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Travel

by totallynotabrony

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General Worldwide Observations, by Dafaddah/Canada and totallynotabrony/USA

~Dafaddah

I’ve traveled quite a lot during my 30 year career in ICT - and it ain’t over for another good while yet if I have any say in the matter! I’ve also lived on three continents (North America, Europe and Asia) and so have a few places to talk about that feel more like home to me than “foreign cities”. But first I’d like to start with some universals of travel:

All shopping malls in the world have been designed by the same person. The food court is in the middle in order to maximize exposure to stores. And the bathrooms are located at at the extremities, again in order to maximize exposure to stores. Ladies’ clothing, perfume, jewelry, cosmetics are on the ground floor. Anything a male person might want is either on an upper level or at the back end of the department store, of course to maximize the chance that the females assisting their hapless male associates will be tempted by the higher margin stuff on the way. Shopping malls are nice, familiar, and generally quite safe. It's as if you never left home. But ask yourself this question: did you just pay over a thousand bucks in airfare just to go to a shopping mall indistinguishable from the one ten minutes away from your house?

If you want to see what a country is really like, leave the @#$%$& shopping mall! I personally like to wander neighborhoods and eat in local restaurants. This is best done with a local. However, check with the hotel/travel guides to make sure you wander in safe areas. Some countries are extremely safe (Japan, Western Europe, Canada, South Korea, Singapore, Hong-Kong, Taiwan, Thailand, Australia, New Zealand...) so you can just wander about, even alone. Some countries you NEVER go out alone - Mexico, much of Latin America, most of the Middle East and Africa.

Whenever you leave your hotel room, bring your own toilet paper - or at least have a packet of tissues on your person at all times. (Where did you think the “don’t forget to bring a towel” meme originated from?) Oh, and learn to how to hold your balance while squatting. Trust me, in many countries that skill will come in handy.

The safest drink on planet earth is... beer! I kid you not. The alcohol in it is a mild disinfectant!  Hot drinks like tea or coffee come in second - if they don’t come piping hot then send them back. Avoid anything with ice in it unless you want to become more intimately familiar with the bathrooms in your locality.

Don’t exchange cash at the airport change office unless you really enjoy being ripped-off. Your best exchange rate is usually from automated teller machines accessed using your good old bank card (make sure it supports the Cirrus or PLUS systems). I’ve heard that many US bank cards either don’t support international transactions or have ridiculous fees for foreign transactions. Americans should check with their bank before travelling, and get a “chip and pin” bank card if you can - most of the rest of world (including Canada!) uses them exclusively, and most banking machines around the world require them.

Ditto for credit cards. Get a “chip and pin” credit card, as in many countries they either won’t accept magnetic strip-only credit cards, or will pirate them faster than you can say “Visa”! This is a particularly bad problem in Southern Europe (Spain, Italy, Greece...)

Never put all your ID, credit cards and money in a single wallet. If there is a safe in your hotel, use it to keep your passports and half your cash. This is to prevent being pickpocketed ruining your trip. And whenever possible put your wallet and phone in your front pants pockets, not the back pockets. Afraid of looking weird? Don’t bother. To the locals you already look weird! I’ve actually witnessed people being pickpocketed in Paris. Places to be particularly careful are subway turnstiles and ticket vending machines where people take out their wallets.

Many places (like Japan) have menus that consist entirely of photos (did I say how much I love wandering around in Japan?), but in a pinch look around you and order the same thing that the folks at the next table are eating. You'll be surprised how many people take that as a compliment, and you might even make new friends!

Most people I’ve met in my travels have been invariably nice, friendly and helpful - treat them with patience and respect and they will respond in kind.


~totallynotabrony

I’ve noticed that no matter where you go, any street market in the world sells cellphones, watches, and Beats headphones, or at least knockoffs.

I like how many countries’ money uses different sizes and colors for different denominations.

A lot of people are completely down to haggle, some of them even relishing it.  They don’t put price tags on stuff for this reason.  I think it’s annoying, probably because I’m an introvert.

Restaurant food in the rest of the world seems to range from a little to a lot more expensive than in the US.  Alcohol, too.

A surprising number of people around the world speak English, particularly when they’re trying to sell you something.  A local phrasebook wouldn’t hurt, but don’t freak out about going somewhere with a different official language.  Along with that, many places have dual language street signs.

If you aren’t explicitly told that the local water is safe, don’t drink it.

Your phone probably won't receive tower service in foreign countries, at least not without a hefty charge, but wifi is common in many places.

Australia, by totallynotabrony/USA

The week I spent in Perth, Western Australia was amazing.  The locals were nice, and they told me that Perth is a bit like the wild west since most Australians live in the east, but I found it quite charming.  Perth is a laid back beach city.  It feels like San Diego but with fewer people.

While I was talking to the locals, I discovered that “two countries separated by a common language” definitely applies.  For example, the subject of EA-18G Growler electronic jamming jets that the Australian Air Force is buying came up in conversation.  It turns out that in some dialects of English, a “growler” is a sexual act.  Also, I was called “a good c**t.”  The speaker quickly explained that it was an all-purpose word that could be used for friends, enemies, or inanimate objects.  Australians say it a lot.

Back to more public topics, there’s beer everywhere in Australia.  Restaurant prices were a little steep, but not out of line for a beachside city.  One thing I didn’t like about the restaurants was that several times from several different places I ordered a milkshake and instead received flavored milk with no ice cream thickness.

I rented a bicycle and was able to get most places I wanted to go.  There’s also a helpful train.  One day I stumbled upon the Western Australia Army Museum.  It was pretty good and I learned a lot.  I was also surprised to learn that SASR, Australian special operations forces, has a base in Perth.  No wonder it reminds me of San Diego.

The highlight of the trip was a jaunt to Rottnest Island.  The ferry was expensive, but the island was interesting.  The best part were the quokkas.  Google it.

I found Australian money a little confusing.  The fifty-cent pieces were huge, and the two-dollar coins were some of the smallest.

Bahrain, by totallynotabrony/USA

Apparently, there’s an Islamic saying about a black cloud that hangs over Bahrain that Allah can’t see through.  I’d believe it.  It’s probably from the fires caused by civil unrest.

There are more police cars around Bahrain than anywhere else I’ve seen.  They’re parked literally every mile or two on the main highway.  All of them have metal cages to protect the windows.  In addition, Bahrain is the place where rich Saudis go to party, so the whole black cloud thing is also a metaphor.

Bahrain is a Middle Eastern country that borders the Arabian Gulf.  Like most countries like that, it's super hot in the summer, Islam frowns on alcohol, and the local water is questionable.  There’s also oil.  Black gold, however, apparently doesn’t guarantee good wifi in the hotel.  Other people I talked to had the same problem in Bahrain.

The Formula 1 track is pretty nice.  The adjacent gokart track is probably the best one I’ve ever driven.  If I recall correctly, it was US$80 for two 15-minute sessions.  The track is pretty far from anywhere, though, which brings me to my final point: Bahraini cab drivers will gouge the heck out of you.  This is despite the stickers on the cab windows that say it’s illegal to charge anything besides the meter amount and multiple pidgin-English arguments.  I swear, if I ever hear another person say, “No problem, my friend,” I will punch them.

Canada, by totallynotabrony/USA

The US and Canada are so similar that I would almost say that they’re parallel universes.  The cars are mostly the same.  The license plates are the same shape.  They do and say things similar ways.  Even the accent doesn’t seem so strange if you’re from the northern US.

But if you look closer, little things start to stand out.  They call it the “washroom.”  Tim Hortons donut shops are more numerous than McDonalds.  The street signs are bilingual.

But for the average US citizen, a trip to Canada is probably the easiest foreign travel you can do.  Many things are familiar, you can bring your own car, and there’s not much of a language barrier.

I’ve taken a drive from Sault St. Marie in northern Michigan to Niagara Falls, a drive from northern Maine to Sault St. Marie, plus a few day trips in Ontario and British Columbia.  To amuse myself, I asked a few Canadians along the way what they thought of US accents.  Most didn’t notice much of a difference.  One said she liked the accent from South Carolina.

The CN tower in Toronto is interesting.  I went up and took a look, as it was more accessible than WizBurj Khalifa in the UAE.  In Sudbury, there’s a museum about mining, if you dig that that kind of thing.

Quebec has fewer English-language road signs than some countries in the Middle East and Asia.

I still chuckle when I think about that one Journey song set in Windsor, Canada, even though they call it South Detroit.

China, by Dash The Stampede/USA

I spent two weeks in China on a school-funded trip last year. If you ever thought city traffic in the States is terrible, you’ve never driven in Shanghai or Beijing. Six lanes on each side of the meridian, no stop lights, and people crossing the road in the middle of green lights. It’s an intricately chaotic sequence, with the only crash seen being a tipped-over moped.

You think it’s hard to cram your groceries into your trunk every week? These guys carry everything on those mopeds. I saw anywhere from thirty-plus milk crates to twenty cardboard boxes full of fruits, fish, merchandise, and more strapped to the back of these mopeds. Some were as tall as Mack trucks.

The best meal I ate in China (and I went to two major cities) in two weeks did not occur at a restaurant. Rather, it was a run-down area of Beijing, not far from the Forbidden City, in a local’s quaint and tiny (two-room) house. That old man cooked us such an amazing meal that I dare say he’d out-cook any Chinese chef this side of the Pacific. His grandfather was a royal chef, cooking for the last emperor.

In the markets underground is where commerce is king. Use the barter system to your ultimate advantage. Don’t be afraid to walk away from an offer, they’ll usually chase you down and offer less. Do it enough times, make a production of it, and they usually give you blowout deals. My best deal was a pair of Beats Pro headphones, 60 USD, when they go for 400 USD here.

The weirdest drink I had was Sprite Icymint. Blue bottle, go look it up. Like Sprite, with an aftertaste of Colgate.

Yes, they do cook their ducks with the heads. And yes, they keep them in pretzel rotisseries.

Don’t drink the water! It isn’t potable from the tap, so everything has to be bottled water, even if you’re brewing coffee or tea. Luckily, the charge for a water is usually cheap (33-50 cents). And don’t drink the soda on tap at McDonalds.

Be careful if you don’t brush up on the native language. One greeting, and you can be lost in a torrent of Chinese.

A lot of locals want their towns to look great and their visitors’ experience to be good so they return in the future. Expect lots of smiles and offers for anything you might need to complete the experience.

Driving on the highways might be faster in some cases - but usually not. A 2 hour drive to the Great Wall became six, and lunch became dinner.

Surveillance is key to the government. Don’t be surprised to see numerous video cameras located throughout the country. On street signs, they take pictures of cars as they pass by. On street lamps, they video the citizens. So don’t think you’re too alone when outdoors. Tiananmen Square’s light posts have in excess of twelve cameras on each.

Interesting language fact: When we English speakers are in a rut, and don’t know what to say next, we turn to using things like ‘ummm’ and ‘hmm’ while we think. Chinese doesn’t have a word for ‘umm’. So, you’ll hear something that sounds similar to a rather dubious cuss-that-begins-with-n vocalized instead. From parents, children, even the servers in the restaurant.

Alcohol is a big thing in China. Sake and 160-proof liquor held shelf space at various stores across the trip. One came in a red bottle, with a cork stopper. One sip felt like rubbing alcohol on the tongue. And got me tipsy.

Tea is huge here, so you coffee-drinkers might have to look a little harder for your fix. No Dunkin’ Donuts here - only the occasional coffee shop, swathed in tea shops and stands. If you get the chance, try some Pu’ ‘Er (poo-Air) tea. Aged like wine, and pressed into a brick, you just scrape off some leaves and brew. Sugar is something tea drinkers forgo there as well. Try relying on the natural sweetness of the leaves, and you’ll gain a better appreciation for the little leaf that could.

The nation may love Mao and what he did for them, but they’re not afraid to make a few jabs at his expense. A t-shirt, pictured Obama in a Mao-styled portrait with a red-star military hat, and the characters to spell out ‘Oba Mao’. Instant purchase.

Try some of the exotic Kit-Kats and candy in China. A lot of it couldn’t really be considered candy by the taste and look, but Green Tea and Baked Beans are just two flavors of kit-kat I saw.

Ramen is worlds apart from here and there. Imagine making your ramen with only half the cake, but the same amount of water and seasonings. Most ramen shops sent out a bowl filled with broth, a small amount of fresh veggies, and some noodles at the bottom. I was confused. “Where’s the noodles?”

Monetary conversion in relatively easy there, RMB, or Yuen, is roughly six-to-one for USD. Thus, a tag of 36 RMB is only 6 USD. Don’t forget to haggle if you can!

Keep a watch on your purses or backpacks while in the cities. China’s crime rate is drastically reduced from ours - guns are illegal to own, as well as swords or war knives, unless they’re family relics and registered through the government - but that doesn’t mean there aren’t still dangers. The most common and often most severe crime is pickpocketing. Wear your backpacks on your chest and put those little luggage locks on the zippers if you want extra seal.

Trains are much faster and advanced in China than here. We need to really step up our game. Sure, we’ve got tradition and all that, but we’re missing out on traveling at speeds of 300 km/h. The only indicator that you’re passing another train is the car rumbling a little bit, that’s it. And yet, it’s a smooth and almost bump-less ride at that speed.

Your best friend in most restaurants is a cheat sheet: Make a list of basic meats and veggies, meals and drinks and their Chinese characters. When servers bring you plates, they put them on a lazy susan and walk away. Instead, show them the cheat sheet and point to the dish. This can prevent a mistake like having octopus instead of beef.

Marijuana grows in the wild in the country, yet it’s hyper-illegal to do anything to or with it. I saw it on the side of a mountain where a Buddhist temple was located. Perhaps that’s the real key to enlightenment?

The English translations on signs and advertisements were hilarious sometimes. ‘Feeling Music Bar’, ‘Galvin Klein Jeans’, and ‘Malrlborlo’ were my favorites.

Getting a Chinese character tattoo? Might want to authenticate it with a native speaker first: a fellow on the trip with us found out his prayer tattoo actually was just random words.

You won’t find any of General Tso’s chicken in China. That’s American exclusive. Tso was a brutal war general, so they don’t associate meals with his legacy. Instead, your palate will be assaulted by a wonderment of meats and vegetables, soups and watermelon, teas and beer, liquor and more. Oh! Don’t have drinks with ice in them, unless you freeze your own bottled water.

The architecture is great - in the gardens throughout, the homes had roof sculptures and woodworking to rival any other, sometimes, near impossible feats of art stood before me.

Costa Rica, by Lithl/USA

I stayed in Costa Rica for two weeks as part of a language-immersion program when I was in high school. My sister had gone through the program the summer previous, and both she and I went together during my visit.

Students in the program were housed with a local family; my sister stayed with the same family she had lived with the previous year, and I landed with a family up the hill from her. As part of the program, the two of us attended a half day of school learning Spanish Monday through Friday, with the weekends and afternoons to ourselves. The campus was again within walking distance from my house, so I would wake up in the morning (rather, my host mother would wake me up), get dressed shower, breakfast, walk down the hill to meet my sister, and then walk to school.

Costa Rica means “Rich Coast”, and while I didn’t visit the beach, the country is beautiful! The natives have a phrase, “Pura Vida” (lit. “Pure Life”), used in casual conversation, often as a greeting, farewell, or thanks.

My visit also gave me a new appreciation for what “rainforest” means. While I learned about rainforests in grade school, my visit to Costa Rica was my first time actually spent in one. Although it certainly rains a lot, it’s not a dreary thing like the stereotypes of England or parts of the northern United States. Instead, you get a light shower for about 15 minutes almost every afternoon. It’s almost regular enough to set your watch by, and it comes at the perfect time of day to cool everything down.

The city that I stayed in had a small park near the center of town, full of mango trees. I was there at the height of mango season, and walking through the park was a bit like navigating a war zone, dodging falling mango-grenades, to say nothing of the fallout caused by squirrels nibbling on the fruit over your head. However, I am sad to report that even with my host mother purchasing the best mango she could find at the market for me, my opinion on consuming the fruit did not change (I am not a fan). I highly recommend the pineapples, though!

What else can I remember…? The bus stations were loud, making it difficult to hear people (compounded by not being fluent in Spanish). I remember one bus driver switching to English because I couldn’t remember how to say something along the lines of “I can’t hear you could you repeat that?” There’s very little internet access outside of net cafes (or at least, that was the state of affairs around 2005). Even living in the country, the wildlife is much closer than I’m used to. One morning I walked into the bathroom to find a tarantula bigger than my hand on the shower floor, and I decided she could have the shower that day. I notified my host mother, although later that day as I was reading in the living room I noticed what was probably the same tarantula hanging out above the window, and nobody seemed to pay it any attention.

The last weekend my sister and I were there, we took a guided tour to a few local attractions, including a hot spring resort and a cheese factory, and culminating with Volcán Arenal (the Arenal volcano). Unfortunately for the majority of the tour group, the volcano was obscured by fog and mist at the final portion of the tour. Fortunately for my sister and I, we were staying the night at an Inn nearby, and the obstruction cleared up. The two of us sat in front of our cabin late into the night chatting with our neighbors, a pair of elementary school teachers from Washington state, watching the volcano erupt every fifteen minutes or so.

Germany, by Lithl/USA

It has been so long since I visited Germany, I’m not certain how relevant my experiences will be to any future travelers, or how accurate my memory is. As I’ve said, my family has been involved in AFS since I was in middle school; my trip to Germany was during the summer prior to hosting our first exchange student, a girl from Switzerland. (We met up with her in Munich for lunch during the trip.) When I was there, Germany was still using the deutsche mark for their currency.

As I was a child, prior to leaving for the trip, a family friend from England taught me a very important phrase: “ein kleine kugel” (“one small scoop”). Because what does a child want in the heat of summer but an ice cream cone? As it turned out, there were ice cream carts on almost every other corner in every city we visited, selling small, one-scoop cones for one mark.

The summer is spargelzeit (“asparagus time”), and restaurants will often have multiple asparagus dishes available, and often serve asparagus as a side dish for other things. One night, my grandfather even ordered “spargle mit spargle” (“asparagus with asparagus”). The asparagus is usually white asparagus, which is supposed to be more tender and less bitter than asparagus that hasn’t been blanched. Green asparagus will usually be specified as such, being the exception despite being the vegetable’s natural state.

Of course, the summer is also the season for erdbeeren (strawberries), one of my favorite fruits, and there are almost as many roadside stands selling them as there are stands selling spargle.

Hong Kong, by totallynotabrony/USA

I visited Hong Kong for two days.  For the purposes of this blog, I'll consider Hong Kong separate from China.  The two are very different.  Hong Kong uses its own money, passports, and drives on the other side of the road.  While I haven't been to China proper, Hong Kong seems like it offers more of a first-world experience.

Hong Kong is located just off the coast of southeastern China.  It's a former British colony and a huge financial center.  It's a lot like Singapore in that both are small islands that are mostly covered with modern cities.   Unlike Singapore, the trains don't run to every single place.  Fortunately, buses and taxis are everywhere.

Hong Kong has a huge city-wide laser show a couple times each night.  All you have to do is go down to the bay and wait.  Buildings on either side of the water, already lit up with colorful lights, will shoot lasers off their roofs.  As cool as it is that this exists, the show itself is kind of underwhelming.

Instead, I'd recommend you go to Victoria Peak.  A cool way is to ride the tram up it.  At the top is a shopping mall/observation deck that provides a super great view of the of the city and harbor.  You can do it day or night.  Night might be better, for the lights.

Italy, by Lithl/USA

My family has been involved with AFS Intercultural Programs for almost two decades, now. While my sister and I were living at home, our family hosted a student approximately every other year, and we served as a waystation for those students who were between families for one reason or another on the off-years. (Now that the chicks have left the nest, my parents continue to fill that “waystation” capacity, on top of hosting parties and orientations.)

As a result, I have a number of “brothers” and “sisters” around the world, including two brothers in Italy. One of my Italian brothers had been badgering my parents to come visit for some time, so we finally got together for a family vacation. Unlike most vacations we’ve had as a family, my mother was not planning this one, instead leaving it to my “brother”.

The trip began by flying into Rome. Our hotel room gave us a great view of the Pantheon, and for the few days we were there, we hit several of the usual  suspects, like the aforementioned Pantheon, the Forum, the Colosseum, the Catacombs, etc. If you’re into ancient history, it’s a must-see. If you’re not quite as interested in the subject, it’s still worth doing, even if just to say that you have.

The best part of our time in Rome, however, wasn’t actually in Rome but rather in Vatican City. My brother was very close to the priest of his church, who in turn was very close to St. John Paul II, the previous Pope. Because of our connection, we got into the Sistine Chapel without waiting in the line that stretched around the block, and we got to visit the Vatican Gardens, which most people don’t get to see. (Only a few limited guided tours exist, but we had permission to wander around on our own.) It is, in fact, good to know people.

After a few days in Rome, we all piled in a van: myself, my sister, my parents, my “brother”, his brother, and his parents. It was a big van. We drove north, hitting several points of interest. In Orvieto, we had to park our van in the bus parking lot, because someone had gone and hung lights lower than the clearance marker for the garage. (We only destroyed one!) In Ripatransone we visited Italy’s narrowest alley: difficult to fit a person through, much less a bicycle or other vehicle… Near Florence we dined on bistecca alla fiorentina, probably the only rare T-bone steak you’ll find in Europe. The single steak we had was large enough to feed six people.

We split up in Florence, as my brother’s family had to return to Piacenza, however during our day in the city we met up with my other Italian brother who was there for university. Our trip ended with a night in Venice. My window sill was only a few inches above the water line! Also: Don’t let rumors about bad smells turn you away from Venice. The legendary smell was due to sewage being pumped directly into the canals, but the city has since instituted strict regulations on plumbing and they have made an effort to clean the canals. Now, the city smells no worse than any other city next to the ocean.

Japan, by Shadowfall/USA

If you can survive the 9-10 hour flight, then you shall be landing in the most populated city in the entire world, Tokyo.

Tokyo, being that it has a limited space, mostly has its inhabitants living in apartments of various sizes, though when you venture away from the city, urban neighborhoods will show up here and there.

Visiting Tokyo, Japan is, in my opinion, the geek's dream.  When I had gone there, I had stayed with my uncle and aunt. They lived in a rather small apartment that had a guest bedroom in one floor, and the dining room and master bed in another. Convenience stores were where I had gotten most of my food. You have your standard boxed sushi or tempura, or you could pick up Bentos (boxed lunches), or find the American-loving fried chicken and beef.

I spent a lot of time in Akihabara, a district within Tokyo of which I would describe as "electronics and entertainment." Speaking of electronics, trains will be the way to go within Japan, as well as taxis. As the city has quite a bit of inter-weaving streets, you'll find yourself taking a lot of turns, as well as stopping for rapidly changing red lights.

If you are an anime fan, then Akihabara is quite literally, "Heaven on Earth." Anime advertisements, shops, arcades, cosplayers, TV, it's all found here. The shops in Akihabara use a sort of arrangement of plastic display boxes that house action figures or models inside. Akihabara is where I had gotten my Gundam models that I still have yet to build. *sigh*

Now, the arcades in Japan are much more different than in America. SEGA, SONY, and Nintendo are Japanese companies, so arcades have sprung up everywhere in Japan. My experiences within arcades have told me this: Wear a breath mask unless you smoke.

The smell of cigarettes inside the arcades ia extremely pungent. Ash trays sit at every game. The games in these arcades are far different than ours. Instead, the arcades want to bring a console game-like experience to the players. Games like Gundam Extreme Vs. and Border Break are Mecha games that players can sign into with special game cards that keep track of an online account for the game and allow them to play with credit instead of coin. They load up their profile, and they fight the people who are playing in the same room as them.

My warning: Be very careful about playing these games. If the surrounding Japanese players see that you are indeed, a foreigner, then they will all hop onto the adjacent machines, sign in with their ridiculously high accounts, and use you for target practice. I was firsthand victim to this, so I had to look at online guides before I could even last five seconds after respawning.

The coolest game I played in Japan was...I actually can't remember the name of it, other than that it was a Gundam game. You’d sit in a pod with a surround sound system, and play in a First-Person Shooter Mech game, where you drive your Gundam around and blast everyone that you see. This was the only game that I had success in, as the controls are easy, little comboing with buttons is done, and...the game is rather simplistic, yet immersive.

The best place I went to eat in Japan was at a Ramen shop tucked away in an alley. As in nearly every single Japanese restaurant here, the cooks and crew will greet you once you step in. The Ramen, was AMAZING. Simplistic, yet PACKED with flavor.

Essentially, this Ramen shop was actually in a very tight space. There was only one table, and nearly every single customer sat at a counter with your food order there already (you waited outside). It was rather darkly lit, except for the kitchen.

There is so much other stuff that I could be forgetting, but let's get onto Kyoto.

I took the Bullet Train (Shinkansen), snagged a quick picture of Mt. Fuji, though the clouds that were present blotted out the peak. Now, Kyoto used to be the capitol of Japan, and due to America not having bombed too much at all of Kyoto, tons of historical monuments still stand. Massive temples to the smallest of shrines are present.

Forestland blends in very well for this quickly modernizing city, taking care to preserve every artifact and temple that comes within inches of the buildings. Of course, the Ramen shops are still there, as well as one arcade or two in the entire city of Kyoto. But if you went to Kyoto for those, then turn away. Go to Kyoto for fascinating cultural and historical tourism. Pay your respects at the various temples, go on nature walks, and find an inner calm within you, despite the fact that the city is just a block away.

Oh yes, and the kimonos. Kimonos will probably be everywhere when if you visit.

In all, I felt that Japan is probably one of the best places to visit in the world, as it offers one of the best blends of urban city life with historical countryside. Plus, the cityfolk and townfolk, though they may keep to themselves a bit more than people here at times, are extremely friendly and understanding when you are unable to communicate well.

Reminds me of a certain fandom I know about the latter part... Oh yeah, and ponies are also taking over Japan. First Japan. Then the world.

Mexico, by CptBrony/USA

I went to Mexico a couple of times for spring vacation in my childhood, to each coast. While they’re the same country, you wouldn’t necessarily guess it. In my earlier years, we went to Cancun. Cancun is an amazing resort location, but outside that, you have to watch your back. While it isn’t exactly Mexico City, where my father was given a fake watch to give out the window in the event of a street robbery of the company armored car+armed guards (any company that’s worth anything will send you there with an armed escort), if you aren’t careful, you can be assaulted or worse in the street. We only left the resort once because that one time, a couple of dudes started following us more closely than we felt comfortable with. We booked it back to the resort and didn’t go back outside again until we had to go home.

The other location I vacationed at was Cabo San Lucas. This area on the Baja Peninsula is vastly safer than the rest of Mexico (experience and travel agent agree). There are loads of resorts, as it is a heavy tourist location, and plenty to do. Myself, I went Scuba Diving with my dad and got to hang out with Sea Lions and sharks. My family also went into a town not too far away for dinner a couple of times and to do some local shopping. We never felt unsafe here, unlike in Cancun, and the shops all sold wonderful little trinkets at nice prices. There was also a mall, and you could see police from just about anywhere. You do have to watch out, though, as if you leave the public eye or go into generally unventured areas, you can find trouble. My brother and I left the designated resort beach area once to go to the water, and a man approached us with an offer of “some weed or some blow”. When La Policia Federal drove by on an ATV, he went into hiding behind some rocks.

In Mexico, one of the trends I noticed was that the resorts handled a lot of the extra activities. Scuba Diving, while handled by groups like Red Sail, was always affiliated with the resorts. Rarely did you need to go outside the tourist areas to have fun; it was mostly self-contained. When we went out to eat in Cabo, the local town clearly knew American tourism, as they knew the resorts if they heard them. The restaurants were solid, but the guys outside are clever about getting you to pick their restaurant. It’s worth it, though, since they’re all pretty good.

Every store in the tourist areas of Mexico accepts US dollars, and that makes it a lot easier than converting to pesos at the airport or wherever you go. They list both prices, generally, unless they’re some kind of major store chain like Apple. But you don’t go to Mexico to buy an Ipod, do you? You only go home with the artisan crafts that you just don’t see in the USA any more.

As long as you go to a safe area, it is pretty chill and relaxed until it starts bustling at night. The nightlife is fun, though, so if you’re into that, then go for it. Just always be watchful in any foreign country and try to have fun.

Qatar, by totallynotabrony/USA

I spent a little more than three weeks in Qatar and had a rental car, so I think I got a little broader view of it than other countries I’ve visited.  Qatar is a Muslim, desert country so alcohol is hard to find which is too bad because it isn't a good idea to drink the water.  The climate is nice in the winter and like an oven in the summer.

The capital city of Doha is nice, but outside that, the rest country is nothing but sand.  Sandstorms happen a lot.  The entire world takes on a sepia tone and you can’t see more than a hundred yards or so.  If the wind looks like it’s going to be strong that day, pack a bandana.

The Doha airport is easy to access and the country’s main roads seem to be okay.  The interchanges have a lot of roundabouts, some of them three lanes wide with four streets leading in.  The drivers are crazy.  Seriously, these people DGAF.  Most don’t drive the speed limit.  Some are ten below and some are twenty above.  They’ll flash their lights and honk if they want you to let them pass, or they’ll just go around you on the shoulder.  Despite the unfriendly roads, it was generally easy to navigate.  All the signs, and indeed, many road signs in the Middle East, are dual language.

Singapore, by totallynotabrony/USA

I spent a few days in Singapore, over the course of two visits.  Most of my time was just walking around and seeing the place.  The island citystate of Singapore is in southeast Asia about one degree above the equator.  As a result, the climate changes very little year round: it’s always just a little sweaty.  It’s a former British colony, but the population is mostly Chinese.  Diversity is the name of the game, and you can find pretty much any kind of business in Singapore.  At a tailor shop, the guy offered me a beer while I waited.

Trains and buses run everywhere and are cheap.  Many basic services in Singapore are cheap, like street food, but the price goes up quite a bit when you want something above the minimum. Restaurants, and their drinks, can be expensive.  I spent $2.60 for lunch on the street and $10 for one Tiger beer at a restaurant.  There’s a huge selection of really great places to eat, though.

There are a lot of landmarks, like the Raffles Hotel.  It’s named after Sir Stamford Raffles, a contender for the title of most British name ever.  The hotel itself is historical, but a little run down, as if it’s a few years past due for a restoration.  It’s famous for its signature drink: the Singapore Sling.

The Night Safari is a nocturnal zoo.  It's cheaper than I expected.  If you like animals, I highly recommend it.

If you have time to take a day trip, I would recommend the wetland nature park to the north.  They have four-foot-long monitor lizards, crabs that climb trees, and you can see Malaysia in the distance.  The bathrooms at the park have modern facilities, but no walls.  It’s a little strange to see a row of urinals in the open air.

Switzerland, by Ocean Waves/USA

I’ve been to Switzerland twice in my life, and both were two of my best vacations. The land is beautiful, the people are nice, the food is good, etc. Everyone I’ve come across in Switzerland can speak English (I think they all know it and French and German from school) and are usually willing to help out if you are lost.

I’ve been to both Zurich and Bern, which are two major cities, but that’s sort of relative considering the small size of the country. Both are beautiful and worth a visit. Bern is the capital and has a lot of older buildings in the center of town; very beautiful. Zurich is the largest city in the country, but again that’s relative.

The best thing to see in Switzerland is the landscape. From the Alps to Lake Geneva, just about the entire country is something out of a portrait. The view from the mountains is spectacular, and well worth the drive/walk/train ride/cable car to see.

There’s a glacier up near a town called Saas Fee that they have tunneled into and you can walk around inside. Lots of skiing to do there as well.

The travel inside the country is done mostly by car or train. Most of the roads are small but traffic doesn’t seem to be a problem. The trains aren’t the fastest in the world but they get the job done well and connect the major cities.

Thailand, by totallynotabrony/USA

I visited Thailand for three days, in the Bangkok area.  I decided the best way to see a lot of stuff quickly was with a bus tour group.

Thailand is located in southeast Asia and generally has a pretty warm climate.  It's definitely third-world, but the big cities have all the amenities you could want.  The government gets turned over regularly by coups, but they are usually fairly bloodless.

The tour group took us to several ancient Buddhist temples around Bangkok.  The city is full of ruins.  I found it fascinating.  Some structures dated back to the 1300's.  They basically looked like places you would find Indiana Jones fighting Nazis.

We also visited the old royal palace with highly intricate designs and gold leaf.  The grounds around the palace are scenic, with lots of water features and other gilded buildings.

Then we went to the new royal palace, which was even more decorated.  Because the compound was built up over so many years, the styles of one building to the next are extremely varied.  There was tons (perhaps literally) of gold leaf.

Many places required you to take off your shoes before entering.  I guess I can understand that.  It's probably how the old temples stayed so nice for so long.

The car culture of Thailand seems strange to an American.  Imagine Japanese-style modifications, but on pickup trucks.  Also, many semi trucks had little Michelin Man figurines mounted on them, some even wearing cowboy hats.  Like a lot of things about Thailand, I never figured out why.

United Arab Emirates, by totallynotabrony/USA

The United Arab Emirates has a few large cities.  I’ve been to one of them, Dubai.  Like most of the Middle East, it has a great climate in the winter and a horribly hot one in the summer.  This is partially the reason that during my time in the city, I didn’t get out much.  Despite being the desert, Dubai is a huge financial center and you can pretty much find whatever you want there.  Being a primarily Muslim country, alcohol isn’t as popular but still available.  There’s a saying that Allah can’t see you in Dubai.

The architecture in Dubai is something to see.  They have the world’s tallest building (the WizBurj Khalifa) and one of the world’s largest malls nearby, an indoor ski slope, and artificial islands built offshore.  There’s a few train lines, but it can be difficult to get to some of the more obscure places.  

Their one-dirham coins look like US quarters.  The hotels are all super nice, including the world’s only so-called seven star hotel.  They’re also expensive.  The Baristi Bar is a popular beachside club for expats to hang out.  

If at all possible, try to get liquids from a bottle.  Like just about anywhere in the Middle East, it isn’t advisable to drink the tap water.

United States of America, by Nattalie Simmons/Russia

I traveled to the United States for family visitation, English was hard to learn but hearing it around me in the state of New York helped me learn. I have visited Nevada, Arizona, California, Texas, and New York. The western states were a change for me as it was warmer than expected, the experience I had was amazing in Las Vegas, Nevada, there is nothing like it in Russia so it was amazing to see such lights and sounds and casinos.

The food was different, although McDonald's being in Russia I got to experience new foods and new styles of culinary expertise. In America they have pancakes which are like Blini (popular Russian breakfast food) but they are much thicker and fattier. The Americans have a far more expansive cuisine than i expected. In Russia we mostly have foods and drinks from grain (bread and alcohol) but in America they did not experience the shortage of foods and ingredients, where Russians have bread based foods Americans have so much more. I learned that America got most its food knowledge from Britain.

TV and Cinema was more than I expected (again) as they do not seem to have censorship from the Churches or Government. TV in America was…..dramatic, everything was in a serious tone of voice and rarely exceeded anything above the obvious information. Although the commercials were concerning, the ads for medical made me believe I had 5 serious diseases.

The American people of the south were less friendly to outsiders as i learned, and one of the reasons i say that is because i knew very little English and they became hostile if i pronounced a name of someone or something wrong. The people of the North and The Nevada state were either too drunk to care or did not mind teaching a poor traveler English.

The American pastime seems to be that of drinking cool drinks on a porch or going to a beach. It surprised me to see parks and playgrounds near empty on a nice hot day, in Russia we mostly go to parks and drink Kvas, Kvas is a grain based drink fermented like alcohol but not the same process as it ends up having little to none alcohol content. I found it hard to do anything in the northern U.S when a hot day, the humidity was a large factor in me sitting in my family home with the air conditioner on. The Western states seemed to not have this humidity and I did many activities outdoors.

A hilarious thing about my travel, i visited the northern state NY in the winter time and found i was the only one wearing the traditional winter hat of Russia, the Ushanka 1. Everyone else seemed to wear what i would call a beanie, but they called it some word i did not know until my travels to Canada (later that year). The people called it a Tuqe? I think, an odd word but then again Ushanka is not a common word in English either. Along my travels in the cold I got weird looks and many people questioned me about my hat, it seemed to be a conversation starter.

1.[The Ushanka is a fur hat made from sheepskin originally in the 17th century. The design has changed throughout the years and there are variants of it throughout the country, but most notably the Russian Military uses the hats for long patrols in the cold, they tie the strings upon the top as mandatory style.]

Taiwan, by Octavia Harmony/USA

I had the chance to spend about a month at a time in Taiwan two years ago, and a large portion of it was spent either sightseeing or going through everyday life as one would do as a resident. Most of my time was spent in the capital, Taipei, and another large city, Taichung, but I also got to spend time in the countryside, which was especially pretty. Just note, but I have never been to the southern side of Taiwan, which is very different in many ways. Personally, I would say that, unless you’re there to visit a jungle, you could stick to the northern half and have all of the experiences.

Taiwan itself is just off of the southeastern coast of China. It itself is a relatively small country, considered by China to be one of their provinces but considered by the Taiwanese themselves to be a sovereign country officially known as the Republic of China.

In the city, it’s much like any other city in that it’s very diverse. When I stayed at a fancier place, there was a Rolex store within walking distance, just as close as the grocery store. At the countryside, there was definitely a need for a car, but that’s no different from living in somewhere in most of the US.

Most of the population speaks Chinese Mandarin, but many people know English or native Taiwanese. As someone who doesn’t know how to read Mandarin, it wouldn’t be too hard to find where you’re going, as most signs are in English as well as Chinese. English, because of it’s prominence in the world, is taught in school. If I was to give a rating on the language barrier in Taiwan, I would say it’s not bad, but not as good as those of Singapore or maybe Japan.

The public transportation of Taiwan is very good. Taxi, buses, subways, and high speed rail all play a part, and there is never a need for a car in the city. Even when I visited the countryside, looking out over the ricefields, you could see a elevated rail for a high speed train, which was a beautiful clash of traditional growing of rice and the modernization of the country, all in one scene.

Eating in Taiwan varies quite a bit. Restaurants can be very high class, yet you can find excellent food in stalls or ground-floor restaurants that line the street. If you need to eat on the go, there are literally malls build into some subway intersections, complete with food courts. Taiwan has a high density of 24 hour convenience stores, so there will always be something to eat within walking distance from your apartment.

The food itself is very good and varied. I remember once walking around a large, mall-like shopping center and finding food of cultures all over the world. From French baguettes to English teas, it was surprising to see how popular other foods were. You can, of course, find more traditional Asian cuisine from masterfully prepared seafood such as tuna or even shark to dumplings of any style of your choosing. There are also more popular foods like bubble tea or beef noodle soup that you could find in the shop on the corner. If you’re brave, you can even try pig’s blood cake or a grilled squid.

In landmarks, there are quite a few, both traditional and modern. There are absolutely stunning, native Taiwanese architectural structures, but the country also features Taipei 101, which used to be the tallest building in the world, at one of the times I visited. It is currently the sixth tallest building in the world.

If you were to visit for a business trip, I would suggest you definitely see what there is around you. If you are in Taipei, which you probably are, you should see Taipei 101 and later visit a museum for a great look into Asian art. There are many works of traditional Chinese art, as when the Nationalists moved to Taiwan after the revolution, they brought the best works with them. Because of this, much of China’s art is actually in Taiwan, as that is the “official” capital. One of the largest collections of Chinese art is the National Palace Museum of Taipei. Classical music is very developed in Taiwan as well, so if you were to listen to a concert, you should be very pleased.

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