Where did you absolutely hate?

[Anonymous]

"I think the main issue with India is it is so NOT like the US, but it’s not pretty and familiar like Europe or clean and glamorous the way many of the Eastern Asian countries are, and a lot of American really just can’t cope with it. Like they just do not know how to process everything going on there at all times."

Maybe part of the problem is wherever the pretty parts are are hard to get to then? I mean obviously the Taj Mahal was beautiful - but just outside and around it was the same run-down, extremely poor environments that seemed everywhere. And yes I stayed at a fancy hotel while there (which was lovely) and ate at some expensive restaurants. But the main reasons I disliked it was that everything just was kind of ugly and trash-filled or barren looking everywhere I was. Now, I imagine the whole country is NOT like that but I have no idea where the scenic parts are and maybe it's just hard to get to them vs. other countries' scenic parts?

Also, I don't love going spots where I don't feel safe walking around. I did not think I'd be safe just walking around myself in daytime while there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:St Croix, USVI. ugh, never again. Really exposes you to the underbelly and dark side of these Caribbean island “paradises”

Could you elaborate? These vague posts sucks.

DP. I found that it didn’t have a lot to do outside of diving/snorkeling. The local population seems very impoverished and they have a high crime rate. There wasn’t much shopping and not a lot of restaurants outside of the resorts. The whole place felt kind of desolate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"I think the main issue with India is it is so NOT like the US, but it’s not pretty and familiar like Europe or clean and glamorous the way many of the Eastern Asian countries are, and a lot of American really just can’t cope with it. Like they just do not know how to process everything going on there at all times."

Maybe part of the problem is wherever the pretty parts are are hard to get to then? I mean obviously the Taj Mahal was beautiful - but just outside and around it was the same run-down, extremely poor environments that seemed everywhere. And yes I stayed at a fancy hotel while there (which was lovely) and ate at some expensive restaurants. But the main reasons I disliked it was that everything just was kind of ugly and trash-filled or barren looking everywhere I was. Now, I imagine the whole country is NOT like that but I have no idea where the scenic parts are and maybe it's just hard to get to them vs. other countries' scenic parts?

Also, I don't love going spots where I don't feel safe walking around. I did not think I'd be safe just walking around myself in daytime while there.

Maybe. I only stayed in a “luxurious” hotel in Delhi. I rode buses to Rishikesh and stayed in a very basic but perfectly serviceable hotel. Rode more buses and jeeps to the Himalaya and trekked , seeing many smaller towns and villages and some breathtaking views. I’m not sure the “only do India in luxury” opinion that’s popular on this thread is accurate- you do miss a lot of the country that way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Legoland in California. It’s so run down and all the displays are sun bleached and you can see the glue. It felt like the run down amusement park from the simpsons.

Wisconsin dells.

I also disliked Legoland CA. It is overpriced for what it is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Indy. Holy crap is that a ghetto city.

What makes it so bad? I've never been.

NP, but maybe they mean there are a lot of homeless people downtown? I just went recently and loved it-- the Soldiers & Sailors monument, lots of neat-looking churches, Capitol building (although it has scaffolding on it right now). I felt like the city had a real spark and life to it.

There are a lot of police around downtown if homeless people concern you. No one bothered us, though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I didn’t hate Costa Rica, but I have zero desire to ever return. I’d give it a 4/10. It felt like dirty Temu version Hawaii. I’d rather spend a little more or go for less time and do Hawaii on repeat.

Wow where did you stay?

We stayed at a resort in Peninsula Papagayo in Guanacaste and it was incredible. Like extremely luxury. And we went and did the zip line there and it was fantastic

Agree with 1st post. Staying at a luxury all inclusive is not CR, if you got out to see anything on the island you would realize the 4/10 was for the rainforest and rugged beauty and a few of the people trying to earn a living and not scamming you. We saw people crawling through literal mountains of trash in CR. All of the expat communities have serious gated communities, no one is getting in. I'm not hating on CR, but BTDT.

[Anonymous]

Myrtle Beach. Las Vegas.

[Anonymous]

Cancun is pretty awful. Ditto Tulum.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:Montreal. So dull.

Aw, I love Montreal. Great museums, shopping and restaurants. It's feels like going to Europe without the jetlag.

I'm from Europe. It really doesn't feel like Europe at all.
Except that men can be petite, I guess.

French men are not known to be particularly tall either.
But I understand you have to get your mood boost by claiming European superiority, as per usual.

Europe is huge. When someone posts that they are from "Europe" I just replace it with Moldova and feel bad for them.

So, Montreal feels like Moldova or Europe, which one is it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Montreal. So dull.

Aw, I love Montreal. Great museums, shopping and restaurants. It's feels like going to Europe without the jetlag.

I'm from Europe. It really doesn't feel like Europe at all.
Except that men can be petite, I guess.

French men are not known to be particularly tall either.
But I understand you have to get your mood boost by claiming European superiority, as per usual.

Is that why you compared Montreal to Europe, for mood boost and your own superiority of a well traveled (short distance!) American?!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not Indian , but if you do 5 star hotels and private transportations, India has lots to offer in terms of sightseeing (Taj Mahal, Jaipur etc and food.

Nobody disagrees with this. There is a luxurious way to do India. But it doesn't sit well with a lot of people and they don't. want. to. go. back. if they don't have to (family). What don't you understand about that?

Oh we understand. Now you try and understand - the luxurious way to do India is inexpensive compared to anywhere else in the world. However, people from rich (western) countries want to do shoestring budget travel in India, making use of infrastructure that is heavily subsidized by the Indian govt for the poorest of its people. Then they complain. Well, why did you go to India in the first place? The domestic market of tourism is so huge that India is not hurting for foreign travelers.

Still don't understand it? It is like some foreigner comes to DC, goes and eats at the homeless shelter soup kitchen and then complains that the restaurant scene in US is pathetic. That soup kitchen is not for tourists.

Who is doing shoestring tours of India? Nobody on here has done that. You are projecting that that is why the bad experience. Every single person on here has mentioned that they have done it the luxurious way and they don't want to go back. No way in hell would I take a train in India. No way in hell.

I took a train in India and no photoshopped white men fell off the roof. It was a fine enough experience. I’ve had more stressful train experiences in Germany tbh with packed out trains, no room to move, standing room only, and then some chump with a BIKE trying to get on the train. And I’m a PP who said India was fascinating and I’d go back. I think the main issue with India is it is so NOT like the US, but it’s not pretty and familiar like Europe or clean and glamorous the way many of the Eastern Asian countries are, and a lot of American really just can’t cope with it. Like they just do not know how to process everything going on there at all times.

Agree with all of this. I'm the poster way back who lived in India as an expat for a few years. I never EVER saw trains like this and I was looking -- because from the media, I assumed they would all be like this and they're absolutely not. India was my first time out of North America, believe it or not, and I loved it. But I also prepared myself with lots of research before we moved there. Do I want to go back? ABSOLUTELY. There was so much I didn't get to see! I never got treated poorly -- sure people tried to scam me, but you learn their game pretty fast -- and I solo traveled around the country as a blonde white woman.

That's so funny. I'm another longtime expat (and like yourself, am a blonde white woman), and I've been on those packed German trains quite often because we also did three years in Dusseldorf. The difference for me was that none of the Germans packed around me tried to grope me or stare at me, I knew nobody was going to have their hands in my bag, and everything was super clean, with nary a fly, roach, or rat in sight, and the air did not smell of garbage (which it does even in the expat areas in the Indian cities where I was). In India, I was groped several times, was stared at wherever I went (and those men do not look away when you catch their gaze, nor are they ashamed to gawk at your chest area or body without looking away, even if you are covered). I experienced the creepy stares and groping in several cities. This treatment of women is super common in India: the term they use for this widespread sexual harassment of women in public is "eve teasing" (look it up). Sure, you can stay within the limited confines of luxury hotels and luxury expat neighborhoods, but that doesn't change the fact that you are in a gilded cage surrounded by squalor and a culture in which women are second-class citizens, and sexual harassment is widespread. Is it really a "magical place" if you have to stay in carefully curated, limited spaces in order to stay safe and comfortable? I hated India. And I have spent 16 years living in foreign countries, so not an inexperienced traveler. South Asia is my least favorite place on the planet, and to put that in perspective, I have been to the Congo and Ghana. India was the worst.

[Anonymous]

Costa Rica

[Anonymous]

Agree most of CR not crazy beautiful if you get away from scenery but man does their food make up for it! And they have fresh streams everywhere. A very natural place. I'm a pp who talked about hating India. So there's a difference that I loved CR even though not fancy or truly lux or beautiful yet I hated India where I thought everything was just trashy and the dirt was on another level. I found CR on the other hand charming - I don't know exactly why but I did.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Reno. Empty casinos that were nasty and smelled of smoke.

This - take Vegas’ cheesy opulent any day

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not Indian , but if you do 5 star hotels and private transportations, India has lots to offer in terms of sightseeing (Taj Mahal, Jaipur etc and food.

Nobody disagrees with this. There is a luxurious way to do India. But it doesn't sit well with a lot of people and they don't. want. to. go. back. if they don't have to (family). What don't you understand about that?

Oh we understand. Now you try and understand - the luxurious way to do India is inexpensive compared to anywhere else in the world. However, people from rich (western) countries want to do shoestring budget travel in India, making use of infrastructure that is heavily subsidized by the Indian govt for the poorest of its people. Then they complain. Well, why did you go to India in the first place? The domestic market of tourism is so huge that India is not hurting for foreign travelers.

Still don't understand it? It is like some foreigner comes to DC, goes and eats at the homeless shelter soup kitchen and then complains that the restaurant scene in US is pathetic. That soup kitchen is not for tourists.

Who is doing shoestring tours of India? Nobody on here has done that. You are projecting that that is why the bad experience. Every single person on here has mentioned that they have done it the luxurious way and they don't want to go back. No way in hell would I take a train in India. No way in hell.

I took a train in India and no photoshopped white men fell off the roof. It was a fine enough experience. I’ve had more stressful train experiences in Germany tbh with packed out trains, no room to move, standing room only, and then some chump with a BIKE trying to get on the train. And I’m a PP who said India was fascinating and I’d go back. I think the main issue with India is it is so NOT like the US, but it’s not pretty and familiar like Europe or clean and glamorous the way many of the Eastern Asian countries are, and a lot of American really just can’t cope with it. Like they just do not know how to process everything going on there at all times.

Agree with all of this. I'm the poster way back who lived in India as an expat for a few years. I never EVER saw trains like this and I was looking -- because from the media, I assumed they would all be like this and they're absolutely not. India was my first time out of North America, believe it or not, and I loved it. But I also prepared myself with lots of research before we moved there. Do I want to go back? ABSOLUTELY. There was so much I didn't get to see! I never got treated poorly -- sure people tried to scam me, but you learn their game pretty fast -- and I solo traveled around the country as a blonde white woman.

That's so funny. I'm another longtime expat (and like yourself, am a blonde white woman), and I've been on those packed German trains quite often because we also did three years in Dusseldorf. The difference for me was that none of the Germans packed around me tried to grope me or stare at me, I knew nobody was going to have their hands in my bag, and everything was super clean, with nary a fly, roach, or rat in sight, and the air did not smell of garbage (which it does even in the expat areas in the Indian cities where I was). In India, I was groped several times, was stared at wherever I went (and those men do not look away when you catch their gaze, nor are they ashamed to gawk at your chest area or body without looking away, even if you are covered). I experienced the creepy stares and groping in several cities. This treatment of women is super common in India: the term they use for this widespread sexual harassment of women in public is "eve teasing" (look it up). Sure, you can stay within the limited confines of luxury hotels and luxury expat neighborhoods, but that doesn't change the fact that you are in a gilded cage surrounded by squalor and a culture in which women are second-class citizens, and sexual harassment is widespread. Is it really a "magical place" if you have to stay in carefully curated, limited spaces in order to stay safe and comfortable? I hated India. And I have spent 16 years living in foreign countries, so not an inexperienced traveler. South Asia is my least favorite place on the planet, and to put that in perspective, I have been to the Congo and Ghana. India was the worst.

Can you right hook the people groping you? I simply can't imagine this. Is this a cultural thing?