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| Subject: Re: Great non-western civ. places in Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam,
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Posted on: Mon, 01 Aug 2005 03:08:15 GMT
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I should have been more specific re: my use of the term "non-western civ."
By that I don't mean primitive untouched local culture ... I just don't
want to see many Americans, no tours, no tour buses, no westerner tour
hotels, no 7-Elevens/Qwick trips/McDonalds', no bars or beaches full of
westerners ... basically I don't want to go to any "Destinations". It
doesn't have to be primitive, it just needs to be "them and theirs." I
want to see how other people live, travel, eat, dress, farm/grow food,
sell produce, cook, dance, celebrate ... whatever. Vehicles Ok,
Hopefully not an overabundance of BMW's etc.
I don't won't have the time and energy to prepare for a hiking/camping
trip and would prefer seeing the villages, cities etc.
So far it sounds like:
--- Burma in general
--- Khon Khen to Nong Khai Thailand - cross the border to Vientiane in
Laos. Also in Thailand ... Chiang Mai and the Full Moon Party on the
island of Ko Pha-Ngan.
--- Cambodia. Northeast province of Ratanakiri - a place called Ban
Lung. Also Phenom Penh, not too touristy. go to Ko Chang for beaches
People also suggest using a plane for long hops as the ground transport
is slower than a 3 wk vacation will accomodate
These tips will give me something to read up on and try to orient a trip
around. Because some friends who are traveling around the world for a
year wanted to adjust their schedule to rendezvous with me during my 3
week trip, I need to tell them right aways which country/ countries I
will be in during myh 3 weeks.
I didn't have time to figure that out by buying books and reading them
until I got the gist of SE Asia. Sounds like I will tell them either
Thailand and Cambodia or Burma. A litte more research based on the
above tips I received should give me enough info to tell them what they
need. then I will have more time to research the rest of the details.
All additional tips will be appreciated.
DMS
Dieter Aaaa wrote:
> oneofcold@yahoo.com wrote:
>
>>"Can anyone experienced with "off the beaten path traveling" in SE
>>Asia suggest some great non-western civ. places where I might go?"
>>
>>How "off the beaten path" and "non-western civ." do you want, and what
>>level of discomfort are you willing to endure to see it? There are
>>indigenous tribal cultures in parts of northern Thailand, Laos, and
>>northern Vietnam, but many of those tribes are exploited in
>>commercialized "hill tribe treks" that treat them like animals in a
>>zoo. If you want to encounter really untouched tribal cultures, you
>>need to really go far afield, you'd probably need more than three
>>weeks, and forget about "no camping or backpacking".
>
>
>
> For various reasons, I wouldn't recommend someone who has never been in SE
> Asia to visit "really untouched tribal cultures"
>
> I think it really is possible to visit these cultures without backpacking,
> but the cost and effort will be outrageous.
> It's not that i want to keep them just for me, but i think it is
> irresponsible to visit these people without some basic knowledge about their
> culture and way of life.
>
>
> For someone trying to survive the everyday western ratrace and visiting Asia
> for the first time, making just a 3 week trip, need an ocean, i would
> recommend to make a 3 week package tour in Thailand. I would say 2 weeks
> central and Northern Thailand, one week Phuket or so. Already that will be
> very different from western culture.
>
> I promise you: you'll never go to any other continent anymore.
> Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936):
> "If you've 'eard the East a-callin', you won't never 'eed naught else."
>
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