Third World Revelations

[GwynnInTheHall]

With Papa looking to possibly retire out of country and my Current situation i thought it might be nice to have a thread where we all could share our out of country experiences and ask questions regarding possible travel abroad.

So have at it and enjoy!

[Pogues]

The only third world country I ever traveled to was Canada.

[rhd]

I've been to 10 foreign countries (counting Canada) during vacations. I have no idea what it would be like to retire to anyplace I've been but I can comment on a couple places I've been as a tourist.

I've been to Japan twice and loved it both times. I highly recommend it as a vacation destination for American tourists. There's beautiful scenery and historical sites such castles, temples, shrines, etc., it's as modern as the US and much cleaner. And there's lots of stuff to do, like concerts, plays, museums and BASEBALL! And there's practically no violent crime there so you can feel safe practically anywhere you go, day or night. The people are friendly and helpful to tourists; they'll go out of their way to help you. Practically nobody speaks much English but most people seem to speak and understand it enough to help w basic things like how to get to a certain place. There are signs in English everywhere but the GPSs are in Japanese characters and voice so not much help. Public transportation is great and you really dont need a car to get around big cities like Tokyo. But you can rent a car if you get an international driver's license before you go. These are easy to get; I got mine at AAA by just filling out a form and paying a nominal fee. I had tremendous fun driving my rental car around Japan; this is one of the really fun parts of a vacation to me. I expected Japan to be very expensive but while it's not cheap I didnt find it terribly pricey either. I was able to find nice hotels even in Tokyo for under $100. Also, typically they have certain floors that are reserved for Western tourists so you dont have to worry about removing your shoes before you go into your room. Things probably are different tho at a traditional 'onsen'. Unlike some other countries I've been to, like England, they have free continental breakfasts, which include Japanese-type food like rice balls but also US-type food like eggs, milk and juice. My guidebook warned me to watch out for anti-foreign bias and to be sure to be mindful of local customs. I observed no anti-foreign bias the entire time I was there; in fact many people seem to like foreign tourists, at least 'Western' ones. And altho it is good to know and observe local customs I dont think you need to worry too much about this. Just being civil and respectful and using common sense should be enough for a tourist in practically all situations. For those who want to stay and work, the attitude towards will be a little different. But my understanding is that if you make a reasonable effort to learn their language and culture they will accept you.

I spent about a week in Brazil. I was somewhat apprehensive about the crime situation there, but reading up on it before I went convinced me I should be OK. I had no problems while I was there (mostly in Rio and out on the road). Stayed on Ipanema beach (all the hotels for tourists are on the beaches). I wanted to go to a concert about 7-8 blocks away at night and asked the desk clerk if it would be safe to walk. He said that it would but advised me to take a cab home if I returned after midnite, so that's what I did. Again, I rented a car and took off to the countryside. I drove all the way to Iguazu Falls, which is one of the modern wonders of the worlds. It was spectacular! It took me 2 days to get there and 2 days to get back, which was what I wanted to do but next time I'll fly. I drove very late at night sometimes and didnt have any trouble. There werent many superhighways there, which made the trip even longer, and they really soak you w an endless number of tolls, which I wasnt expecting. Also, Brazilian drivers often are very aggressive, so I just stayed out of their way. Few people speak much English but at the tourist places like hotels and restaurants I usually didnt have much trouble. I found Brazilians to be a friendly, fun-loving people. But the prices on goods, particularly technology items, can be rather expensive. While I was at the falls, my camera had a problem while I was there and I wanted to get a new one. I was advised it would be cheaper to drive across the border to Argentina and buy one, so that's what I did. The continental breakfasts there are much better than in the US, w all kinds of fresh tropical fruit. My 'moderately-priced' hotel in Rio was a little over $100 and you're supposed to 'tip' them about 15%, which I never heard of before. I didnt experience this practice outside of Rio and the hotels in the small cities and towns were more moderate. Brazil is a beautiful country and I recommend it also for American tourists; just use common sense and be aware of your surroundings in big cities.

I've been to Mexico many times, including the interior and never had any problems but these days I would be very wary of galavanting around northern Mexico. The rest of Mexico doesnt concern me that much, altho I'd be leery of cabs at night in Mexico City. There's also reason to be wary of traveling by bus thru the countryside, because my friend's bus got held up by mountain bandits who robbed all the passengers and struck at least one of them. And this was in 1989 so it's probably worse now. As far as I know, the Mexican resorts should be OK for tourists.

I could tell you about my trips to England, Iceland, Dominican Republic and New Zealand also.

[TranaGreg]

The only third world country I ever traveled to was Canada.

Hey, third, first, fourth, we got it all!

[ironfist]

Going to Romania this summer for my brother-in-law's wedding. I doubt I'll be leaving their family's village for the week or so that I'll be there though.

[DMT]

I spent 11 months traveling the world with my wife in 2007-08. Here are my thoughts on the various places we visited. Apologies that some of the photos have been unlinked for some reason. There are links to each country and IMO the earlier posts were more entertaining than the last few.

https://www.aroundtheworld365.blogspot.com

[Gregg]

I spent 11 months traveling the world with my wife in 2007-08. Here are my thoughts on the various places we visited. Apologies that some of the photos have been unlinked for some reason. There are links to each country and IMO the earlier posts were more entertaining than the last few.

www.aroundtheworld365.blogspot.com

Wow has it been that long already!? I thought that was such a cool thing to do.

[DMT]

Wow has it been that long already!? I thought that was such a cool thing to do.

Yea it feels like another lifetime ago. And as amazing as it was, I couldn't fathom doing it again. But the coolest thing about it is to this day I can remember so vividly most of the days of that year. As we were watching the Aussie Open, my wife had mentioned something about Melbourne and I immediately remember exactly what we did during our time there.

[Controller Jacobs]

Going to Romania this summer for my brother-in-law's wedding. I doubt I'll be leaving their family's village for the week or so that I'll be there though.

Watch out for draculas. Also I think werewolfs.

[rhd]

I spent 11 months traveling the world with my wife in 2007-08. Here are my thoughts on the various places we visited. Apologies that some of the photos have been unlinked for some reason. There are links to each country and IMO the earlier posts were more entertaining than the last few.

www.aroundtheworld365.blogspot.com

Wow, thanx for the link. I read several of the blogs - way too many to read them all. Must have been awesome, but the whole trip also must have been extremely expensive.

[ironfist]

Watch out for draculas. Also I think werewolfs.

Last time I was there, we went all across Transylvania and stopped by "Dracula's Castle", aka Bran Castle. After returning, I found out that that is not even the real Dracula's Castle and that he may not have even ever been there. It's a definite tourist trap, including a cheesy cartoon dracula pointing the way. That should have been my first clue. Still a cool site but I would have loved to go see the real one which is in ruins in Poenari.

[Papa Deuce]

OK, well, I spent 15 days in Belize, but it was 14 years ago. I would definitely have called that Third World back then. Belize City is pretty much like any city that acts as a harbor, but maybe worse since it also had a huge military presence. When we came off the plane we were inspected by military personnel, and it felt like we were being checked out for the hour we were in the airport.

There was really only one highway in the country and it went E - W. They were building a N- S highway, but in talking to locals it had already been in progress for years and it was going to be years more before it was complete, Though we did drive on it..... it was all dirt and rocks. Most bridges were made of wood, and didn't even have side walls. A 100 mile ride took 5 - 6 hours with nobody on the road except some huge trucks that were hauling fruit.

We were told that a "must see" was the Belize Zoo. We went, and its not much more than local zoos you could see in any town in the US. For 3 or 4 days we stayed at a Jungle Lodge called Chan Chich. It was upscale. It even had a built in pool right in the middle of the jungle. Literally monkeys were in the trees surrounding the pool. With the lodge as a base, we hired someone from the lodge to show us the nearby town. It was shack after shack after shack. The guide told us that he made about $30 USD a week + free room and board, and that he was "highly paid" in the area of the lodge. He took great pride in showing us the church in the town. It was tiny, missing windows, and looked like it could collapse at any time. He told me that in the entire town there was ONE TV and ONE DVD player, and every Friday someone would drive 2 hours to rent DVDs for the weekend. The whole town would gather at one "store" and watch movies. At the end of my stay, I went to give him a tip - I think I wanted to give him $30.... a week's pay. Well, he refused the money and asked if we could send DVDs and books, and kids pop culture T shirts to the town if we wanted to tip him. So that is what we did..... LOL, it cost $50 just to ship the stuff, but we did send him like 20 used DVDs and a couple of Warner Brother and Michael Jordan T-Shirts. We didn't have much contact with the locals, but when we did, they were very nice. As an aside, it is almost impossible to get a Pepsi in Belize, as the richest man in the country owned a Coca Cola bottling plant in Belize. Coke sponsored almost everything.

Next up was a fishing village on the coast for several days. The town was called Placencia. There was pretty much only one real "hotel", and it was small. We stayed there. It was owned by a famous chef from France. The place was very nice, and the food was great..... but the LOCAL folks are what made this wonderful. They made us feel so welcome. One lady invited us into her home to eat. And while the food was just "OK" ( fish, plantains. and rice ) the gesture was incredible. Two of our nights were spent dancing on a pier with the local folks.... all food and drink was free.... nobody would take money. I played basketball with the locals at midnight under the one street lamp in the whole town. From what I gather, Placencia has grown by leaps and bounds since then. There was ONE restaurant in that town when we were there, and it only opened if the owner was in the mood to open. I understand there are now 20+ restaurants, and even a bowling alley.

Finally, we stayed at San Pedro. This is the town that Madonna sang about in the song San Pedro. It was a nice little town with lots of places to eat and dance and drink. They had a "game" they played one night a week. They set up a big "net" I guess, made of rope, and the people bet on where the square where they believed a chicken would take a dump. Hundreds of people were standing around betting on this. It was sponsored by Coke and the hotel that held the event. People were fine here, but this was more of a tourist town, and everybody was looking to make money. BTW, we actually flew into San Pedro and carried our own luggage from the plane to the hotel..... the hotel being about 100 yards away from the end of the landing strip. I had this feeling in my had that this is what Miami was probably like in the 1940's and early 1950's.

We flew in a plane with no working electronics. We got caught in a storm and the pilot could not find the airport. He didn't speak English but eh didn't need to for me to tell he was very afraid of being in the air in the storm. He kept circling, trying to find the airport. When we finally landed, he jumped out of the plane, and kissed the ground, and then knelt down and said a prayer. It was a 4 seat plane.

I doubt there was any internet at any of the places we stayed. Only the final stop had a TV. At least most people spoke English as Belize used to be "British Hondouras". They use the American dollar as currency, so that made it easy.

What a wonderful trip it was. But I am quite sure it would be almost unrecognizable today.

Oh, and it was spotless..... unlike the crap hole called Puerto Rico, where trash was all over the place.... it was like people just dumped trash anywhere they wanted to.