Just got back home from a trip to Sri Lanka and Bangkok. This is the first time I am grateful to be alive after I finish a trip.
I'll type the details after I have gathered my thoughts. Hint: Bangkok is not the problem ;)
Our first and biggest mistake was to buy everything in one package from our travel agent in HK. They of course contracted out everything to another travel agency in Sri Lanka, which in turn contracted out everything to the tour guide. The package included airfare, hotel, transportation, guided tour, breakfast and lunch, and tickets to attractions. Dinner is not included, but we brought instant noodles.
First half of the trip was the guided tour. If we liked, we could pay the guide more so that he could take us to more places in the second half. In any case he would take us back to the airport for the return trip. Before we went we checked and figured that a US$50 gratuity at the end would be appropriate. Guess they don't earn too much anyway.
Where did you go? And why are you glad to be home alive?
Quote from: Pat on January 18, 2010, 12:36:52 PM
Where did you go? And why are you glad to be home alive?
We went to Columbo to check the accuracy of your stories :P
Never buy package tours - almost always cheaper to get what you want when you need it and then you have the freedom of not being bound by a fixed schedule. In Goa me and my friend went from beautiful beach to beautiful beach until we came to the biggest beach Calingute where you had cows eating from mountains of garbage on the beach, which was also super-crowded with indians and with jet skis zooming past meaning you didn't dare go very far out in the water etc. Of course that's the beach all the big travel chains took the charter tourists and the only place we saw middle-age and elderly couples who no doubt would go back home telling all their friends of how bad Goa is...
Quote from: Monoriu on January 18, 2010, 12:37:32 PM
We went to Columbo to check the accuracy of your stories :P
I hope not! :lol:
Was it still under curfew? Did you still have to check in all your bags (even plastic bags) when entering shops etc?
Did you go on any safari? Me and my friend went on one and it was great (though we didn't get to see any leopards - lots of wild elephants and many other animals though, including a crocodile eating an antelope).
Columbo is heavily guarded. We passed 4 checkpoints from the airport to the hotel. But I guess one look at our skin colour and the guards would conclude that we were not Tamils.
The guide started out ok. Very cautious driving in a land where a highway consists of one lane dirt roads, with traffic coming from both sides.
But that's about it. He spoke very limited English, and most of the time didn't speak at all. He was more like a mute taxi driver than a tour guide.
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.
The troubles began one morning when the tour guide took us to a tea factory. For the first time in Sri Lanka, we opened our wallets. We bought about US$30 worth of tea leaves, and he got maybe US$10 in kickbacks. The owner didn't seem to mind us seeing the cash transfer. That's ok, that happens in every country I know of. Our guide was extremely happy, so happy, that *we* had to wait for *him* to finish drinking tea.
But it was another thing to drop us off a rundown jewelry shop with no warning, no prior discussion, and no asking. We refused to get off the car. We knew we would not get out of there unless we bought tons of cheap plastic posed as jewelry. He protested, but couldn't do anything as we refused to even open the car door.
When I saw his face again a few minutes later, he was another person. You'd think I should be worried. But actually, his brown face was as pale as white. I had never seen a more frightened face before. The Haitians seemed more cheerful than him. He asked us if we wanted to see a silk shop instead, and we declined without hesitation.
An hour later, we ended up outside the silk shop anyway. The wife blasted him with the full force of her personality. He didn't force the issue, but his muteness turned to total rudeness.
The tea leaves was the end, not the beginning, of kickbacks.
Yep, they'd usually just wave us past as well just by looking at us and seeing we're tourists. If they didn't stop us to have a friendly chat, which happened quite a lot (one officer told me I looked like David Beckham :lol:)
Strange that a guide wouldn't speak much english, I found that most lankese spoke very well english.
Where did you go that you needed to go by one lane dirt roads? Kandy? (Would have liked to go there but sadly didn't have time.) Only time we went outside Colombo, to the natural park in the SE of the island, we went by the coastal road which is built with aid money after the old one was destroyed in the tsunami, so it was a very nice road. As you drove it you still saw the destruction, ruined houses and boats and trains scattered randomly upland... Stopped by the old dutch fort of Galle, the best preserved european fort in Asia which survived the tsunami thanks to it's walls though the surrounding modern city did not. Very cool place. Apparently the dutch built it so that when the tide was high, it would sweep in and clean the gutters of the city!
While we were still driving out of the suburbs of Colombo, a monkey suddly jumped out in front of the car. We felt the bump as we drove right over and then it hit a tuk-tuk behind us. Miraculously it just ran away as if nothing had happened.
Lots of huge lizards along the road also. Oh, and cows in the middle of the road, of course (they even have a "Warning for Cow" traffic sign, which I haven't even seen in India).
Perhaps it's back to business for them now. When me and my friend was there they made a point out of NOT hassling tourists and to treat tourists well. We walked past a few stands in Colombo, and one of the sellers would start hassling us to buy something, as sellers do... when the seller from the stand next to him dragged him back and basically told him to stop hassling us. :lol: I've never had that happend in any other place in the world. Generally we found Sri Lanka really great because you didn't get hassled a lot all the time, in fact we were almost never hassled, and the sellers would even offer us the same prices as they offered locals! (I know, because they were always very, very low and sometimes a local would come and buy something and be charged the same price).
I think they had some campaign to treat tourists nice to win support for the war. Most people you met would smile at you in the street.
The next morning he was back to his old self again, if still muted. The wife noticed that he had a lot mobile phone calls than usual.
That morning we were scheduled to visit a spice garden. I would expect that a spice plantation had plenty of a single crop. But actually the reverse was true of that "farm" - one single tree of every spice/herb imaginable. The sales...err...I mean "farmer" carefully introduced us to the medical benefits of each kind of tree. At the end of the tour we were handed a list of 40 recipes. Cures for backpain, headache, obesity, skin problems, aging, insomnia, and I swear that cancer was mentioned somewhere.
We didn't buy anything, but Mr guide didn't mind, for a change.
As soon as we got out of the spice garden he said he needed a minute for a "friend". We asked for details, but he just left. There was a gang of perhaps 10 thugs with motorcycles on the other side of the road waiting.
Just as we reached the mobile phone to call the police, he got back, waving a golden necklace. He said he paid US$5 for a necklace that should've cost him US$25. Wife's reaction was to tell him to hide it. He was totally pissed upon hearing that, and said that all Sri Lankas were hellful. Pretty sure he tried to say helpful.
My theory is that the whole thing was a set up. He thought I would be interested to buy "jewelry" after his little show. The gang? I bet those were his creditors. As in "you want me to pay you back? Then help me with this hoax". He promised to pay them back the day before after I bought stuff at the jewelry/silk shops, but I didn't fall for it. That's why he was so frightened - his life was at stake.
Our next stop was the Sigiria Rock. He asked us if we wanted to hire a guide. We were like "we thought YOU are our guide, no?" For the first time, he admitted that he was no guide. We said no guide would be necessary. A swarm of men followed our car as we got near the place, and one of them talked to the driver. He then followed us and began to introduce the place to us. I think he had trouble understanding the meaning of "no".
We fought our way up the Rock, both against the height and against the dozens of men who offered to be our guide. We finished without help.
Sigiria was actually the last part of the guided tour. Only thing the driver owed us at that point was the ride back to the airport. We had a few days off in between, and he had the audacity to ask us which places we were interested in seeing. I said we would discuss this at the hotel. He thought I meant we would stay "in the hotel" for the next few days, and went ballistic. Said this was his country, he was a teacher, had a degree, not a mere driver, and he would not be bossed around by a woman.
I said everything would be alright, let's go to the hotel.
As soon as we got to the hotel and unloaded the luggage, we dashed inside and left him waiting at the lobby. I refused to say a single word to him again. Son of a bitch didn't know that he had already been fired. We called our travel agency and said they didn't keep their side of the bargain, that we would complain loudly unless they called the Sri Lankan travel agency to recall that guy immediately. I said flatly that I feared for my safety and that I didn't want to see this person for the rest of my life. For the trip back to the airport, we would ask the hotel to take us there, then ask for a refund from our travel agency.
All our wishes were granted.
Here is my theory on what actually happened.
Throughout the journey, the car was always low on fuel. He always refueled just enough for each trip. I think the car was provided by his company, but he had to pay for the fuel.
The tickets to the various attractions were supposedly included in the package. Every time we got to a place, he would let us know exactly how much he was paying for tickets. He implied that he paid for the tickets and he expected to be compensated.
By my count, he paid at least US$300 for fuel and tickets. The generally accepted level of gratuity was US$50 - no where near enough. He had to balance his books by getting kickbacks, LOTs of kickbacks. Tealeaves or wood carvings or spice concoctions wouldn't save him. Only way out of his hole was me buying lots of worthless jewelry.
He likely borrowed US$300 for his little operation, and hope that the Monos would be careless with money. I bet he is not a languish regular :lol: At the end he got no gratuity, and perhaps US$10 in tea leaves kickbacks. :nelson:
I am certain that, had we allowed him to take us back to the airport, we would already be dead.
I hope that motorcycle gang lynched him :menace:
He probably has five hungry children and his wife died last year of a curable disease.
I never had a "Guide" that was that aggressive, but I had several who tried to get me to go to various stores. When I was in Thebes I got suckered into going to one where the propietor sold "Valuable antiques." One of the "Macedonian" coins he showed me had an owl on it and "Athen" clearly written out in Greek letters.
What a colorful culture. :)
As expected, Sri Lankan food was crap. I usually try the local stuff wherever I go, but I was warned that wouldn't work in Sri Lanka. We brought tons of our own food there. Only things they did well were tea and papaya. Yes, the tea was good. It was one of the places on earth where the question "tea or coffee?" was redundent.
Yep, lankese food wasn't nearly as good as indian food, which was strange, as otherwise they're very culturally similar. I wouldn't call it crap though. I'd even say it was quite good, at least not much worse than anywhere else. They had some nice fish dishes for example, and anyway if you don't like the domestic food there's plenty of international cuisine to be found, at least in Colombo.
Speaking of international cuisine...
We made the mistake of buying a guide book to Sri Lanka written before the tsunami. So we asked a tuktuk-driver to take us to a Bavarian restaurant we had found in the guide book, and he told us it had been destroyed in the tsunami and was never re-opened, but he knew another place he could take us. We didn't believe him - after all Colombo was on the side of Sri Lanka facing *away* from the tsunami! Surely he wanted to take us somewhere else to get a commission. So we turned him down and asked another tuktuk-driver nearby, and he told us the same thing. We thought maybe he was friends with the other driver and he had overheard or conversation or something. So we went to a third driver and he told us the same thing, so we reluctantly accepted to be taken somewhere else.
It wasn't until later we learned that the tsunami had been so powerful as to actually even destroy the coast line of the island facing away from it. Quite remarkable, really.
This is why I never travel outside the euro zone. :P
Quote from: Martinus on January 18, 2010, 03:02:05 PM
This is why I never travel outside the euro zone. :P
Boring.
Quote from: Martinus on January 18, 2010, 03:02:05 PM
This is why I never travel outside the euro zone. :P
Rich western countries are pretty much all alike. Much more interesting to travel in poor countries. You never know what to expect. ;)
For the record, one thing that has always puzzled me is why in the world anyone, say from Europe, would travel to a place like Sri Lanka for holidays? I mean, I get it from Mono since he is in the general area anyway. But why spend 30 hours on a plane to go to a dangerous place, with unhygienic food and some weird architecture?
I mean, I know it is cool to see new stuff, but you can see new stuff pretty much everywhere, and you do not need to travel to the end of the world to do so.
Quote from: Pat on January 18, 2010, 03:08:26 PM
You never know what to expect. ;)
That could be the thing. I hate that. "You never know what to expect" is my definition of hell.
Me and my friend was travelling through India, and we decided to go to Sri Lanka for a week, since it was close. Took an hour or two from Goa. Nothing like 30 hours going from Sweden to India or Sri Lanka. :huh:
And you don't really see a whole lot of new stuff by going to another liberal western democracy at about the same level of wealth, nor do you really learn a whole lot. The language is different, some of the brands in the shops are different... but most things are about the same. 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!
Frankly, the only reason to go the mediterranean resorts is if you're reluctant to bring children on long flights. Otherwise you're just stupid paying five or ten times as much for worse food and worse service. At a boring destination, where you can see... what, exactly? Once you've seen one mediterranean resort, you've seen them all. I suppose I don't like them for the same reason you (seem) to like them: they're predictable and you know what to expect :P
But really the best part about the poor world is that most people are genuinely friendly and helpful. You get positively surprised more than you get negatively surprised (at least that is my experience)
Quote from: Martinus on January 18, 2010, 03:10:28 PM
For the record, one thing that has always puzzled me is why in the world anyone, say from Europe, would travel to a place like Sri Lanka for holidays? I mean, I get it from Mono since he is in the general area anyway. But why spend 30 hours on a plane to go to a dangerous place, with unhygienic food and some weird architecture?
I mean, I know it is cool to see new stuff, but you can see new stuff pretty much everywhere, and you do not need to travel to the end of the world to do so.
They come for the adventure but stay for the POW sex slaves!
Quote from: Martinus on January 18, 2010, 03:02:05 PM
This is why I never travel outside the euro zone. :P
So Britain and Scandinavia get left out of your schedule? :P
Quote from: Martinus on January 18, 2010, 03:02:05 PM
This is why I never travel outside the euro zone. :P
I found the eurozone somewhat more run down than what I was used to in North America.
Quote from: Monoriu on January 18, 2010, 02:04:35 PM
As expected, Sri Lankan food was crap. I usually try the local stuff wherever I go, but I was warned that wouldn't work in Sri Lanka. We brought tons of our own food there. Only things they did well were tea and papaya. Yes, the tea was good. It was one of the places on earth where the question "tea or coffee?" was redundent.
I hear the best part is the rape-slaves. They are said to be "not unpleasant".
Quote from: Neil on January 18, 2010, 06:27:52 PM
Quote from: Martinus on January 18, 2010, 03:02:05 PM
This is why I never travel outside the euro zone. :P
I found the eurozone somewhat more run down than what I was used to in North America.
That's because they bomb themselves back to the stone age every few decades.
Quote from: Darth Wagtaros on January 18, 2010, 08:04:09 PM
Quote from: Neil on January 18, 2010, 06:27:52 PM
Quote from: Martinus on January 18, 2010, 03:02:05 PM
This is why I never travel outside the euro zone. :P
I found the eurozone somewhat more run down than what I was used to in North America.
That's because they bomb themselves back to the stone age every few decades.
Fuckers are overdue. :mad:
Both Mart and Pat are ridiculous.
Sri Lanka. What can I say. I've met some good, helpful people. But I've also met plenty of other kinds of people. Not just talking about the fucker. My wife took a pic of a group of tea leaf gathering old ladies. They smiled and posed for the picture. The next word that came out of their mouths was "money". You go to a public bathroom, and a young man would come out of nowhere, block your way and demand money. You go to a temple, take off your shoes, come back and try to reclaim them, and someone would say "money". You ask hotel staff to do anything, and they take a serious look at what your hand was holding first. The problem is usually solved by equivalents of US$1, so the damage is limited. But it is just so annoying.
We went to the temple of sacred tooth in Kandy. Highly regarded sacred, ancient, religious place in Sri Lanka. There was a museum there. What was the single most prominent exhibit, the one that all the temple staff were extremely eager to show and explain to us?
A long, modern, photo series that lined the four walls of the hall. Photos showing damage to the temple done by a Tamil Tiger bomb. I can understand the anger and the frustration. But somehow I don't think this bodes well for national reconciliation.
Another important exhibit was the coinage and notes from different countries that tourists donated throughout the years. Didn't see the tooth though.
Sri Lankan money. They issued a new series recently. The topside showed a pic of the sitting Sri Lankan president. The reverse side showed a pic that 90% resembled the Marines raising the flag on Mount whatever on Iwo Jima, only replaced by Sri Lankan soldiers.
We went to Bangkok before we came back to Hong Kong. The contrast between Bangkok and Columbo, and between Thailand and Sri Lanka is too great for words to describe. Bangkok feels modern, with a great deal of activity any time of the day. The people were friendly, the food was wonderful, I could comfortably walk anywhere in the city, and everything worked as they should.
Columbo really feels like third world. Army checkpoints everywhere. I saw starving animals languishing in the streets. Tourists are regarded as opportunities for rip-off. The cars - half of them had Japanese characters written all over them. Sri Lanka is a dumping ground for cars the Japanese no longer wanted, and the locals don't even bother to remove the words. Your gender determines how you're treated.
Quote from: Pat on January 18, 2010, 03:08:26 PM
Quote from: Martinus on January 18, 2010, 03:02:05 PM
This is why I never travel outside the euro zone. :P
Rich western countries...
Poland is in the Eurozone too. Not just rich western countries.
Quote from: MadImmortalMan on January 19, 2010, 02:59:34 AM
Quote from: Pat on January 18, 2010, 03:08:26 PM
Quote from: Martinus on January 18, 2010, 03:02:05 PM
This is why I never travel outside the euro zone. :P
Rich western countries...
Poland is in the Eurozone too. Not just rich western countries.
Poland is not in the Eurozone. :bowler:
I'm so disappointed, I thought this was gonna be a discourse on Platonic Philosophy from the perspective of the Matrix.
Wow, what can I say. One of the first things to strike us about Colombo was that there were no beggars anywhere and the roads were clean, and all the people were really friendly. Nothing like that ever happened to us. We weren't hassled for money like that a single time. In fact I don't think we had a single unpleasant experience with people hassling us. Except for that time when another lankese told the guy to stop hassling us. :lol: Certainly no one blocking our way demanding money to move or anything like that.
Quote from: MadImmortalMan on January 19, 2010, 02:59:34 AM
Quote from: Pat on January 18, 2010, 03:08:26 PM
Quote from: Martinus on January 18, 2010, 03:02:05 PM
This is why I never travel outside the euro zone. :P
Rich western countries...
Poland is in the Eurozone too. Not just rich western countries.
Rich is in the eye of the beholder. Not all of them seem so rich to me.
I'm curious Mono, what was your thinking behind planning a tourist trip to a country that just emerged from a horrific civil war?
Quote from: Admiral Yi on January 19, 2010, 05:07:46 AM
I'm curious Mono, what was your thinking behind planning a tourist trip to a country that just emerged from a horrific civil war?
Ask the Mrs, her idea :P
Her thinking process is like this. It's January, and she hates cold. So Europe and North America are out. We've been to Australia many times. New Zealand is too expensive this time of the year (it is their warmest month). Japan is sold out. We just did China. So we need someplace that is both warm and new to us. India was her first choice, but it is expensive. So she looked at a place that is next to India.
After this experience, we'll never hire a guide for more than one day. A guide for the whole trip only works for people who are happy buying crap. We usually buy nothing on our trips, and this will not work with guides. From now on, we join 1-day tours if we need a guide. These folks work for tips rather than kickbacks.
We were actually quite worried that the fucker would ambush us at the airport during our return trip. He knew our flight information, and we just did him some significant financial harm. But when we arrived at Columbo airport, we were relieved. This place had the tightest security in all airports we've seen, and we've seen quite a few. I think I passed at least 5-6 security checkpoints from the airport entrance to the plane. Everybody was searched, every bag x-rayed multiple times, and only those with boarding passes could get anywhere.
Sri Lanka sounds really crappy third-worldy, not charming like Mongolia or Peru. I think I'll stay clear.
Good tea though.
How'd you have this crappy tour guide?
This sounds like a very risky holiday.
Quote from: Monoriu on January 18, 2010, 12:54:06 PM
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.
:lol:
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.
QuoteRich 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.
QuoteA 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.
@Pat, difference between you & Mono. You aren't Chinese.
Quote from: Monoriu on January 19, 2010, 05:34:31 AM
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? :P
Though Bhutan might work out.
Quote from: Monoriu on January 19, 2010, 05:34:31 AM
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.
Quote from: Tyr on January 19, 2010, 06:50:35 AM
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.
Quote from: The Larch on January 19, 2010, 11:07:32 AM
Quote from: Monoriu on January 19, 2010, 05:34:31 AM
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
I think his reference to India being expensive was probally flight related rather than costs on the ground.
Quote from: Tyr on January 19, 2010, 01:26:16 PM
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.
Quote from: Tyr on January 19, 2010, 01:26:16 PM
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.
Quote from: Barrister on January 19, 2010, 01:27:21 PM
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.
Quote from: Syt on January 19, 2010, 10:46:42 AM
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.
Quote from: Grey Fox on January 19, 2010, 07:38:13 AM
@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.
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).
Quote from: jimmy olsen on January 19, 2010, 03:32:54 AM
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.
Quote from: The Larch on January 19, 2010, 11:07:32 AM
Your wife is the first person I've heard of that considers India expensive.
The outbound tourism industry in HK and the western world are very different. In HK, the majority travel to other places in groups. Group travelling is the cheapest mode of travelling because of bulk purchasing, and because the guides get other sources of income in the form of gratuity and kickpacks and other tricks. So the guides actually have to bid for the right to take a group. The cheapest flights are all taken up by the groups. Our costs go up substantially just by travelling ourselves.
Quote from: jimmy olsen on January 19, 2010, 06:17:39 PM
Quote from: jimmy olsen on January 19, 2010, 03:32:54 AM
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.
Nobody gives a flying fuck.
Quote from: Ed Anger on January 19, 2010, 06:21:40 PM
Quote from: jimmy olsen on January 19, 2010, 06:17:39 PM
Quote from: jimmy olsen on January 19, 2010, 03:32:54 AM
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.
Nobody gives a flying fuck.
Oh Noes! Monkebutt is being mean to me, whatever shall I do? :rolleyes:
If that was mean, you sure was an over sensitive lad.
I'll re-post it in cat form:
(https://languish.org/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg251.imageshack.us%2Fimg251%2F8031%2Fyourargumentmaybevalidb.jpg&hash=ffd4cfc3b1cbc9222d12ac63ce88f3885978dfa0)
Quote from: Monoriu on January 19, 2010, 06:13:36 PM
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.
At the old dutch museum in Colombo, the guide asked us if we had elephants in Sweden. ;) (though to be fair it was just a random guy who had been given the job of being guide there because all his family had died in the tsunami).
Another time I argued for a while with a tuk-tuk driver about the price of taking us somewhere. Eventually we reached an agreement and went on our way. Then along the way we stopped by our hotel because my friend needed to get something from the room, so I started chatting with the driver while we waited. He explained to me the price of gas in Sri Lanka: it was X rupees. I did a quick exchange rate calculation in my head and concluded that in Sweden it's the same, it's also X rupees. He merely concluded: "Ah, you also have rupees."
Quote from: Tyr on January 19, 2010, 06:50:35 AM
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.
China is very well policed but people will try to rip you off all the time, and you'll be considered a walking wallet. In India I never once felt threatened and people are genuinely warm and friendly (if you're standing somewhere with your bags looking lost, people will come to you and ask if they can help you). It's really a great culture and the food is great too. I'm not exaggerating when I say every single meal was absolutely delicious (and I don't even like spicy food; there were lots of great food to be had anyway!).
QuoteA 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.
[/quote]
Yes that's true but eastern europe isn't very exotic and the culture isn't very friendly. From Sweden you can get a return flight to India for £250-ish (I've even seen two weeks in Goa for as low as 1990 SEK incl. hotel room on the first night).
I was more at risk of being robbed in Italy than in Syria. Nobody tried to do more than over charge on cab fair in Syria. Unlike Italy where they tried to pick my pocket all the time.
Quote from: Pat on January 20, 2010, 07:28:23 AM
China is very well policed...
My wifes uncle spent some time in China in the nineties working as an engineer. One of his coworkers had some time before been traveling by train when his camera was stolen. He told the conductor who informed the police. At the next station nobody was allowed to exit or enter the train while the police searched everyone. They found the camera and then promptly took the thief (a young guy) outside the train and shot him...
Case closed!
Quote from: Octavian on January 20, 2010, 11:31:25 AMMy wifes uncle spent some time in China in the nineties working as an engineer. One of his coworkers had some time before been traveling by train when his camera was stolen. He told the conductor who informed the police. At the next station nobody was allowed to exit or enter the train while the police searched everyone. They found the camera and then promptly took the thief (a young guy) outside the train and shot him...
Case closed!
Damn.
Quote from: Octavian on January 20, 2010, 11:31:25 AM
My wifes uncle spent some time in China in the nineties working as an engineer. One of his coworkers had some time before been traveling by train when his camera was stolen. He told the conductor who informed the police. At the next station nobody was allowed to exit or enter the train while the police searched everyone. They found the camera and then promptly took the thief (a young guy) outside the train and shot him...
Case closed!
:blink:
I thought China at least went through the motions of doing a trial (not sure how often the trials are actually legit) before executing people. Maybe it's because the alleged victim was a foreign guest worker?
How very Judge Dredd.
Now that's the way to give the tourists a story to remember.
Quote from: Caliga on January 20, 2010, 01:27:24 PM
Quote from: Octavian on January 20, 2010, 11:31:25 AM
My wifes uncle spent some time in China in the nineties working as an engineer. One of his coworkers had some time before been traveling by train when his camera was stolen. He told the conductor who informed the police. At the next station nobody was allowed to exit or enter the train while the police searched everyone. They found the camera and then promptly took the thief (a young guy) outside the train and shot him...
Case closed!
:blink:
I thought China at least went through the motions of doing a trial (not sure how often the trials are actually legit) before executing people. Maybe it's because the alleged victim was a foreign guest worker?
Yeah I am somewhat surprised too. But a lot of local authorities don't exactly follow the book 100% of the time.
Quote from: Monoriu on January 20, 2010, 07:41:38 PM
But a lot of local authorities don't exactly follow the book 100% of the time.
No way it actually happened.
Our travel agent in HK offered us a US$600 refund, and a 5% discount on future packages.
Their staff also say it is unlikely that they will continue their relationship with their Sri Lankan partners.
Should we take it, or should we press for more?
Demand a t-shirt and a baseball cap as well.
Quote from: Monoriu on March 05, 2010, 03:44:32 AM
Our travel agent in HK offered us a US$600 refund, and a 5% discount on future packages.
Their staff also say it is unlikely that they will continue their relationship with their Sri Lankan partners.
Should we take it, or should we press for more?
Haggling is in your blood.
Quote from: Admiral Yi on March 05, 2010, 03:57:32 AM
Quote from: Monoriu on March 05, 2010, 03:44:32 AM
Our travel agent in HK offered us a US$600 refund, and a 5% discount on future packages.
Their staff also say it is unlikely that they will continue their relationship with their Sri Lankan partners.
Should we take it, or should we press for more?
Haggling is in your blood.
This is not their first offer. The first one was like US$450.
Then whatever you're doing, keep it up.
How much did the whole shebang cost?
Quote from: Admiral Yi on March 05, 2010, 04:00:27 AM
Then whatever you're doing, keep it up.
How much did the whole shebang cost?
It is tough to calculate the cost of the Sri Lankan trip, because we also went to Bangkok after we left Columbo. US$600 should more than cover the guided tour part of the entire journey, though :contract:
I've no clue what consumer protection laws and that sort of thing are like in Hong Kong. If they're like in Britain you could press for a lot more via the courts and 'mental anguish' and all that crap but for some reason I'm betting they're not (rampant capitalism and all that).
Quote from: Monoriu on March 05, 2010, 04:29:47 AM
Quote from: Admiral Yi on March 05, 2010, 04:00:27 AM
Then whatever you're doing, keep it up.
How much did the whole shebang cost?
It is tough to calculate the cost of the Sri Lankan trip, because we also went to Bangkok after we left Columbo. US$600 should more than cover the guided tour part of the entire journey, though :contract:
Then I'd take it.
Quote from: Tyr on March 05, 2010, 06:51:53 AM
I've no clue what consumer protection laws and that sort of thing are like in Hong Kong. If they're like in Britain you could press for a lot more via the courts and 'mental anguish' and all that crap but for some reason I'm betting they're not (rampant capitalism and all that).
There is no evidence. It is just our word vs his.
Quote from: Monoriu on March 05, 2010, 04:29:47 AM
It is tough to calculate the cost of the Sri Lankan trip, because we also went to Bangkok after we left Columbo. US$600 should more than cover the guided tour part of the entire journey, though :contract:
Then I think the $600 back plus another $200 for your incovenience should do it.
Quote from: Tyr on March 05, 2010, 06:51:53 AM
I've no clue what consumer protection laws and that sort of thing are like in Hong Kong. If they're like in Britain you could press for a lot more via the courts and 'mental anguish' and all that crap but for some reason I'm betting they're not (rampant capitalism and all that).
consumer protection laws in Hong Kong? You're kidding, right?