This is no cave

[HisMajestyBOB]

Sri Lanka sounds really crappy third-worldy, not charming like Mongolia or Peru. I think I'll stay clear.

Good tea though.

[Josquius]

How'd you have this crappy tour guide?
This sounds like a very risky holiday.

First thing my wife noticed was how they treated women.  Nobody seemed to ever address, look at, or speak to her.  We each carried a suitcase.  The amazing thing was, the hotel staff would offer to take mine but totally ignore her.  Most of the waiting staff at restaurants were men.  The only exception was army checkpoints, where there was always at least one female security staff.  For searching females, I guess.

Thats bizzare.
Ignoring her and speaking to you as the man- sure, quite normal in some backwards  countries.
Refusing to take her bags though...blimey.

Rich western countries are pretty much all alike. Much more interesting to travel in poor countries. You never know what to expect.

Thats what worries me!
I'd love to travel to really poor, really exotic countries but...the fear of death or at least being robbed and stranded is large. The poorest place I am actually wanting to (/willing to risk) going to is China.

A plane ticket to Asia will only cost you a few hundred dollars more than a plane ticket to a mediterranean destination. Once there, you can live for a king for almost no money at all. In India, I had great chicken tikka masala for €1. Yes, €1. This was at a restaurant for tourists by the beach. And it tasted great. You get four, five, ten times your moneys worth. In the end, you'll probably end up spending *less* money going to the more exotic place!

Cheap stuff is one good factor but the flights cost a lot.
I think purely economically you are better off going to eastern Europe. £30 or so flight on easy jet and a good meal with drinks only sets you back £5 or so.

[Grey Fox]

@Pat, difference between you & Mono. You aren't Chinese.

[Syt]

India was her first choice, but it is expensive.  So she looked at a place that is next to India.   

So next year it's either Bangladesh or Pakistan?

Though Bhutan might work out.

[The Larch]

India was her first choice, but it is expensive.  So she looked at a place that is next to India.

Your wife is the first person I've heard of that considers India expensive.

[HisMajestyBOB]

Thats what worries me!
I'd love to travel to really poor, really exotic countries but...the fear of death or at least being robbed and stranded is large. The poorest place I am actually wanting to (/willing to risk) going to is China.

It's not so bad generally, I think, especially if you stay away from the very touristy areas, since that's where the touts, pickpockets, etc. tend to hang out. Death is even more unlikely, unless you're foolish enough to go someplace with a civil war or insurrection.

[DisturbedPervert]

India was her first choice, but it is expensive.  So she looked at a place that is next to India.

Your wife is the first person I've heard of that considers India expensive.

I imagine the kind of places Mono stays are expensive.  For most people it will be dirt cheap

[Josquius]

I think his reference to India being expensive was probally flight related rather than costs on the ground.

[Barrister]

I think his reference to India being expensive was probally flight related rather than costs on the ground.

I can't imagine it would be any cheaper to fly to Sri Lanka than it would to fly to India.

[Admiral Yi]

I think his reference to India being expensive was probally flight related rather than costs on the ground.

I don't imagine flights to India are any more expensive then flights to Sri Lanka.

I figure Mono was looking at an urban holiday at 4 and 5 star hotels, not sleeping on the beach in a loin cloth stoned.

[Josquius]

I can't imagine it would be any cheaper to fly to Sri Lanka than it would to fly to India.

Just my guess.
But flight costs are often indifferent to distance, more on demand and the amount offered and all sorts. e.g. It costs £20 to fly from Newcastle to Geneva but £100 to Amsterdam.

[Monoriu]

Though Bhutan might work out.

Bhutan is expensive to the extreme.  Tony Leung, a very famous HK actor, chose to hold his wedding banquet there a few years ago.  Since then, the place has become a hot tourist spot for HKers.  With limited flight and hotel availability, the place is simply crazily expensive.

[Monoriu]

@Pat, difference between you & Mono. You aren't Chinese.

This is my wife's observation as well.  Our impression, right or wrong, is that white caucausians are treated better in Sri Lanka.  Go to hotel restaurants, and the window seats are almost always occupied by white Europeans or North Americans.  We tried to ask for a window seat, only to be rebuffed, even if there were many empty tables around. 

[Monoriu]

On the trip from the airport to Columbo, the guide asked us very pointedly if HK was a developed or developing place.  When I said "developed", he didn't seem to believe it.  We've been to many places, and this was the first time that such a question was asked.  While we LOLed at his lack of geo-political knowledge in the hotel room, we wondered why he got that impression. 

We noticed several things.  He wore a gold watch, a gold necklace, and he seemed to eyeball our left-hand side wrists every day.  I don't wear a watch, and my wife wears a plastic Swatch while on holiday (it's the only kind of watch I would buy for her).  She is jewelry-less.  And my 10 year old clothes.  We also told him we didn't have a mobile phone (we lied, the wife brought an i-phone along). 

[jimmy olsen]

I'm so disappointed, I thought this was gonna be a discourse on Platonic Philosophy from the perspective of the Matrix.

No response to this? Languish nerds have failed me.