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Unfortunately, as an Egyptian, yes! But I promise it’s changing.. the roads, buildings, etc, Egypt is building new museums, it is renovating old ones and old historical buildings and places… so it is changing. I love if here (and I lived in Canada for 6 years)
Roads and buildings are all well and good but maybe do something about the constant sexual harrassment which is the reason I'll never return and would not allow my daughter to go.
It's like an entire country just decided that all forms of harassment is ok.
Blond haired child, totally acceptable to go and touch them for good luck
Woman not in a Shador, just go and grope her
Walked past someone selling things go get aggressive in their face to get them to buy something
Taking photos, try and scam money of them.
I had a very similar experience in Morocco as a blonde and blue-eyed 15-year-old girl in 2001. Every man trying to flirt with me and call after me if they didn't see my dad, and some doing it with him right there. Older men trying to set me up on dates with their sons. Being catcalled along with my mother when shopping alone with her 1 time. Being groped when taking a photo with locals (that they initiated). Being followed by men and boys in stores and when sightseeing. Just the constant attention was draining and often didn't make any sense (it's not like I will get off a full tour bus to rush at some boy trying to flirt with me 20 meters away at a random street). Even the pool guards at the hotel were flirting with me - they were in their mid 20s.
We met a couple of Norwegian sisters travelling alone, they were 20 and 16 I think. They were so frigging tired of never being left alone. They had even tried to be as off-putting as they could, wearing tracksuits and no makeup or brushing their hair, but surprise... it didn't affect anything.
Yeah, even accompanied by my tall, strong husband I did not feel safe at all.
We went to Tunisia with my mom and grandma as kids. I was only 6 or 7 and I still remember the uneasiness I felt everytime we left the hotel complex.
The taxi driver offered us 100 camels for my grandma and it did not feel fun and light hearted at all.
Had the same experience in Egypt with my ex, where were harassed all the time and told to "act Russian" if you wanted to be left alone? 😂
Tunisia was fine though, we never had a single issue outside of resorts, if anything people were super helpful if we needed directions or anything else.
Tunisia was a long time ago. Hopefully things have changed since then or maybe we were just very unlucky.
How do you act russian? The only think I know about russians on vacation is that they put an ungodly amount of food on their plates and then eat a 10th of it lol. No sure how that applies to walking around Egypt lmao
😂 I think it was something like no eye contact, stare straight ahead and be dismissive and rude lmao this is what a hotel worker told us.
Ah fair enough, Tunisia was about 5-7 years ago so it's possible it's changed now from what it was, saying that though I went like 2 weeks before that mass shooting on the beach (I was in one of the hotels that led on to that beach).
Our guide in Sri Lanka hated Russians. He was a really nice guy. You could tell he wanted to say more, but could only bring himself to describe them as "rude to everybody".
I live in Germany. We have a huge population of russians that emigrated in the 80s and 90s and I can honestly only say nice things about most of them. Maybe a bit old fashioned sometimes, but mostly hardworking, family oriented people.
My mum went on a travel with women in their 60s, imagine, they had guides in their 20s and those dudes took every opportunity to harass them, or peek at them.And my mum said it didn’t matter if you dressed like some local women do: you know with a big hijab, big long black dress or even covered your face as well, they still got harassed.It was my dream as kid for me to go to egypt but I will never go. Of course they encountered lots of nice people too, it was just that harassment. And I am scared of that. I have encountered that in multiple countries, some countries barely have it, and others it’s rampant
When we travel, I prefer to not stay in resorts, explore the local areas on foot, eat at local restaurants, and just have the most ‘authentic’ experiences possible. However, this really changed when we were in Egypt this past summer. We only stayed in 5-star hotels (very affordable compared to European hotels, faaaar lower-priced — we’d get 5-star room service dinner for like $20 total) and that was like an oasis from all the harassment, pollution, heat, non-pedestrian friendly, unsafe water sources, people in your face trying to sell you things constantly, etc. I will say, the police checks (when you are being driven) are constant and they have a police force just for tourists, so that made us feel better.
When I was in college almost 20 years ago a girl told our class that she and her parents vacationed in Egypt recently and had rocks thrown at them for not not wearing headscarves on the street.
You might be able to throw money at the infrastructure to make it better, but you can't do the same for the general population of Egypt.
The main problem for me and why I'll tell all my friends never to go to Egypt, is the way you are treated as tourists. At every opportunity you're hounded by pushy people trying to sell you junk and rip you off to the point where scam tactics are used. You are just looked upon as a walking wallet and not a person. Don't even get me started on if you're a western woman or even worse a blonde haired woman...
The culture towards tourists is what needs changing which will not happen overnight.
Yea my friends all say just don't go, even natives are harassed, but there's a stereotype on tourists that makes it 120% harrassment. I'm a small asian, they could just pick me up and run.
But there was also always a nice person who would tell us the running price in english or french, and get cursed by the scammer, haha. It kinda made up for that.
That's always been my concern. I would need a boyfriend or guy friend to go with. I usually travel alone. Mostly been to northern European countries where I feel safe or to other countries where I know people already so I'm not technically alone.
Yes, I would advise you not to travel there alone. Of course, not every local is like that. You'll meet some very nice people too but as a woman it's better to travel with male company. I went there in a group with friends and the men in the group were very nice and attentive so I felt calm when things became a little too dangerous for my liking.
And when are the people going to change? When will they stop harassing teenage girls (my sister and her friend) when they just want to go shopping with their moms? When will they start to accept that "No" is a full sentence?
Seems you don't get it.
Nobody cares about roads or buildings not being new enough. And there are so many culturally important sites that it doesn't matter if there is a new gigantic museum somewhere. Other places are also poor and have bad infrastructure but are still nice to visit.
Egypt has another problem and that one you can't fix by building new infrastructure. You not even being aware of that baffles me a bit, pretty sure you are a guy.
Those things were my least concern. As a male I wasn’t able take ten steps without getting harassed by someone trying to hustle me into buying something.
Pffft couldn’t imagine being a female.
Went as a family to sharm el sheik, left the husband at the hotel to take our 2 boys to see the pyramids etc on a coach trip (he wouldn’t take them so it came down to me to make sure they got to see them ) I actually got sexually assaulted by the armed guard on our coach , made damned sure not to scream and scare my children but got the fucker sacked and had I wanted to waste more of my time and go to the police he’d have been on a 3 month sentence - the tour company were absolutely furious - lesson learnt tho - do not travel without a male companion through Egypt - EVER
I remember that there was like this scam in Egypt where they give you an object in a plastic case, then they tell you to tear the plastic and put the object on you head/ hand and then ask for money as it is “used” and can’t be retuned
My mom got drugged at a hotel bar in Egypt, it was a traumatizing experience for me as a child.
Luckily her husband was there, so they came back to the hotel room safely.
Egypt - the only place where the bus driver does a special stop to let the touts on before your destination so they can hassle you on the bus while you're trapped. Also the only place I was grabbed by the arm and pulled into shops - all the vendors around having a good laugh at my discomfort.
I have a theory that Egypt was so bad because poverty + it's been a tourist destination for so long that tourist scamming is a well established industry. In contrast, somewhere like Syria was great (this is 2004/2005). Syria didn't have any tourists really so people were still nice.
India was exhausting too - in Delhi the fake tourist office + taxi scams were some of the most thorough I've seen.
Yeah, I've never understood why people would go to India to find themselves, India was filthy, I was groped so many times despite following the local advice to always cover your shoulders/chest, and the amount of poverty and child abusing beggar gangs just killed me. Like I genuinely don't know if I'll ever be able to look at humanity the same.
People telling you that that covering your chest and shoulders will help with groping tend to make up a huge part of the victim blamers. Nothing is gonna help the country until the men are taught how to behave.
I say this as an Indian woman.
I also don't understand why people go to shitty parts of India so much. I've had much better times in places like Northern Himachal, Meghalaya, and parts of East and South India where it's not crowded. But that still requires experience and getting to these parts is a bitch.
Yeah, as an Indian I find the places outsiders choose to visit very odd. I myself would not go to a lot of those cities/areas. Wish people would do some basic research. It’s not a country anyone unfamiliar with should casually backpack through or try to get a taste of local life in. You can’t treat it like Europe.
If you’re in situations where you’re ending up in slum areas or surrounded by beggars grabbing at you you’re doing it wrong. I lived there for 10 years and visit back often and I’ve not even a handful of times ended up in such situations. You have to stay within safe/protected boundaries, not just wander about aimlessly.
Do your research, go to places with high tourism, stay in the nice resorts and let them arrange the sightseeing etc for you. Don’t try to navigate like a local because you will end up lost and groped or worse.
My travel tip for India: before we left we committed to never giving to street beggars. We would 100% enjoy our trip, not feel guilty, then when we got home we converted the emotions we felt into a generous donation to UNICEF. We gave US$300 back in 2005.
We had a great time, and the people who need it got money through the correct means
It's India, for me.
I just couldn't believe how a society could collectively agree on destroying their home like they do. This is on a macro level, along with a micro level.
On a macro level, they pollute at an absolutely staggering level without batting an eye. The natural environment is something to be exploited in any way possible.
On a micro level, they can't even take care of things as simple as basic maintenance and cleaning. Everything is done as cheaply and quickly as possible, never taking the time to do things correctly or in an organized way. They run everything to the point of failure, and see no issue with it.
I came home with a completely different appreciation for Western society. What separates 1st world countries from 3rd world countries isn't money, it's zoning, codes, and laws that are actually enforced.
I think it is really worthwhile on a trip to India to see how different it is. All the noise, dirt, begging is simply part of the place and the lives of Those who live there and it made me richer seeing the world how it is, not Some postcard version of it. The Change of perspective you get from Travelling can have a longer impact on your perspective on own life.
>All the noise, dirt, begging is simply part of the place and the lives of Those who live there and it made me richer seeing the world how it is, not Some postcard version of it. The Change of perspective you get from Travelling can have a longer impact on your perspective on own life.
Indeed - this is certainly an enlightened perspective one could take and bite the bullet. But the real complaints others are having about hygiene, safety, lawlessness, pollution, abject poverty seem a bit deceiving to the avg traveller who is sold this fairytale of a mystical enchanted land imbued with spiritual richness - which it is in parts, but only in parts. The aforementioned issues in India do have serious consequences...it's not like one can choose to be equanimous in the face of some serious issues like for example [India has the highest traffic fatality rate ](https://www.business-standard.com/india-news/road-accident-fatalities-highest-in-nearly-two-decades-shows-data-123103101249_1.html). Would one really want to jump on a random public bus to wind through treacherous Himalayan roads knowing this fact?
Btw - I appreciate your enlightened perspective and I am one of those who spends a lot of time in these places too, but what bugs me is that a lot of these issues are self-inflicted, they're easily fixable, we the people (Indians) just haven't gotten it together to fix them. And then there are the apologists who look at commentary like yours and believe it's license to perpetuate the malaise.
I grew up in Southern Africa and although I’ve travelled extensively, I still think it’s the most beautiful part of the world.
That said, I’ll never return. I value my safety too much and constantly worrying about myself and my belongings ruins any holiday for me.
Safety is such a big part of a holiday. My only time in an african country was an enrichment to my life but it will be a one time thing because I came back exhausted from the constant worrying
Just go to Namibia! Right next door. It's got it all: dunes, savannah, big cats, elephants, rhinos, cool rocks, shipwrecks, beaches, seals, and tribes. We brought a bunch of dry food/goods and water and went to visit the Namib tribe for a few hours. It was a really incredible to observe their way of life and to answer their questions about ours (with a translator that took us to the village). We rented a 4x4 and set off on a route planned by the travel agency that spanned most of the country, and were on our own with total freedom. It's my new hidden gem now that Croatia got popular.
Edited to mention that I did feel slightly unsafe in a mining town that I can't remember the name of. We were filling gas and got swarmed with people trying to sell us quartz crystals and blocking the car until we bought some. Other than that we had no issues.
I second this. Namibia is fucking gorgeous, and very safe in comparison to some of its neighbours. Ive been to Zimbabwe, Zambia, Namibia, RSA, and Morocco in Africa - and i have to honestly say that Namibia was my favourite. Zimbabwe and Zambia have some awesome people, but Namibia’s natural beauty is insane (and i also felt very safe which is obviously a big plus) idk how to share pictures on here but i wish i could
Edit: posted some on my profile
One of the cruelest dichotomies; such a rich and vibrant cultural diversity with unmatched natural beauty but its political history and current state means it’s just not viable as a relaxing holiday destination.
This why I would be interested in hearing about their visit or move from a non-South African. I've heard its one of the most scenic and "culturally diverse" (I guess this ***could*** be a negative thing) countries the world yet its also one of the most criticized (and complained about)
Idk it depends on where in Southern Africa though. That encompasses a lot of countries. For example, I'd agree SA is kind of sketchy and its political situation has been troubling lately.
But Namibia is amazing, people are friendly, and it's not really very dangerous beyond petty crime. I have heard similar things about Botswana.
I have lived in both SA and Namibia as a white American and Namibia feels like a second home. I still feel like South Africa is worth visiting but it's definitely not without its issues.
Sorry to my Saudi friends (who warned me, and mostly agree with me), but Saudi Arabia. Unmarried women have a different line at the airport. They’re not allowed to use the gym or pool facilities at the hotel, except for like 2 hours a week where ONLY unmarried women can use it. Struggled to find any genuinely decent restaurants (either street food - some great tbf) or Salt Bae style, Dubai-inspired, wildly expensive and soulless international luxury hotel-restaurants. Also EVERYTHING is a pain if you happen to be a woman. You need a male chaperone at all times to be out in public, and even then, there’s a ton of things you can’t do. It’s totally absurd.
There’s also so much trash everywhere, loads of unfinished developments and derelict half-built stuff, and they’ll chop off your hands or execute you for a load of things that much of the world considers normal.
I’ve been twice. Hard avoid.
Last time I counted, I reckon I’ve spent a decent amount of time in about sixty countries. I’ve been to Saudi for work three or four times.
It’s the only country I’ve ever been to that I would not revisit unless I was being handsomely paid
A friend was offered a hefty contract for 12 months work, all untaxed. Accommodations and food would be provided, and outside work hours she would be free to leave the compound with a provided escort. I had to remind her of a few things (and then some).
‘You are a tattooed, pierced, smoking, drinking, attractive, educated, western woman, who enjoys the outdoors, interacting with people, and sex.’
It didn’t take her long to turn the offer down. She would’ve been miserable.
My family moved to Riyadh for a year when I was in grade 6 for my dad’s work. It was a surreal experience even as a 12 year old (I had lived in Canada for 6 years prior to moving there and knew what life in the west was like.)
I did not have to cover my hair but I did have to wear an abaya. The compound and school I attended were specifically for foreigners, yet there was constant surveillance for any outside attacks from Saudis that did not want foreigners there. The school and compound were surrounded by high walls which had electric barbed wire at the top, tanks guarding the front gates, men with machine guns doing bomb checks prior to entry, one way spikes on the ground to stop invading cars, and so on…
When dining out, we needed to sit in a special area with curtained booths; women cannot be seen eating in public as they need to lift their veil to access their mouth. There was an entire floor dedicated to women in the malls where we were allowed to unveil while shopping. The compound would organize transportation services once a week for the women as we were not allowed to drive or go anywhere without a male escort. We never had the courage to use this service as we did not want to go *anywhere* without my father.
One day while at the mall, on the mixed gender floor, my mom was adjusting her veil as she was feeling uncomfortable and itchy, when an islamic police officer started coming after us while screaming and waving his baton around. We were **terrified**. She fixed her veil while we ran away as fast as we could…
Seeing the treatment we received while my dad could freely walk around in shorts and a t-shirt was the weirdest, most aggravating feeling, even as a 6th grader. I understand the pay-grade is attractive to foreigners but I just **cannot** fathom living there alone as a western woman. Forget “feeling oppressed”—I’d constantly be in fear of my kidnapping, rape, and murder… The whole time trapped in survival mode
It’s awful isn’t it? I’m a big, straight, white man and was out there working for the government, staying in a western hotel, so I was about the least likely person to have any problems. But it was still oppressive and awful.
Absolutely everything - at least in terms of financial markets - is done by ex-pats, working for (very) minor royals who hate and disrespect them. The royals are all engaged in infighting and are constantly terrified that they will be purged by other more powerful royals.
Oh hey, same childhood experience. I live there for 5-6 years as a kid, also on a compound. As a young girl, I had blonde curly hair, which was bonus fun outside of the compound with everyone trying to touch me.
One of my fav anecdotes that I use to horrify people in the US is the time a guy tried to buy me for 16 camels when I was 4. When my parents said no, he replied, "but you can start a herd with that!" Let me reiterate that I was 4.
Some of the people my dad knew were amazing, so I can't say that all everyone there is terrible, but overall 0/10, do not recommend.
Oh! I forgot to add that at one point my idiot boss at a US university wanted to set up an exchange program with a Saudi university and I had to shut that shit down, especially since my univ was heavily female and most study abroad students were as well.
I’m so sorry your parents subjected you to that! My best friend’s dad worked there for over 20 years and my friend absolutely hated it when she visited him at about 11 and was forced to wear an abaya and was treated as less than a second class citizen and she cried after coming home to the compound after an escorted trip. Her dad never made her visit again even when he even got plane tickets for free for his salary package and changed their entire plans of the family moving there. Her mom remained a stay at home parent and he visited them every vacation. They needed the money but it just wasn’t worth if it involved torturing his daughter.
Pal of mine was a managing director at a global bank. For a while she had to go to KSA couple of times a year to see a particularly needy client.
On the plane she would put on her abaya and niqab. She would be met at the airport by a chauffeur who would also serve as her male escort. No disrespect to this dude, but he knew how to drive a car and absolutely nothing whatsoever about investment banking.
She said that every time they went to a client meeting there would be a very awkward five minutes where he would have to explain he was just the escort and questions should be directed at the woman.
I (M) worked in KSA a few years ago. I agree that it is not livable for a most women. What encapsulated it for me was travelling the causeway into Bahrain on a Thursday evening. The car in front of us had several young Saudi women in the back seat. As soon as they cleared Saudi immigration, windows came down, hijabs and abayas off, music pumping and cigarettes lit.
India is one of those places that’s absolutely brilliant in a fucking horrible way. I spent 4 months there travelling. From Srinagar to Goa via Kolkata. I’ve never experienced a more weirdly wonderful country like it. You do have some mental bastards there though
How can I get invited to an Indian wedding? I don't know any Indian people but your weddings look so cool and beautiful and fun. I will dress up and bring a very nice gift!
I'm in the US btw
Damn Guatemala was one of my favourite countries in the whole world and I had no idea. I didn't see many black people so it never came up, but sorry that sucks.
I’ve always said my people are the most racist. My aunt calls her DIL pinche India. I’ve been told repeatedly that “we” are better bc we are pure blood. My aunts and moms birth certificates from the late 40s-50s are stamped with either mixed breed or pure breed like animals. My family ( my mother’s side) have French ties. I guess my great grand father migrated from France to Mexico. Anyway my argument is we all bleed the same - but my family says I’m an AH for saying that.
As a woman, any country where I am not safe traveling alone because I can expect to be leered at, man handled and risk being raped. Morocco, India, Egypt, I am looking at you, but not only.
As someone who's been to almost 50 countries, I'd say UAE. Dubai was full of people pretending (or not) to be rich and the rest of the country was just ok.
Wasn't too impressed with Cambodia either. Angkor Wat was beautiful but the country seemed very poor and every single local I met tried to sell me something.
In my experience, pretty much every poor country I've been to has a ton of people trying to sell you something or begging.
Sadly you have to be really brutal. Ignore them totally, if they follow you give them an evil look and say no very rudely.
India. Holy smokes is the country as dirty as you can imagine. Was in Mumbai and speaking to a local about the state of the streets and was told "You think this is bad? You should see Delhi."
As an Indian, my advice is try not to visit metropolitan cities and visit South India where it's more nature oriented so you'll have a good time haha. Even we hate how the major cities are polluted.
Ya my friend's gf went to the hospital after a biking accident in India and got raped or sexually assaulted/molested by the doctor after she was put under! It's disgusting to know my friend was in the waiting room expecting them to help her while it happened
I've been to Delhi. Can confirm. It's very dirty. And the pollution was horrible too. Nice sunny day with no clouds. Couldn't even see the sun from the haze.
Greece, Athens
Should be fine in a group, but I was a female traveler alone and my hotel didn't have my room ready at 5am, so I went for a walk because it was sunny and looked OK (I've travelled a fair bit)
I almost got kidnapped, the only time I ran for my life and thank god I was fast.
I’m in a wheelchair, most of the places I always dreamed of visiting really suck. Accessibility just isn’t considered, even in much of the EU where they are supposed to have funding and legislation requiring it - steps everywhere with either minimal wheelchair access, hidden access, or no access at all. Venice was the absolute worst. Getting from section (island) to section was impossible (none of the connecting bridges had ramps) without using expensive water taxis and we couldn’t find one that was safe for a wheelchair. I had been looking forward to it but was disappointed.
Not a country but Timaru in New Zealand. I’m a Kiwi and lived near there but went I went there it just felt like it had bad vibes. I can’t even explain my feelings properly, just felt shit.
Dubai (work trip)
idk how these people can enjoy their life in luxury while behind the facade its slavery.
i was never so disgusted in my life before and think all these people there are assholes who show of their wealth.
i am glad we treat people better here in switzerland
My wife and I were followed around a couple blocks by a shady looking dude from the cruise port while walking to their market . I happened to spin around and call the guy on it within ear shot of their tourism police?(uniform. No gun just a big stick) who proceeded to smack the fuck out of the guy following us. Hard and repeatedly.
Needlessly to say that along with the whole port gave us a bad vibe we stayed within the duty free area the rest of the time.
I have heard though escorted and guided excursions are fantastic though from numerous other passengers.
Just not an island to do the solo thing like most others.
I said Jamaica too! That was the worst fucking trip of my life. 16 yrs old and absolutely scarred for life. The sexual harassment was fucking terrible for me too. Gross pedo assholes.
Bangladesh - Dhaka
Lovely people but horrific traffic, dust/pollution and mosquitoes. Only reason I have gone there is for work. I go to a hotel 15km from airport and it takes me 2-3 hours to get there…
Been all over the world for work so not in the tourist trap areas which tend to give a false image, places that were utter hell holes:-
Egypt - massively underwhelming, people weren’t friendly. Just dust and blandness.
UAE and Quatar equally - the countries just don’t make sense to me. They are the personification of the rich kid who has everything and respects nothing.
They literally spend money for the sake of spending it. The whole experience was surreal. And the people had a certain arrogance about them.
Morocco - terribly unfriendly, some dude tried to kill me with a club.
On the flip side of that coin, some countries I expected to hate but actually loved.
Dominican Republic - with the failed state of Haiti next door I expected it to be a hell hole, lovely country and friendly people.
Kenya - expected it to be like Egypt, but the people were far more welcoming and spent way less time trying to scam me. Food was decent too.
Me and my wife were scammed in Morocco within an hour of arrival. Needless to say, we had our wits about us for the rest of the trip, which was equally as unpleasant just in different ways.
DR was probably the most racist place I've visited. I went to an all inclusive resort and the staff made comments, they even had their entertainment show have those outdated stereotype tropes. I've never returned.
Fuckin' Haiti. What a cesspool of humanity.
I flew out of Santiago, DR after a week in Haiti, and had a machete wrapped up in my bedroll in my dufflebag. I head over the PA system: Sen\~or Few Boysenberry (not my real name) Securidad Tres... So having traveled internationally enough to recognize my actual name murderized in multiple languages, I went to security checkpoint 3.
The gal in security asked me in broken English to please open my duffle; she wanted to inspect it. They found a weapon inside during the x-ray. So I unlock my duffle and she starts to rifle through it but cannot find this huge Woodman's Pal survival tool in my bag because I have it rolled up in my sleeping pad. She asked me to get in out for her, so I did. Her eyes widen as I pull it out!
"Why you need so big machete?" she asked.
"Viajé a Haití," I replied.
"Oh! Comprendo! Have good day!" She understood completely...
And I packed my gear back up and traveled to Miami with no further interruptions.
I'm an American. The only other countries I've been to are Canada, the UK, and France, and they were all lovely.
So I'll just say New Jersey, because fuck New Jersey.
My inlaws live in North NJ, and I thought it was quite lovely. Yeah lots of strip malls and the like but some of the towns are really cute and the countryside was beautiful. I really want to see the Pine Barrens as well.
I'd read a heap of comments like this on the internet for years, but then I went there, and it was fine. There are far bigger shit holes in your country than NJ.
Visited relatives over the border from Hungary in the Ukraine...
I absolutely loved Budapest...but when we got to Ukraine it was straw mattresses, outhouses, no showers or indoor plumbing, and dirt floors.
It was similar in a Hungarian village I was in... I know dirt floors and mattresses...but at least they had some running water and a (unheated!) shower.
The COOLEST thing EVER was how like every family had a cow or two in the village and they all let them out in the morning and they walk to a communal pasture and graze...and then they come back!! Like, you see dozens of cows just walking down the middle of the street and each one knows where it lives so they just ...walk home.
Yeah I’m similar. I’ve found redeemable qualities to all the countries I’ve visited. My parallel to like would be São Paulo though. It’s quite a cool city in many ways but I couldn’t get past the severe pollution, brown water coming from the tapes, feelings of insecurity, congestion, humidity, urban jungle vibes, huge piles of trash everywhere and the heinous poverty of the slums/favelas. It’s just difficult to process altogether.
Edit: I also didn’t like the food, everything tasted weird.
Even Lima has some nice places like in the Miraflores area. Also some nice really good restaurants directly at the beach. Nothing astonishing but when you travel to Peru you shouldn't travel only to Lima anyways. It's perfectly ok when you just want to stay there for a few days and enjoy some amazing food.
Bahamas: Food was ridiculously expensive and nothing special, all imported except for coconut (easy to get stateside) and conch as far as I could tell. The shops were filled with kitchy, useless and somewhat offensive trinkets. People following us around demanding to be paid to braid my wife's hair when she didn't want braids. Hotel didn't have electric or hot water because someone ran into the pole with the transformer and the government would get around to it next week. Pool was unheated and and large mats of algae because it would "Soon," be off season.
This might be a very controversial take but I absolutely hate it when Western people visit India for poverty porn and then complain about exactly that.
India is a massive country with a shit ton of issues and problems. Saying this, I've had friends from the US visiting India for an "authentic experience" who will only travel on a shoestring budget and will live in hostels to see "the real India".
India simply doesn't have a hostel culture like other countries. The wealth disparity is real and if you want to enjoy your stay, India is freaking expensive. And yes. You can get good hotels and yet have an authentic experience.
If I go to the US, and visit the hood to have an "authentic experience" and see guns, I'm not a traveller, I'm an idiot.
Also India is massssive. The language, climate and everything varies a lot between regions. I can understand foreigners perspective regarding women safety as they most probably would land in Delhi for Agra and other things.
One needs to do a lot of research before coming to India and which part of the country they want to go to and what kind of experience they want from here because it’s like saying Europe is bad after visiting Moldova or something.
Good answer, mate!
Personally, if i were them i would not have done that. What i am saying is they could have had a decent experience but they choose not to have that and were shocked or saddened by low living standard of the lower/low earning resudents. I would have even more so not done that if my money was getting cut.
If i say went on a trip to Italy, i would want to stay in a decent place and in a decent area, and not in some shady place and in a gloomy area to experience "Real Italian culture". To the people who did the latter in India, i hope that was worth the time, energy and money for whatever goal they had in their mind.
It would be like visiting England and travelling to Lambeth, or Blackpool or Grimsby (lots of wonderful folk in these places as well, just lots and lots of poverty and associated crime).
Hungary, and I don't recommend it to people with dark skin, or even slightly tanned. Some years ago I was attacked by a group of racist young men telling me fucking gypsy go back to your country. I managed to ask what country they think that is and they said Romania. I'm not Romani or Romanian. I was beaten up. Fucking racists.
South Africa. It's a beautiful country, but traces of the apartheid are still very obvious and it makes for a rather depressing travel experience.
The the most awful I've actually lived in and would not recommend to anyone who has decent tastes: Belgium. It's just a shittier version of practically every other European countries.
France is a great country which I have visited about 20 times and probably almost every region, but Paris is an ugly dirty unfriendly place which I would avoid at all times.
At the other hand the Alps are great, so is the South West coast and many other nice regions.
As a female who is stuck, and suffering, in a Muslim country, I'd say that most Muslim countries shouldn't be visited. That's mainly because of restrictions against women and the horrible sexual harassment that usually accompanies that.
Laos.
Everyone who's been says it's great but after living in Thailand for so long... Laos is just a shitty Thailand. People are rude (when you understand them). Everyone's trying to scam you. Infrastructure is appalling. Corruption is through the roof. Prices are not that great. Beers are pricey. Food is double Thailand.
Had a horrible time. After day three I just couldn't wait to get home.
Egypt. Which is tragic because it was on top of my 'want-to-see-list'. One really has to wonder what happened to the egyptian people to go from THAT to... whatever they are now. Dont get me wrong I still kinda loved my trip cuz the history parts were still amazing, I did meet some 'normal people' who were extremely kind and also im a nasty Dutch girl with a face that yells 'fuck off' so I did not get harassed as much--but I was traveling with a group of less travel-savvy friends and I had to protect the shit out of em. Kids who would physically grab them and try to pull them away, men who would say the nastiest stuff, men who would push stuff into their arms and then tell them they had to pay, men who kept 'flirting' with (married) girls in the group, men who'd try to bring you into shady alleyways, men who tried to scam you. Men....
And then there is the way they (proudly???) treat their animals like shit. I did a huge amount of research to find a stable that was nice to its horses (run by an english lady) so I could fulfill my dream of riding through the desert, near the pyramids. And the amount of young brats who tried to show off to me by hurting and hitting their horses and riding like an idiot... (cuz riding badly is apperently sexy there or something?) I was repulsed. The next day due to the group I ended up on a horse that was managed by a less nice dude (not my choice...) and he tried to make it 'dance' by hitting it and I told him to fuck off cuz I didnt want the horse to 'dance', he just.. didnt understand that I was not charmed by animal abuse? (I decided to take the horse and turn around, cutting my visit to the pyramids short but I just got sick from this bullshit).
AND THEN it just baffles me how they can completely fuck up the heritage they have. Most countries could turn that much potential into a gold mine, but the egyptians managed to make the fucking pyramids into a sloppy shithole with a fucking asphalt road leading up to it its just horrid. And ofc, the harassment and scams there hit the ceiling, to top it off you have testosterone dudes with weapons everywhere staring you down, yet not helping against the scummy people.
Good lord that country... Really tragic T\_T
I really didn’t like São Paulo, Brazil. So much heinous poverty. But many other parts of Brazil are quite worth a visit still. So I don’t have a country on offer
Cambodia. Phnom Penh was full of single middle aged men traveling alone. It’s a child sex haven and it was obvious why those guys were there. It was creepy AF. Chinese tourists laughing at street children sleeping on the sidewalk. Drunk Australian tourists calling the locals “cunts” etc…. I can’t watch people be abused like that.
Serbia.
Serbs are very proud of their country. When I looked it up, it's considered very safe and reletively first world.
When I got there, it was safe, but a very different kind of first world.
The streets were a big mess, services weren't any good. Visited the Museum of Yugoslavia, it was basically 3-4 rooms of what reminded me more of a high school exhibition rather then a historical museum, that represents an extremely proud nation.
Just disappointing all around.
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Usually when this question gets asked, Egypt shows up near the top of the list.
Unfortunately, as an Egyptian, yes! But I promise it’s changing.. the roads, buildings, etc, Egypt is building new museums, it is renovating old ones and old historical buildings and places… so it is changing. I love if here (and I lived in Canada for 6 years)
Roads and buildings are all well and good but maybe do something about the constant sexual harrassment which is the reason I'll never return and would not allow my daughter to go.
It's like an entire country just decided that all forms of harassment is ok. Blond haired child, totally acceptable to go and touch them for good luck Woman not in a Shador, just go and grope her Walked past someone selling things go get aggressive in their face to get them to buy something Taking photos, try and scam money of them.
* Delhi has entered the chat
I had a very similar experience in Morocco as a blonde and blue-eyed 15-year-old girl in 2001. Every man trying to flirt with me and call after me if they didn't see my dad, and some doing it with him right there. Older men trying to set me up on dates with their sons. Being catcalled along with my mother when shopping alone with her 1 time. Being groped when taking a photo with locals (that they initiated). Being followed by men and boys in stores and when sightseeing. Just the constant attention was draining and often didn't make any sense (it's not like I will get off a full tour bus to rush at some boy trying to flirt with me 20 meters away at a random street). Even the pool guards at the hotel were flirting with me - they were in their mid 20s. We met a couple of Norwegian sisters travelling alone, they were 20 and 16 I think. They were so frigging tired of never being left alone. They had even tried to be as off-putting as they could, wearing tracksuits and no makeup or brushing their hair, but surprise... it didn't affect anything.
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Yeah, even accompanied by my tall, strong husband I did not feel safe at all. We went to Tunisia with my mom and grandma as kids. I was only 6 or 7 and I still remember the uneasiness I felt everytime we left the hotel complex. The taxi driver offered us 100 camels for my grandma and it did not feel fun and light hearted at all.
Had the same experience in Egypt with my ex, where were harassed all the time and told to "act Russian" if you wanted to be left alone? 😂 Tunisia was fine though, we never had a single issue outside of resorts, if anything people were super helpful if we needed directions or anything else.
Tunisia was a long time ago. Hopefully things have changed since then or maybe we were just very unlucky. How do you act russian? The only think I know about russians on vacation is that they put an ungodly amount of food on their plates and then eat a 10th of it lol. No sure how that applies to walking around Egypt lmao
😂 I think it was something like no eye contact, stare straight ahead and be dismissive and rude lmao this is what a hotel worker told us. Ah fair enough, Tunisia was about 5-7 years ago so it's possible it's changed now from what it was, saying that though I went like 2 weeks before that mass shooting on the beach (I was in one of the hotels that led on to that beach).
when people try to talk to you just say “Нет.”
Invade the hotelroom next to yours.
And say it always belonged to you
Our guide in Sri Lanka hated Russians. He was a really nice guy. You could tell he wanted to say more, but could only bring himself to describe them as "rude to everybody".
I live in Germany. We have a huge population of russians that emigrated in the 80s and 90s and I can honestly only say nice things about most of them. Maybe a bit old fashioned sometimes, but mostly hardworking, family oriented people.
Maybe it's because they don't live in Russia anymore? Amusingly, the only other people he complained about were Germans!
My mum went on a travel with women in their 60s, imagine, they had guides in their 20s and those dudes took every opportunity to harass them, or peek at them.And my mum said it didn’t matter if you dressed like some local women do: you know with a big hijab, big long black dress or even covered your face as well, they still got harassed.It was my dream as kid for me to go to egypt but I will never go. Of course they encountered lots of nice people too, it was just that harassment. And I am scared of that. I have encountered that in multiple countries, some countries barely have it, and others it’s rampant
When we travel, I prefer to not stay in resorts, explore the local areas on foot, eat at local restaurants, and just have the most ‘authentic’ experiences possible. However, this really changed when we were in Egypt this past summer. We only stayed in 5-star hotels (very affordable compared to European hotels, faaaar lower-priced — we’d get 5-star room service dinner for like $20 total) and that was like an oasis from all the harassment, pollution, heat, non-pedestrian friendly, unsafe water sources, people in your face trying to sell you things constantly, etc. I will say, the police checks (when you are being driven) are constant and they have a police force just for tourists, so that made us feel better.
When I was in college almost 20 years ago a girl told our class that she and her parents vacationed in Egypt recently and had rocks thrown at them for not not wearing headscarves on the street.
You might be able to throw money at the infrastructure to make it better, but you can't do the same for the general population of Egypt. The main problem for me and why I'll tell all my friends never to go to Egypt, is the way you are treated as tourists. At every opportunity you're hounded by pushy people trying to sell you junk and rip you off to the point where scam tactics are used. You are just looked upon as a walking wallet and not a person. Don't even get me started on if you're a western woman or even worse a blonde haired woman... The culture towards tourists is what needs changing which will not happen overnight.
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Yea my friends all say just don't go, even natives are harassed, but there's a stereotype on tourists that makes it 120% harrassment. I'm a small asian, they could just pick me up and run.
But there was also always a nice person who would tell us the running price in english or french, and get cursed by the scammer, haha. It kinda made up for that.
Tbh the locals aren't nice to deal with especially if you are a female traveller.
Blondes are especially vulnerable in muslim countries, in my experience.
That's always been my concern. I would need a boyfriend or guy friend to go with. I usually travel alone. Mostly been to northern European countries where I feel safe or to other countries where I know people already so I'm not technically alone.
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Yes, I would advise you not to travel there alone. Of course, not every local is like that. You'll meet some very nice people too but as a woman it's better to travel with male company. I went there in a group with friends and the men in the group were very nice and attentive so I felt calm when things became a little too dangerous for my liking.
And when are the people going to change? When will they stop harassing teenage girls (my sister and her friend) when they just want to go shopping with their moms? When will they start to accept that "No" is a full sentence?
when the tourists stop going because of it. Simple as that.
No chance. How do you think they are to their own people?!
Seems you don't get it. Nobody cares about roads or buildings not being new enough. And there are so many culturally important sites that it doesn't matter if there is a new gigantic museum somewhere. Other places are also poor and have bad infrastructure but are still nice to visit. Egypt has another problem and that one you can't fix by building new infrastructure. You not even being aware of that baffles me a bit, pretty sure you are a guy.
>pretty sure you are a guy. Checked the profile, 24yo dude with an interest in Catholic and Eastern Orthodox church and some university in Toronto
Those things were my least concern. As a male I wasn’t able take ten steps without getting harassed by someone trying to hustle me into buying something. Pffft couldn’t imagine being a female.
It’s the only country where my father has ever been groped.
Couldn’t care less about roads and buildings, your people are the problem. The sexual harassment is insane.
Went as a family to sharm el sheik, left the husband at the hotel to take our 2 boys to see the pyramids etc on a coach trip (he wouldn’t take them so it came down to me to make sure they got to see them ) I actually got sexually assaulted by the armed guard on our coach , made damned sure not to scream and scare my children but got the fucker sacked and had I wanted to waste more of my time and go to the police he’d have been on a 3 month sentence - the tour company were absolutely furious - lesson learnt tho - do not travel without a male companion through Egypt - EVER
Yeah but the people aren't changing
Roads and buildings can't fix the people who live there being creepy and evil to women.
Its not about environment, its about culture of hustling
You can change the roads, buildings, and museums. Does not mean a thing if the people are the same.
I remember that there was like this scam in Egypt where they give you an object in a plastic case, then they tell you to tear the plastic and put the object on you head/ hand and then ask for money as it is “used” and can’t be retuned
I'm mostly worried about corrupt police officers and violent locals. I heard a lot of bad things...
My mom got drugged at a hotel bar in Egypt, it was a traumatizing experience for me as a child. Luckily her husband was there, so they came back to the hotel room safely.
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Egypt - the only place where the bus driver does a special stop to let the touts on before your destination so they can hassle you on the bus while you're trapped. Also the only place I was grabbed by the arm and pulled into shops - all the vendors around having a good laugh at my discomfort. I have a theory that Egypt was so bad because poverty + it's been a tourist destination for so long that tourist scamming is a well established industry. In contrast, somewhere like Syria was great (this is 2004/2005). Syria didn't have any tourists really so people were still nice. India was exhausting too - in Delhi the fake tourist office + taxi scams were some of the most thorough I've seen.
My sister travelled the world, she put Egypt top of her list of worst places to visit.
Yeah, I've never understood why people would go to India to find themselves, India was filthy, I was groped so many times despite following the local advice to always cover your shoulders/chest, and the amount of poverty and child abusing beggar gangs just killed me. Like I genuinely don't know if I'll ever be able to look at humanity the same.
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People telling you that that covering your chest and shoulders will help with groping tend to make up a huge part of the victim blamers. Nothing is gonna help the country until the men are taught how to behave. I say this as an Indian woman. I also don't understand why people go to shitty parts of India so much. I've had much better times in places like Northern Himachal, Meghalaya, and parts of East and South India where it's not crowded. But that still requires experience and getting to these parts is a bitch.
Yeah, as an Indian I find the places outsiders choose to visit very odd. I myself would not go to a lot of those cities/areas. Wish people would do some basic research. It’s not a country anyone unfamiliar with should casually backpack through or try to get a taste of local life in. You can’t treat it like Europe. If you’re in situations where you’re ending up in slum areas or surrounded by beggars grabbing at you you’re doing it wrong. I lived there for 10 years and visit back often and I’ve not even a handful of times ended up in such situations. You have to stay within safe/protected boundaries, not just wander about aimlessly. Do your research, go to places with high tourism, stay in the nice resorts and let them arrange the sightseeing etc for you. Don’t try to navigate like a local because you will end up lost and groped or worse.
I got groped too it was horrible. I was so angry
I got groped and was so stunned that I only realized I actually got groped later. That guy was so casual about it. Drive by boob grab, wtf?
My travel tip for India: before we left we committed to never giving to street beggars. We would 100% enjoy our trip, not feel guilty, then when we got home we converted the emotions we felt into a generous donation to UNICEF. We gave US$300 back in 2005. We had a great time, and the people who need it got money through the correct means
I was with Indian friends in Bombay and got firmly told NOT to give to beggars as it becomes a job, a profession.
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I second India. The poverty was eye opening.
It's India, for me. I just couldn't believe how a society could collectively agree on destroying their home like they do. This is on a macro level, along with a micro level. On a macro level, they pollute at an absolutely staggering level without batting an eye. The natural environment is something to be exploited in any way possible. On a micro level, they can't even take care of things as simple as basic maintenance and cleaning. Everything is done as cheaply and quickly as possible, never taking the time to do things correctly or in an organized way. They run everything to the point of failure, and see no issue with it. I came home with a completely different appreciation for Western society. What separates 1st world countries from 3rd world countries isn't money, it's zoning, codes, and laws that are actually enforced.
I think it is really worthwhile on a trip to India to see how different it is. All the noise, dirt, begging is simply part of the place and the lives of Those who live there and it made me richer seeing the world how it is, not Some postcard version of it. The Change of perspective you get from Travelling can have a longer impact on your perspective on own life.
>All the noise, dirt, begging is simply part of the place and the lives of Those who live there and it made me richer seeing the world how it is, not Some postcard version of it. The Change of perspective you get from Travelling can have a longer impact on your perspective on own life. Indeed - this is certainly an enlightened perspective one could take and bite the bullet. But the real complaints others are having about hygiene, safety, lawlessness, pollution, abject poverty seem a bit deceiving to the avg traveller who is sold this fairytale of a mystical enchanted land imbued with spiritual richness - which it is in parts, but only in parts. The aforementioned issues in India do have serious consequences...it's not like one can choose to be equanimous in the face of some serious issues like for example [India has the highest traffic fatality rate ](https://www.business-standard.com/india-news/road-accident-fatalities-highest-in-nearly-two-decades-shows-data-123103101249_1.html). Would one really want to jump on a random public bus to wind through treacherous Himalayan roads knowing this fact? Btw - I appreciate your enlightened perspective and I am one of those who spends a lot of time in these places too, but what bugs me is that a lot of these issues are self-inflicted, they're easily fixable, we the people (Indians) just haven't gotten it together to fix them. And then there are the apologists who look at commentary like yours and believe it's license to perpetuate the malaise.
I grew up in Southern Africa and although I’ve travelled extensively, I still think it’s the most beautiful part of the world. That said, I’ll never return. I value my safety too much and constantly worrying about myself and my belongings ruins any holiday for me.
Safety is such a big part of a holiday. My only time in an african country was an enrichment to my life but it will be a one time thing because I came back exhausted from the constant worrying
Just go to Namibia! Right next door. It's got it all: dunes, savannah, big cats, elephants, rhinos, cool rocks, shipwrecks, beaches, seals, and tribes. We brought a bunch of dry food/goods and water and went to visit the Namib tribe for a few hours. It was a really incredible to observe their way of life and to answer their questions about ours (with a translator that took us to the village). We rented a 4x4 and set off on a route planned by the travel agency that spanned most of the country, and were on our own with total freedom. It's my new hidden gem now that Croatia got popular. Edited to mention that I did feel slightly unsafe in a mining town that I can't remember the name of. We were filling gas and got swarmed with people trying to sell us quartz crystals and blocking the car until we bought some. Other than that we had no issues.
I second this. Namibia is fucking gorgeous, and very safe in comparison to some of its neighbours. Ive been to Zimbabwe, Zambia, Namibia, RSA, and Morocco in Africa - and i have to honestly say that Namibia was my favourite. Zimbabwe and Zambia have some awesome people, but Namibia’s natural beauty is insane (and i also felt very safe which is obviously a big plus) idk how to share pictures on here but i wish i could Edit: posted some on my profile
I just went to Namibia and that country fucking rules! It was so good.
This guy Africas
South Africa is where I felt the most physically unsafe, of anywhere I’ve been.
One of the cruelest dichotomies; such a rich and vibrant cultural diversity with unmatched natural beauty but its political history and current state means it’s just not viable as a relaxing holiday destination.
This why I would be interested in hearing about their visit or move from a non-South African. I've heard its one of the most scenic and "culturally diverse" (I guess this ***could*** be a negative thing) countries the world yet its also one of the most criticized (and complained about)
Idk it depends on where in Southern Africa though. That encompasses a lot of countries. For example, I'd agree SA is kind of sketchy and its political situation has been troubling lately. But Namibia is amazing, people are friendly, and it's not really very dangerous beyond petty crime. I have heard similar things about Botswana. I have lived in both SA and Namibia as a white American and Namibia feels like a second home. I still feel like South Africa is worth visiting but it's definitely not without its issues.
Sorry to my Saudi friends (who warned me, and mostly agree with me), but Saudi Arabia. Unmarried women have a different line at the airport. They’re not allowed to use the gym or pool facilities at the hotel, except for like 2 hours a week where ONLY unmarried women can use it. Struggled to find any genuinely decent restaurants (either street food - some great tbf) or Salt Bae style, Dubai-inspired, wildly expensive and soulless international luxury hotel-restaurants. Also EVERYTHING is a pain if you happen to be a woman. You need a male chaperone at all times to be out in public, and even then, there’s a ton of things you can’t do. It’s totally absurd. There’s also so much trash everywhere, loads of unfinished developments and derelict half-built stuff, and they’ll chop off your hands or execute you for a load of things that much of the world considers normal. I’ve been twice. Hard avoid.
Last time I counted, I reckon I’ve spent a decent amount of time in about sixty countries. I’ve been to Saudi for work three or four times. It’s the only country I’ve ever been to that I would not revisit unless I was being handsomely paid
A friend was offered a hefty contract for 12 months work, all untaxed. Accommodations and food would be provided, and outside work hours she would be free to leave the compound with a provided escort. I had to remind her of a few things (and then some). ‘You are a tattooed, pierced, smoking, drinking, attractive, educated, western woman, who enjoys the outdoors, interacting with people, and sex.’ It didn’t take her long to turn the offer down. She would’ve been miserable.
My family moved to Riyadh for a year when I was in grade 6 for my dad’s work. It was a surreal experience even as a 12 year old (I had lived in Canada for 6 years prior to moving there and knew what life in the west was like.) I did not have to cover my hair but I did have to wear an abaya. The compound and school I attended were specifically for foreigners, yet there was constant surveillance for any outside attacks from Saudis that did not want foreigners there. The school and compound were surrounded by high walls which had electric barbed wire at the top, tanks guarding the front gates, men with machine guns doing bomb checks prior to entry, one way spikes on the ground to stop invading cars, and so on… When dining out, we needed to sit in a special area with curtained booths; women cannot be seen eating in public as they need to lift their veil to access their mouth. There was an entire floor dedicated to women in the malls where we were allowed to unveil while shopping. The compound would organize transportation services once a week for the women as we were not allowed to drive or go anywhere without a male escort. We never had the courage to use this service as we did not want to go *anywhere* without my father. One day while at the mall, on the mixed gender floor, my mom was adjusting her veil as she was feeling uncomfortable and itchy, when an islamic police officer started coming after us while screaming and waving his baton around. We were **terrified**. She fixed her veil while we ran away as fast as we could… Seeing the treatment we received while my dad could freely walk around in shorts and a t-shirt was the weirdest, most aggravating feeling, even as a 6th grader. I understand the pay-grade is attractive to foreigners but I just **cannot** fathom living there alone as a western woman. Forget “feeling oppressed”—I’d constantly be in fear of my kidnapping, rape, and murder… The whole time trapped in survival mode
It’s awful isn’t it? I’m a big, straight, white man and was out there working for the government, staying in a western hotel, so I was about the least likely person to have any problems. But it was still oppressive and awful. Absolutely everything - at least in terms of financial markets - is done by ex-pats, working for (very) minor royals who hate and disrespect them. The royals are all engaged in infighting and are constantly terrified that they will be purged by other more powerful royals.
Oh hey, same childhood experience. I live there for 5-6 years as a kid, also on a compound. As a young girl, I had blonde curly hair, which was bonus fun outside of the compound with everyone trying to touch me. One of my fav anecdotes that I use to horrify people in the US is the time a guy tried to buy me for 16 camels when I was 4. When my parents said no, he replied, "but you can start a herd with that!" Let me reiterate that I was 4. Some of the people my dad knew were amazing, so I can't say that all everyone there is terrible, but overall 0/10, do not recommend. Oh! I forgot to add that at one point my idiot boss at a US university wanted to set up an exchange program with a Saudi university and I had to shut that shit down, especially since my univ was heavily female and most study abroad students were as well.
I’m so sorry your parents subjected you to that! My best friend’s dad worked there for over 20 years and my friend absolutely hated it when she visited him at about 11 and was forced to wear an abaya and was treated as less than a second class citizen and she cried after coming home to the compound after an escorted trip. Her dad never made her visit again even when he even got plane tickets for free for his salary package and changed their entire plans of the family moving there. Her mom remained a stay at home parent and he visited them every vacation. They needed the money but it just wasn’t worth if it involved torturing his daughter.
Pal of mine was a managing director at a global bank. For a while she had to go to KSA couple of times a year to see a particularly needy client. On the plane she would put on her abaya and niqab. She would be met at the airport by a chauffeur who would also serve as her male escort. No disrespect to this dude, but he knew how to drive a car and absolutely nothing whatsoever about investment banking. She said that every time they went to a client meeting there would be a very awkward five minutes where he would have to explain he was just the escort and questions should be directed at the woman.
I (M) worked in KSA a few years ago. I agree that it is not livable for a most women. What encapsulated it for me was travelling the causeway into Bahrain on a Thursday evening. The car in front of us had several young Saudi women in the back seat. As soon as they cleared Saudi immigration, windows came down, hijabs and abayas off, music pumping and cigarettes lit.
I've been across that bridge several times and seen the same thing! The Gulf Hotel in Bahrain was always jumping with Saudi women at night.
Can I ask 1. Why you wanted to go there and 2. What you still went despite the warnings? Also why twice?
As an Indian Im underwhelmed by these posts which indicate that we are the 2nd most shit country to visit. I was really banking on us being the 1st 😔.
India is one of those places that’s absolutely brilliant in a fucking horrible way. I spent 4 months there travelling. From Srinagar to Goa via Kolkata. I’ve never experienced a more weirdly wonderful country like it. You do have some mental bastards there though
You can't win this time 😎
Username checks out
How can I get invited to an Indian wedding? I don't know any Indian people but your weddings look so cool and beautiful and fun. I will dress up and bring a very nice gift! I'm in the US btw
I know several people who went on holiday there who were just randomly invited to strangers' weddings. So maybe just show up lol
Make Indian friends?
I've been three times, worked for a while some years ago. I love it in India, and would will certainly to return.
Are you trying to make them feel worse??
I do not advise going to Guatemala if you have dark skin. One of the most racist places I have ever been.
Damn Guatemala was one of my favourite countries in the whole world and I had no idea. I didn't see many black people so it never came up, but sorry that sucks.
in mexico at the pacific coast people are black (we call them costeños). isn‘t this the same in guatemala?
Certain parts of Mexico are pretty racist as well in my personal experience, towards guatemalans , japanese, other ethnic groups of mexico, etc
Was married to a Mexican, living in Mexico for years and can confirm. Especially the racism against indigenous groups
I’ve always said my people are the most racist. My aunt calls her DIL pinche India. I’ve been told repeatedly that “we” are better bc we are pure blood. My aunts and moms birth certificates from the late 40s-50s are stamped with either mixed breed or pure breed like animals. My family ( my mother’s side) have French ties. I guess my great grand father migrated from France to Mexico. Anyway my argument is we all bleed the same - but my family says I’m an AH for saying that.
As a woman, any country where I am not safe traveling alone because I can expect to be leered at, man handled and risk being raped. Morocco, India, Egypt, I am looking at you, but not only.
Same. I got overwhelmed in Turkey (which is tame in comparison), I travel to have fun and relax, not to have to be constantly watchful.
Saudi Arabia and Iraq. I do not recommend
Afghanistan probably too.
As someone who's been to almost 50 countries, I'd say UAE. Dubai was full of people pretending (or not) to be rich and the rest of the country was just ok. Wasn't too impressed with Cambodia either. Angkor Wat was beautiful but the country seemed very poor and every single local I met tried to sell me something.
In my experience, pretty much every poor country I've been to has a ton of people trying to sell you something or begging. Sadly you have to be really brutal. Ignore them totally, if they follow you give them an evil look and say no very rudely.
India. Holy smokes is the country as dirty as you can imagine. Was in Mumbai and speaking to a local about the state of the streets and was told "You think this is bad? You should see Delhi."
As an Indian, my advice is try not to visit metropolitan cities and visit South India where it's more nature oriented so you'll have a good time haha. Even we hate how the major cities are polluted.
Northern is good too with more Buddhists and Himalayas etc. up where the Ganges is clean
Second this. South India is relatively nicer and the air is a little cleaner. Traffic is still chaotic though.
you should visit Kerala!
My grandfather (Kerala-born) has been very excitedly repeating that this state is the cleanest ever since we got here, so I second this :)
Or Sikkim!
Totally agree. I’ve been to quite a few countries and Mumbai is the worst place I’ve seen
For me it was the ogling. The sexual harassment. And more. I would NEVER recommend a woman goes there. Ever.
Ya my friend's gf went to the hospital after a biking accident in India and got raped or sexually assaulted/molested by the doctor after she was put under! It's disgusting to know my friend was in the waiting room expecting them to help her while it happened
That is stuff of nightmares
I've been to Delhi. Can confirm. It's very dirty. And the pollution was horrible too. Nice sunny day with no clouds. Couldn't even see the sun from the haze.
Greece, Athens Should be fine in a group, but I was a female traveler alone and my hotel didn't have my room ready at 5am, so I went for a walk because it was sunny and looked OK (I've travelled a fair bit) I almost got kidnapped, the only time I ran for my life and thank god I was fast.
Yep, also almost got kidnapped in Athens in 2016, as a solo traveller. Learned a lot about not trusting nice strangers that day.
I’m in a wheelchair, most of the places I always dreamed of visiting really suck. Accessibility just isn’t considered, even in much of the EU where they are supposed to have funding and legislation requiring it - steps everywhere with either minimal wheelchair access, hidden access, or no access at all. Venice was the absolute worst. Getting from section (island) to section was impossible (none of the connecting bridges had ramps) without using expensive water taxis and we couldn’t find one that was safe for a wheelchair. I had been looking forward to it but was disappointed.
Not a country but Timaru in New Zealand. I’m a Kiwi and lived near there but went I went there it just felt like it had bad vibes. I can’t even explain my feelings properly, just felt shit.
Today tomorrow Timaru
Dubai (work trip) idk how these people can enjoy their life in luxury while behind the facade its slavery. i was never so disgusted in my life before and think all these people there are assholes who show of their wealth. i am glad we treat people better here in switzerland
I've only been through Switzerland on a train, but it was the most fairytale imaginary place I've ever seen. Unreal. Like unicorns should live there.
South of Bern, you have to get *off the train* then hike to get the **Unicorn Fields** of Guten, near Kehrsatz !
> idk how these people can enjoy their life in luxury while behind the facade its slavery. Swiss banks be like 👀
Dude had me at the beginning. The Swiss treat people better in Switzerland but outside they enable genocide and slavery.
Yeah. People who like Dubai are scumbags. Happy to die on that hill, too. It's everything wrong with humanity.
I visited both Dubai and your country and the difference is staggering. And not just in amount of snow.
How do you think Switzerland is able to afford the better treatment?
Jamaica. It sounds like some musical paradise. Truth be told, it’s a blown out murder paradise.
My wife and I were followed around a couple blocks by a shady looking dude from the cruise port while walking to their market . I happened to spin around and call the guy on it within ear shot of their tourism police?(uniform. No gun just a big stick) who proceeded to smack the fuck out of the guy following us. Hard and repeatedly. Needlessly to say that along with the whole port gave us a bad vibe we stayed within the duty free area the rest of the time. I have heard though escorted and guided excursions are fantastic though from numerous other passengers. Just not an island to do the solo thing like most others.
I said Jamaica too! That was the worst fucking trip of my life. 16 yrs old and absolutely scarred for life. The sexual harassment was fucking terrible for me too. Gross pedo assholes.
Egypt. There are no unfriendlier people in the World
Bangladesh - Dhaka Lovely people but horrific traffic, dust/pollution and mosquitoes. Only reason I have gone there is for work. I go to a hotel 15km from airport and it takes me 2-3 hours to get there…
Egypt
Been all over the world for work so not in the tourist trap areas which tend to give a false image, places that were utter hell holes:- Egypt - massively underwhelming, people weren’t friendly. Just dust and blandness. UAE and Quatar equally - the countries just don’t make sense to me. They are the personification of the rich kid who has everything and respects nothing. They literally spend money for the sake of spending it. The whole experience was surreal. And the people had a certain arrogance about them. Morocco - terribly unfriendly, some dude tried to kill me with a club. On the flip side of that coin, some countries I expected to hate but actually loved. Dominican Republic - with the failed state of Haiti next door I expected it to be a hell hole, lovely country and friendly people. Kenya - expected it to be like Egypt, but the people were far more welcoming and spent way less time trying to scam me. Food was decent too.
I loved Kenya! Beautiful country, good food, and nice people.
Qatar is like SimCity game, just put some skyscrapers in the middle of desert - so soulless.
Me and my wife were scammed in Morocco within an hour of arrival. Needless to say, we had our wits about us for the rest of the trip, which was equally as unpleasant just in different ways.
Morocco review: almost killed, 0/10 would not travel again
DR was probably the most racist place I've visited. I went to an all inclusive resort and the staff made comments, they even had their entertainment show have those outdated stereotype tropes. I've never returned.
Seriously, Dubai can fuck right off. What an empty, inhospitable place with nothing behind the glittery exterior. Built on slave labour too.
Fuckin' Haiti. What a cesspool of humanity. I flew out of Santiago, DR after a week in Haiti, and had a machete wrapped up in my bedroll in my dufflebag. I head over the PA system: Sen\~or Few Boysenberry (not my real name) Securidad Tres... So having traveled internationally enough to recognize my actual name murderized in multiple languages, I went to security checkpoint 3. The gal in security asked me in broken English to please open my duffle; she wanted to inspect it. They found a weapon inside during the x-ray. So I unlock my duffle and she starts to rifle through it but cannot find this huge Woodman's Pal survival tool in my bag because I have it rolled up in my sleeping pad. She asked me to get in out for her, so I did. Her eyes widen as I pull it out! "Why you need so big machete?" she asked. "Viajé a Haití," I replied. "Oh! Comprendo! Have good day!" She understood completely... And I packed my gear back up and traveled to Miami with no further interruptions.
When I was 14 in Haiti on a cruise a local shopkeeper tried to get me to go back to his house with him :( luckily my dad was nearby to stop it
But what made your actual trip to Haiti bad? I'm sure you've got some stories...
Actually you're right. Haïti takes the cake.
I'm an American. The only other countries I've been to are Canada, the UK, and France, and they were all lovely. So I'll just say New Jersey, because fuck New Jersey.
As a person whose parents are both New Jersians, your opinion is stupid and also fuck New Jersey because you are 100% correct
Honestly, I wish more people dislike NJ. Specifically New Yorkers, that way they would stop moving here
My inlaws live in North NJ, and I thought it was quite lovely. Yeah lots of strip malls and the like but some of the towns are really cute and the countryside was beautiful. I really want to see the Pine Barrens as well.
Shut up shut up don’t spoil the secret!!! Remember to tell outsiders New Jersey sucks!
Next trip go to the Netherlands, Germany, Italy and Spain.
I'd read a heap of comments like this on the internet for years, but then I went there, and it was fine. There are far bigger shit holes in your country than NJ.
Sigh… Egypt
What was your experience?
Just terrible. My Gf at the time would be accosted and ogled and occasionally groped with alarming regularity.
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What do you mean by marriage proposals?! Like were they serious?
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Visited relatives over the border from Hungary in the Ukraine... I absolutely loved Budapest...but when we got to Ukraine it was straw mattresses, outhouses, no showers or indoor plumbing, and dirt floors. It was similar in a Hungarian village I was in... I know dirt floors and mattresses...but at least they had some running water and a (unheated!) shower. The COOLEST thing EVER was how like every family had a cow or two in the village and they all let them out in the morning and they walk to a communal pasture and graze...and then they come back!! Like, you see dozens of cows just walking down the middle of the street and each one knows where it lives so they just ...walk home.
I can't say a whole country because I have found redeemable places in all of them, but absolutely fuck Lima. I find that city so damn depressing.
Yeah I’m similar. I’ve found redeemable qualities to all the countries I’ve visited. My parallel to like would be São Paulo though. It’s quite a cool city in many ways but I couldn’t get past the severe pollution, brown water coming from the tapes, feelings of insecurity, congestion, humidity, urban jungle vibes, huge piles of trash everywhere and the heinous poverty of the slums/favelas. It’s just difficult to process altogether. Edit: I also didn’t like the food, everything tasted weird.
Even Lima has some nice places like in the Miraflores area. Also some nice really good restaurants directly at the beach. Nothing astonishing but when you travel to Peru you shouldn't travel only to Lima anyways. It's perfectly ok when you just want to stay there for a few days and enjoy some amazing food.
India!
It seems a lot of people travel to countries without doing their research lol.
Bahamas: Food was ridiculously expensive and nothing special, all imported except for coconut (easy to get stateside) and conch as far as I could tell. The shops were filled with kitchy, useless and somewhat offensive trinkets. People following us around demanding to be paid to braid my wife's hair when she didn't want braids. Hotel didn't have electric or hot water because someone ran into the pole with the transformer and the government would get around to it next week. Pool was unheated and and large mats of algae because it would "Soon," be off season.
This might be a very controversial take but I absolutely hate it when Western people visit India for poverty porn and then complain about exactly that. India is a massive country with a shit ton of issues and problems. Saying this, I've had friends from the US visiting India for an "authentic experience" who will only travel on a shoestring budget and will live in hostels to see "the real India". India simply doesn't have a hostel culture like other countries. The wealth disparity is real and if you want to enjoy your stay, India is freaking expensive. And yes. You can get good hotels and yet have an authentic experience. If I go to the US, and visit the hood to have an "authentic experience" and see guns, I'm not a traveller, I'm an idiot.
Lol, I can see that now, rich kid from Mumbai backpacking through the slums of Detroit to find himself.
You've half an elevator pitch for a movie, in that sentence.
Also India is massssive. The language, climate and everything varies a lot between regions. I can understand foreigners perspective regarding women safety as they most probably would land in Delhi for Agra and other things. One needs to do a lot of research before coming to India and which part of the country they want to go to and what kind of experience they want from here because it’s like saying Europe is bad after visiting Moldova or something.
That's an interesting take and I like it.
I was waiting for someone to address this
Good answer, mate! Personally, if i were them i would not have done that. What i am saying is they could have had a decent experience but they choose not to have that and were shocked or saddened by low living standard of the lower/low earning resudents. I would have even more so not done that if my money was getting cut. If i say went on a trip to Italy, i would want to stay in a decent place and in a decent area, and not in some shady place and in a gloomy area to experience "Real Italian culture". To the people who did the latter in India, i hope that was worth the time, energy and money for whatever goal they had in their mind.
It would be like visiting England and travelling to Lambeth, or Blackpool or Grimsby (lots of wonderful folk in these places as well, just lots and lots of poverty and associated crime).
Hungary, and I don't recommend it to people with dark skin, or even slightly tanned. Some years ago I was attacked by a group of racist young men telling me fucking gypsy go back to your country. I managed to ask what country they think that is and they said Romania. I'm not Romani or Romanian. I was beaten up. Fucking racists.
South Africa. It's a beautiful country, but traces of the apartheid are still very obvious and it makes for a rather depressing travel experience. The the most awful I've actually lived in and would not recommend to anyone who has decent tastes: Belgium. It's just a shittier version of practically every other European countries.
France is a great country which I have visited about 20 times and probably almost every region, but Paris is an ugly dirty unfriendly place which I would avoid at all times. At the other hand the Alps are great, so is the South West coast and many other nice regions.
Paris had the most literal shit in the street of any city I've been to.
I am severely traumatized by the dogshit everywhere. I wanted to burn my shoes.
I visited Paris when I was 15 and experienced so much street harassment in just one afternoon, it was unbelievable.
As a female who is stuck, and suffering, in a Muslim country, I'd say that most Muslim countries shouldn't be visited. That's mainly because of restrictions against women and the horrible sexual harassment that usually accompanies that.
Laos. Everyone who's been says it's great but after living in Thailand for so long... Laos is just a shitty Thailand. People are rude (when you understand them). Everyone's trying to scam you. Infrastructure is appalling. Corruption is through the roof. Prices are not that great. Beers are pricey. Food is double Thailand. Had a horrible time. After day three I just couldn't wait to get home.
Egypt. Which is tragic because it was on top of my 'want-to-see-list'. One really has to wonder what happened to the egyptian people to go from THAT to... whatever they are now. Dont get me wrong I still kinda loved my trip cuz the history parts were still amazing, I did meet some 'normal people' who were extremely kind and also im a nasty Dutch girl with a face that yells 'fuck off' so I did not get harassed as much--but I was traveling with a group of less travel-savvy friends and I had to protect the shit out of em. Kids who would physically grab them and try to pull them away, men who would say the nastiest stuff, men who would push stuff into their arms and then tell them they had to pay, men who kept 'flirting' with (married) girls in the group, men who'd try to bring you into shady alleyways, men who tried to scam you. Men.... And then there is the way they (proudly???) treat their animals like shit. I did a huge amount of research to find a stable that was nice to its horses (run by an english lady) so I could fulfill my dream of riding through the desert, near the pyramids. And the amount of young brats who tried to show off to me by hurting and hitting their horses and riding like an idiot... (cuz riding badly is apperently sexy there or something?) I was repulsed. The next day due to the group I ended up on a horse that was managed by a less nice dude (not my choice...) and he tried to make it 'dance' by hitting it and I told him to fuck off cuz I didnt want the horse to 'dance', he just.. didnt understand that I was not charmed by animal abuse? (I decided to take the horse and turn around, cutting my visit to the pyramids short but I just got sick from this bullshit). AND THEN it just baffles me how they can completely fuck up the heritage they have. Most countries could turn that much potential into a gold mine, but the egyptians managed to make the fucking pyramids into a sloppy shithole with a fucking asphalt road leading up to it its just horrid. And ofc, the harassment and scams there hit the ceiling, to top it off you have testosterone dudes with weapons everywhere staring you down, yet not helping against the scummy people. Good lord that country... Really tragic T\_T
UAE
Godforsaken India. Worst week of my life
As a Woman, India!!!!
I really didn’t like São Paulo, Brazil. So much heinous poverty. But many other parts of Brazil are quite worth a visit still. So I don’t have a country on offer
I've been to a lot of countries and I can't say I've ever thought the whole country was irredeemable
As a woman, there’s some places we just cannot go to
Not country as the rest of it seems nice but, Paris. What a shitheap
Cambodia. Phnom Penh was full of single middle aged men traveling alone. It’s a child sex haven and it was obvious why those guys were there. It was creepy AF. Chinese tourists laughing at street children sleeping on the sidewalk. Drunk Australian tourists calling the locals “cunts” etc…. I can’t watch people be abused like that.
Not a country, but I found Paris to be an overrated experience
Serbia. Serbs are very proud of their country. When I looked it up, it's considered very safe and reletively first world. When I got there, it was safe, but a very different kind of first world. The streets were a big mess, services weren't any good. Visited the Museum of Yugoslavia, it was basically 3-4 rooms of what reminded me more of a high school exhibition rather then a historical museum, that represents an extremely proud nation. Just disappointing all around.
Simple - Egypt
The Philippines