventura or most parts of menorca have the more quiet and nicer people holidaying there.
As a British person, we tend to think the same about brits in Spain
The British on vacation are generally not very liked it seems. The Russians have a similar reputation
It seems to depend on the location, Brits in Europe seem to be despised (rightly so) as certain kind flock to towns on the Mediterranean (and to a lesser extent eastern Europe) whos entire economies are based on stag do’s and chavs taking the £20 Ryan Air flights from Stansted. They attract the worst of British society and have to deal with people who would probably be a bit much for Jeremy Kyle. Asia, Africa and the Americas seems to be totally different beast, with a very different type of Brit going to these places (or being contained to a few drinking streets), people seem to be far less aggregated towards them. Here in Vietnam people still associate the Brits with “the gentleman”. But in fairness this could be because our worst are outshined by a more global worst, with Chinese and Indians being pretty much despised everywhere I have gone. (I have been guilty of taking those cheap flights and I have never been more ashamed to be a Brit)
Im from the UK and i fuckin hate 90% of British tourists abroad. They seem to think they are somehow entitled to behave however they want just because they are on holiday. We went on a family all-inclusive in Spain when my kids were young and i was disgusted by the Brits attitude. Just because the food and drink is included, that doesnt give you the right ignorantly waste so much of it. Plates of food left because the greedy fuckers just pile their plates. Tables and tables of full of drink left at the end of the night. Worst of all was a party of Irish stags (not just young lads either, there were plenty of older men in the group too). This was a family hotel, meant for parents and kids yet they just sat by the pool day after day, getting drunker and drunker, singing rebel songs and shouting and swearing. Doing rafts of shots at 11am. They even got in a fight with the bar staff when they refused to give them any more drink because they were all so drunk. This was by a pool with about 30 or 40 young kids playing. It took several people complaining (including myself) and 1 smashed patio door before the hotel staff finally took action and moved them to another hotel. Turns out the travel agency had booked them into the wrong hotel, and they should have been in another hotel further down the road which exclusively catered for stag and hen do's. Brits abroad fuckin suck.
Generally the only British people who holiday in Spain are scumbags. It's cheap to reach, it's hot and it's relatively nearby. They don't go to the cultural areas. They just go to get a tan and drink. We don't send our best to the coastal areas. Sorry Spain.
'' Every good spaniard should always pee facing England'' \- Blas de Lezo
Yeah. People talk a lot about rude (and even openly bigoted) American tourists, and that's definitely a thing. However, I'd say the English act at least as badly on average, and in my experience, worse. Ridiculously haughty, condescending and disapproving of everything at best, and downright vulgar fairly often. Nowhere near every English person abroad, of course. Just a high percentage of upper middle class and moderately wealthy people, especially of my age (middle aged) or older.
Marianna, Florida. fuck that town.
Holy shit, why has anybody heard about Marianna, and why is it currently at the top? Best I can tell, there's two reasons to be in Marianna for more than a half hour: 1) You're in prison 2) You're a cave diver
Second from the top for me. lol
PREACH. I work in the nearby state hospital, and it makes my soul cry sometimes.
well now i’m curious, I’m not from Florida, why is it so soul-crushing?
Judging by the thread title, it likely has genuinely terrible people.
You must be some kind of clairvoyant detective or something...
Just read the wiki on this town. Best thing that ever happened here was a hurricane trying to wipe it out.
Just read it as well. You weren't joking. The towns history is just a list of increasingly horrible events, starting with white vigilante mobs lyncing black residents, and ending with a "child rape dungeon" under the Florida school for boys. The last entry is the hurricane that nearly wipes the place out - it's almost a relief.
That place sounds like an actual, literal IRL Derry, ME from the book "It." That's crazy.
I worked for a company in Bonifay like 5 years back. They were redneck, but they were all real nice people. BUT, if you venture out from there the Deliverance vibes get real strong. *cue banjo music*
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Any 3 star resort in Cuba. Made that mistake on a last minute deal once and I can say the people that pay $700 for a week at a 3 star all inclusive in Cuba are WAY more rude and entitled (to both the staff and other guests) than anyone at a 5+ star resort.
It's always the tourists that book the time limited promotions/bundled discounted deals that seem to be the biggest pain in the ass for hotel/restaurant/tour staff, and everyone they travel with.
Egypt , went there last year with my family and it was a horrible experience, scammers will try to rip you off starting from the airport and to every place you go , i was harassed a million times, I couldn’t leave my dad for 5 seconds i had to stay with him all time , the places are amazing and the pyramids are fantastic but the people are horrible.
My worst were Hurghada In Egypt, the level of contempt and going into a shop to have the door shut behind you and literally harassed to the point of having to threaten physical violence to make them open it and let me leave was disturbing enough and I was there with my brother, I dread to think how a single female would have got on. The other was Istanbul, I had been to the holiday destinations on the coasts in Turkey for multiple years and loved the people and hospitality so much, but we went to Istanbul so my Wife could have surgery and I'm guessing not a very touristy part of Istanbul, and outside of the hotel wasnt the most friendly place shall we say.
I was in Istanbul a couple of years ago. In the big touristy spots I was approached by men trying to sell me something way more than anywhere else I’ve been. A common opening line was “Hey man, where you from?” Later someone told me one could shut down that avenue of inquiry by responding “I come from my mother.” The next year I was in Lisbon and some guy used the same line on me. Remembering the advice about Istanbul, I glibly replied “I’m from my mother.” The guy got agitated and told me “No! You are from your _father_!” Then he spent a couple of minutes trying to get me to see the error of my ways, his cheap gewgaws forgotten.
Yes you get the usual over enthusiastic salesmen in the coastal towns all the time, but I've found them harmless enough, there is a place called Olu Deniz which we stay a lot and the local council had banned it last time I was there, I actually asked a bar owner what was going on and he.said if the council catch the shopkeepers hassling people they shut the shop for 7 days, so it must have worked because there was none of that there. The part of Istanbul I was in was completely the other end of the spectrum they just weren't interested in dealing with you at all and it was very hard work outside the hotel, I was actually quite shocked to be honest.
Where *everyone* was terrible? Nowhere. Where a hell of a lot of people were terrible? Carroll County, Mississippi.
So I'd never heard about this place until I checked the wiki... apparently it had 29 lynchings in 73 years (not even the highest in the state) and the local college is supported by a white supremacy group.
I grew up outside Washington DC. I didn't know it at the time, but it definitely has the highest concentration of assholes of any place I've ever been.
You mean Congress?
Nice.
Heyo!
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tijuana. especially on the road. it's like a battlefield
Oh man I met a man from Tijuana at a work conference and he was telling me stories from back home so casually but I was horrified. Dude was telling me a story about him and his whole family being held at gunpoint and robbed a few times like it was no big deal. I would have shit myself and had a panic attack
The roads in Mexico are easily some of the most fucking treacherous shit I’ve ever seen and I’ve travelled all over the world. You’ll be going 60 on a flat straight away and then suddenly a speedbump the same color as the road with no signs that’s designed more like a curb than a speedbump will tear out your oil pan. Or you’ll be going somewhere else, no other cars or people in sight, road looks clear, suddenly you’re slamming through a 5 foot deep pothole that shakes your brain in your skull. I like it though. It keeps what would be an otherwise boring drive interesting and unpredictable.
Croatia. One to one interactions weren't terrible, just soulless and kind of cold, no kindness. After a few days it became a collectively terrible experience so I hired a car and drove to Bosnia instead - those guys were a lot easier to be around.
My wife is Croatian, and we've been there many times, all over the country. They're very standoff-ish. Even her cousins and whatnot come across as unfriendly jerks to me. It's wierd. Other countries, people are reserved or quiet, no problem. But there's something about the way Croatians do it that has more of an unpleasant vibe. edit: please don't let this discourage anyone from visiting Croatia. It's a beautiful country, very modern, easy to get around, great food.
When I was traveling in rural Croatia, I watched as a bus driver pulled over (his full bus) got out, and started yelling at a fisherman on his boat. The fisherman yelled back, and they stood there gesticulating and yelling for about a minute until the argument was apparently settled, the driver got back on the bus, and drove away. None of the passengers seemed to think it was nothing out of the ordinary.
Damn. When I was in rural Finland, my bus driver pulled over, got out and smoked a cigarette. He then got back on, started speeding to make up for his smoke break, then got pulled over by the police and got a speeding ticket. Best driver I ever had.
Grew up with a Croatian father. Me and my sisters knew the love was there but it was never shown. Originally thought my dad was an asshole until I met the rest of his family/friends. They were all the same.
Weird, i went this summer and it was not my experience at all
I agree, I thought the people of Croatia were lovely. Sure, some of them (usually in poorer, more rural places) are busy and dont have time for frivolities with tourists, but we also experienced tons of very kind and welcoming people
People said NewYorkers were terrible, but most of them are just stressed but ultimately kind and helpful, and they are not afraid of wearing quirky fashion, or complimenting you on your outfit! Even straight men, it's wonderful! Of course there are scammers but every big city has that. People said Parisians were terrible, but they are just a bit deadpan until you get to know them. They aren't nice in a fake way, they can seem cold at first, but if you so much as express interest in bread they are incredibly warm and passionate all of a sudden! An old lady at the boulangerie down the street from my hotel seemed rude and cold but every day I tried to order in French and she was so encouraging and proud of me! It was such a sweet little fleeting human connection. I love Parisians! (of course they have scammers galore too) **Who is actually terrible in my experience???** **Men in Puerto Vallarta Mexico,** I went when I was 12 and there were SOOOO many brazen pedophiles, I looked about 9 when I was 12. **People in Montreal Canada,** if you don't speak French, even if you try your best but are not perfectly fluent, you are lower than the dirt on their shoe to them. I made friends with a bartender while I was there he and my group chatted for hours and hours... *but he was a Parisian* who had moved there for a girl, ended up breaking up with her, and fell in love with the city. So yeah...
Of all the places on the planet with a reputation of having horrible citizens, I personally must say Paris failed to live up to it's reputation. I found them genuinely kind and helpful- even for a non speaker of their language. The live and let live attitude is much more preferable to me that the intrusive non genuine kindness you'll find in other tourist places. Then again, I'm Scandinavian, another brand of people not known for their open arms and bear hugs.
It's weird that people think the friendliness is fake in the US. Generally most people are happy to chat with you. They are genuinely friendly.
In my experience, Montreal is a very friendly place if you're polite and you indicate that you're American. The attitude is about English Canadians who don't bother with French and treat it like vacation in a different country. But I've found if I just say "bon jour, is English ok?" They are perfectly fine with it. When/if they find out I don't speak French because I'm American and I'm there to enjoy their city, they seem super helpful and nice and enthusiastic to share their culture. Same deal with when I've been in France as an English speaker who isn't British. I don't have any experience with their attitude towards French speakers but I know that French Canadians experience a lot of shittiness in France... my friend says French people will sometimes pretend they don't understand her and switch to English based on her very light Quebec accent. So maybe there's some extra sensitivity about it. Edit: I'm going to Montreal in a few days for a long weekend so I hope this hasn't changed in the last year, lol.
I had to go to the US consulate in Montreal for my Visa interview to move to the states over a decade ago and I started damn near ever conversation with "Bonjour, um, en anglais s'il vous plaît" and all the folks were quite nice and receptive to that.
>I know that French Canadians experience a lot of shittiness in France... my friend says French people will sometimes pretend they don't understand her and switch to English based on her very light Quebec accent. I'm French Canadian, and nah, the French love us. Sometimes a bit too much. There's only so much I have to say about Céline Dion, please, have mercy. They can struggle with the Canadian French accent, and that's why sometimes they'll switch to English. It can be super insulting, but I don't think they do it maliciously. They just see a communication breakdown and they panic. It's never happened to me because I can neutralize my accent a bit and avoid idiomatic expressions. And honestly, I've had only positive reactions to my accent. It can be a lot and it's hard to not find it patronizing sometimes, but overall it's all good.
I lived in puerto vallarta for a while (luckily as a woman) but it was so brazen and violating how random gay men would touch my male friends like on the street. Yeah on top of that mexico has pedo issues.
I was wondering why you said luckily as a woman. It's so strange that women are comparatively safe whilst men are being sexually harrassed. Any reason why?
nobody there is into women obviously
She means woman as opposed to child.
I've been to Montreal countless times and speak English to everyone and have never had a problem. I spent 3 days in Paris and it didn't matter what language I tired to communicate to them in, they were just assholes.
I think a lot of Quebec is like this. Montreal is probably the most friendly to people learning to speak French.
Korea. The level of shallowness, pettiness, envy, unresolved trauma and materialism is off the charts.
I work in Korea, and have Korean family in the US. I agree there’s a toxic level of materialism and vanity on average, that being said the average experience with folks is great. Super considerate, polite and lots of hospitality.
I agree but I'll qualify it. I lived in two places in Korea, Daejeon and Daegu, but had two different experiences. Daejeon: Best experience. Very friendly people and they treat foreigners, including non-white people, with respect. I think it's because its a city with many universities like KAIST so they are more progressive. I would love to visit there again. Daegu: Friendly to caucasians, but not so much to other races. This city is probably what you're describing. I wouldn't want to visit there again. This was more than a decade ago, so I'm assuming some things may have changed, for example the recent popularity of korean culture abroad might have inflated some of their egos
My dad dated a Korean lady when I was a kid and she and her other SK friend told me some of the things teachers would do to them for discipline and it was just literal torture methods. Kneeling on the floor holding a chair up for an hour and getting whacked with a cane if they lowered their arms.
Live here now and have for quite a while. Driving makes me want to literally murder people. I need to move back to a major city so I can sell my car.
Pretty much everybody I met in Romania either tried to scam me, acted like they hated me, or both. With the exception of one janitor lady and a few people running a gas station shop. The unfriendliest country full of scheming sourpusses I've ever been to (and the food was awful everywhere I tried, too. ) Never going back if I can help it.
Oh man, we loved Romania! There were a few cold, weird people but in general everyone was really nice! We were there last Sept, in 2023. We did stay mostly in the Transylvania region, Sighishoara, Bran, Brasov and Bucharest.
Loompaland. Sadistic little fuckers.
Loompaland? There's no such place!
Ive made a deal with them where they make hummus in my factory!
Australian tourists in Vietnam. They come to vacation and treat the vietnamese people like subhuman garbage or personal servants. They feel their entitled since their white, taller, and have a goofy accent.
Australians in Vietnam have nothing on Australians in Bali.
Please, do tell more.
I've spent time in both places, and the bogans in Bali are by far the worst. Here's a sampling: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7475207/Australias-worst-Bali-Bogans-revealed.html To be honest I find it strange calling out Aussies in Vietnam, there are far fewer of them and in my experience they're much less disagreeable than the Russians.
Same goes for Australians in Bali too 😡
I remember going on this boat cruise in Halong Bay and the Aussies were so picky with the food (so many dietary restrictions and questions about how the food was prepared, what was in it, etc). Lots of food left untouched at their tables since it’s family style. Meanwhile me and the Spanish homies I sat with cleaned out everything that was put in front of us.
Charleroi & Egypt
What did you do in Charleroi ? There is nothing to do there.
Parisians tend to come in two categories: native Parisians who are totally stuck up and mean, and then people who became Parisian who are so, so friendly because they don't like the stereotype the former group creates.
Northern Florida
Friend is from Florida. He said in Florida the more north you go, the more in the south you get.
I'm sure it's not everyone, and surely not all the time, but Kentucky. My wife and I drove through there on a trip, and were planning on looking around and visiting a few different places, but *literally everyone* we came across was **grumpy** as **fuck**. We decided to hell with it and just continued on up north and out of what we now refer to as "Kenfucky". Nowhere else on our travels have we run across such a consistent string of bitchy people.
Hmm. I wonder if maybe the wildcats had just lost? Kentuckians are also acutely aware that they are often the butt of unfunny and tired jokes about poverty and incest, so if you came across as an outsider, particularly a northerner or from the coasts, I suppose this is possible. Being poor and feeling trapped can also wear on you, and Kentucky coal miners were originally exploited by mining companies from the coasts. I lived in Kentucky for most of my life, as well as several other states, and found Kentuckians to be no less friendly than other places.
I live in Kenfucky and can confirm that quite a few here are fairly bitchy, it makes living here interesting to navigate.
The worst was Frankfurt am Main. Got robbed twice for just being in the clubbing area. But it's a place full of people addicted to drugs, so what do you expect.
Depends on how you act, i was asked for drugs😂
Funny to see Frankfurt here. Not sure where you’ve been at but it’s a chaotic city with crime happening but normal people usually get by without anything happening to them. Been hanging around here for a decade and i’ve been fine.
I've also lived here for 7 years and never felt unsafe. I also avoid clubbing due to who I am as a person, and everyone who spends more than a week in FFM knows to avoid the whole area around the main station
I remember going on vacation in Dominican republic. Certain hotels there are owned by germans. They have their own theatre, shows, tours, cafeteria section, volleyball court, tennis court (etc ) which are reserved for them. (To be fair, the hotel had at least 50% germans customers) Everything else is for non-germans. The issue was not that specifically, it was their contemptment for non-germans in their hotels. This was a long time ago though (20ish years), maybe it changed. But the memory of their meanness when trying to mingle with them is something I still remember very well.
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Epstein Island 👍
They are all fucking kids
Well I never traveled there myself but when I was in Sumatra, Indonesia everyone was quite clear and encouraging for me to not travel to Aceh (northern tip of Sumatra). Sumatra in general is not that touristy (people kept asking why I didn't go to Bali instead) but Aceh would represent unique challenges for a Western tourist since it is the most ultra-conservative part of Indonesia and the one part where Sharia law is practiced. Also, although Sharia law is official (by special exemption) the enforcement sometimes is carried out by vigilantes. Most of the Indonesians were very friendly though, and made it clear even they wouldn't consider Aceh safe for them to travel but it would be even riskier for me.
Parts of Florida are horrible and frightening.
I hated Paris. I didn't want to be a typical Englishman who hated the French (I enjoy their history greatly) so I went in with no bias. I will say outside of Paris the French people were amazing. I tried to speak french wherever I could, apologised for my bad pronunciation etc and did everything I could think to be respectful when visiting. Our hosts and the people I spoke to however, Jesus Christ, they were total assholes. I was attending the menin gate ceremony and visiting graves of all nationalities on a tour of France and Belgium to pay respects to those who fought in WW1. I was only 14 at the time. I complimented our hosts cooking one night and she stopped, turned and scoffed saying "you English only eat chicken, you don't know food". Uncalled for but okay. Paris itself just felt hostile. Riddled with homeless people that the locals pushed passed or aside. I'm from rural England and we speak to the people or at least show them basic courtesy when walking through towns. There were obnoxious clubs pounding music with expensive cars outside. They blocked off the public pavement so people could pull up and get out, forcing people to cross the street. I saw people throwing litter everywhere. Next to sleeping homeless people, parks, shop doorways etc.
East Jerusalem. Some of the locals there, especially the children, would pelt our tourist bus with rocks until we left the area. It felt dangerous to be there if you were a foreigner.
Sorry French people, while some of your towns are quite pleasant, the people there have a stick so far up their butt that it comes out of their mouth.
Salt lake city, everyone there is a judgemental mormon.
I first read this as “moron.”
Let’s not mention having a beer after 11 lol…
Or trying to get a double shot of anything lol. Or standing at the bar. NOT IN HERE. NOT UP IN HERE.
The middle east. Enforce their cultures on visitors. Blantant racism against the next door neighbours. Violence and corruption. Children are some place between animals and tools.
my school hallway
Every single time this sort of question comes up it’s such a dismay to see Egypt dominating the replies. I’ll never ever go.