Tchiowa wrote:
> Monica wrote:
>> Hi ! Please tell me where to search for information regarding travelling
>> to South East Asia. In particular, I am concerned about security and
>> safety issues for a young female traveller, going around either alone or
>> with another girl. I shall be travelling to the Philippines, Thailand,
>> Cambodia, Vietnam, Indonesia and Australia.
>
> Cambodia can be dicey in spots and Vietnam is still not really ready
> for the average tourist. Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia are all no
> problem.
I find that the infrastructure in Vietnam is on par with that in Indonesia
(except for ATMs, which are much more common in the latter). And Vietnam is
worlds less scammy than Thailand - in Vietnam, when someone talks to you,
there is either a sales pitch coming right away, or they really want to
talk. In Thailand (not to say that this apples to all Thais, not by a long
shot) quite frequently you'll spend 10 or 15 minutes in a BS conversation
before it becomes clear that you're being worked for an angle. That I find
really annoying.
People in Vietnam are astonishingly friendly. That's the upside of not
having so many tourists yet. I'm sure I already told this story in the
newsgroup, but I'll tell it again because I've become an old fogey who
recycles stories:
Walking along a busy street one hot afternoon in Saigon, a guy on a
motorcycle struck up a conversation with me. We chatted about some stuff and
he asked me whether I'd like to go back to his home and meet his family. In
Thailand-wary mode, I declined, and we said our farewells. A little while
later, he found me farther down the street, and gave me a chilled coconut to
drink and then went on his way - when he gave it to me, he told me that when
he got home and told his wife about meeting me, and that he hadn't managed
to persuade me to accept their hospitality, she made him get right back on
his motorbike with the coconut so I at least had something to drink.
miguel
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