Holidays, and your Opinions

[Mr Krepe]

It's simple state holidays/vacations you've been on and state your opinions of said location and the holiday/vacation as well, i'll start:

When I went to New Zealand a year ago, it was pretty big for me, my family a lower-working-middle class in England, so it was the most expensive holiday we had ever been on before. I must say it was darned long flight (28 hours), and we had to stop at LA for 2 hours for fuel and stretch of legs. The actual holiday was better but the country stank of British culture, but it was obviously a British colony more than a century ago. We were only there for 2 weeks, and we didn't really get to do much considering it was such a far away place from where I lived. We went at christmas, so we would have christmas there, and that was a bit of annoyance, but I never really cared for presents so the holiday was probably better than what I would have gotten (generic shooter game). For the first week we were basically idle in Wellington, very boring considering it was the other side of the world, then on the second week we went to Rotirua, where we visited a Moari tribal recreation, which was alright. Beforehand I was told it would be rude to laugh or talk during the ceremony the natives would show, so while they were doing the funky dance, I burst out laughing for now apparent reason, I felt quiet bad. The geysers at Rotirua were alright, but not brilliant, I stuck a stick in one and that was entertaining for 10 minutes as it launched into the sky. I then went into a small village on the south island for a day trip, and the scenery there was beautiful, and the beach was lovely, but it felt like the village in The League of Gentlemen, all that ' nothing for you here' stuff, everyone gave us weird looks.

In the end, the holiday was an experience, but all it really did for me was make me realise how small the world was now, one side of the world to the other in 28 hours!

 

[Ausdoerrt]

I always tend to pimp China as a vacation location. Been there twice, once as a tourist/student and once as an exchange student. I'd say the biggest advantage is the cost, the flight can be pricey, but you can save on everything else if you don't let yourself be swindled on every step (which is a skill to be acquired). If live in a hostel rather than hotel, and eat at places where locals eat, you can save even more.

Impressions-wise, my least favorite was Shanghai, cause it's one of those places that reeks of Western culture - not surprising considering its history. Beijing is a nice city to live in, but I wasn't impressed as a tourist because most of the "staple" tourist attractions aren't all that interesting, and a lot of them feel kind of "cheap" because of shoddy renovation on some of them. There are still nice places to see and events to attend, like the less-traveled sections of the Great Wall, or going to some of the major temples during New Year, but they aren't something a common tour would take you to.

One of my favourite visits was Sichuan, for its really pretty nature. Emeishan is a casual hiker's wet dream, and there's a bunch of famous Buddhist spots in the area as well. Chengdu itself wasn't really all that special though.

Suzhou was another favorite, if you manage to hit the less-popular gardens and/or go at a time when the place isn't swarming with tourists, it can be a majestic experience. The town itself is small(-er) as well, and doesn't have the overwhelming bustling of a big Chinese city. Truly a place to relax.

Hanzhou, on the other hand, was absolutely too touristy for my taste. I grew up in a touristy town myself, so that stuff usually stands out sharply to me. If you like historical landmarks, it's got plenty of stuff to see, but well. I just wasn't all that impressed.

I supposedly also visited Xi'an, but I remember very little cause I was down with a high-temperature cold. Crappiest thing to ever happen on a vacation.

People claim Mongolia is supposed to be amazing, but I've never been, so that's on my list of things to do. So is Tibet if/when it stops being such a pain in the ass to get in and out of.

 

[Sabirah]

India is quite lovely by all accounts


I recommend Goa for the beaches and the amazing weather. And Varanasi for you history buffs out there. Just make sure to not leave Varanasi. the area around it (Uttar Paradesh) is a very bad place to be and devoid of any wealthy bits like the rest of Bharat

 

[Mad Max RW]

One of my teachers from college went to India for a month. He came back with a stomach illness that almost killed him. Don't drink the water.

 

[Mr Krepe]

I think not drinking the water almost works for most countries that people go on holiday/vacation to.

 

[Verevoof]

Last "vacation" I went on: Washington D.C.

Conclusion: Never going back there, in life or death.

The "highlights": The hotel didn't give me the room I booked and paid for, they gave it to someone else (probably a politician and hooker). The room they did give me was dirty, stains and dried flaky white stuff on the bedsheets (politician and a hooker), the shower floor was a carpet of pubic hair. And this was after the hotel wouldn't let me up to the room because the staff was "cleaning" (politician and hooker, I tells you). The room also had a lovely view of a dumpster in an alley, and I would hear people yelling at each other throughout the nights.

I witnessed an orangutang piss on a baby carriage that had two little kids in it. There is a rope system at the zoo there where these beasts can cross, over the path where people walk, to get to other parts of the enclosure. Have you ever seen an orangutang piss? It's not a little trickle. The mother could have easily prevented her kids from getting completely soaked by piss, as she was holding onto the carriage watching the bastard climb up and over them, but at the first drop of liquid she just abandoned her kids there, helplessly strapped into the carriage, and watched with everyone else as the bastard pissed on them. Watched and laughed with everyone else. That orangutang knew what it was doing, it knew. And thus deepened my hatred for two primates that day.

Oh, and some guy ejaculated onto me while I was waiting for a bus.

 

[:::SILUS:::]

Last "vacation" I went on: Washington D.C.

Conclusion: Never going back there, in life or death.

The "highlights": The hotel didn't give me the room I booked and paid for, they gave it to someone else (probably a politician and hooker). The room they did give me was dirty, stains and dried flaky white stuff on the bedsheets (politician and a hooker), the shower floor was a carpet of pubic hair. And this was after the hotel wouldn't let me up to the room because the staff was "cleaning" (politician and hooker, I tells you). The room also had a lovely view of a dumpster in an alley, and I would hear people yelling at each other throughout the nights.

I witnessed an orangutang piss on a baby carriage that had two little kids in it. There is a rope system at the zoo there where these beasts can cross, over the path where people walk, to get to other parts of the enclosure. Have you ever seen an orangutang piss? It's not a little trickle. The mother could have easily prevented her kids from getting completely soaked by piss, as she was holding onto the carriage watching the bastard climb up and over them, but at the first drop of liquid she just abandoned her kids there, helplessly strapped into the carriage, and watched with everyone else as the bastard pissed on them. Watched and laughed with everyone else. That orangutang knew what it was doing, it knew. And thus deepened my hatred for two primates that day.

Oh, and some guy ejaculated onto me while I was waiting for a bus.

Did kids drown eventually?

Imagine if he let a deuce.

 

[Mr Krepe]

Oh, and some guy ejaculated onto me while I was waiting for a bus.

I think I read something that you said in the Order about that, how on earth does he...but didn't he get seen? How couldn't he been? There are too many questions too answer, all from one statement!

 

[Verevoof]

I think I read something that you said in the Order about that, how on earth does he...but didn't he get seen? How couldn't he been? There are too many questions too answer, all from one statement!

I don't know, people just don't care, or he is very sneaky. There was a man around that area (not in D.C. specifically) that would fill up empty bottles of hand sanitizer with his semen and squirt women with it, take a picture of it on the women, and then masturbate to the pictures later. He did it several times before he was caught. It didn't have to come fresh and direct from the source.

Fun Fact: the bottled semen man's face became this emoticon:

 

[Mr Krepe]

What a weird, weird world this is. That brings up more questions to answer, but i'm not going to say them, this is a holiday/vacation thread, not a quaffer thread.



Cool fact.

 

[Sabirah]

One of my teachers from college went to India for a month. He came back with a stomach illness that almost killed him. Don't drink the water.

Happened to my Husband too. I think it really depends on how strong your immune system is though.


Anyone here ever go to Ireland?

 

[Mr Krepe]

I have once, but I had to my friend's brother lives there and it was my friends great idea to invite me and two other friends to his brother's house.

 

[Jebus]

I went to Thailand in februari.

I can highly recommend the southern islands for diving (the most awesome scuba diving ever - you haven't lived if you haven't swam close to giant turtles, dolphins, shark and/or mantas), and the northern regions for some awesome hiking. The food is, everywhere, pretty good too. It's the most varied cuisine I've ever seen in a non-European country.

STAY AWAY, however, from the cities, and the 'nature' areas close to the cities.
While Thai are generally nice people, they've obviously become jaded by rude tourists and political and social opression. They're going to try to scam you almost constantly, so quite simply you shouldn't believe anything anyone on the steet ever tells you. If they tell you some monument is closed, it isn't and they're trying to lure you to their shop/business. If they start talking to you for any reason whatsoever, it's because they either want to sell you something or steal from you. Just politely wrap up all conversation and walk away.
Also, most cities and especially Bangkok are basically but-ugly. Bangkok is a relatively new city build by some Thai king in the 19th century, and it's pretty obvious Thai monarchs have pretty small penisses. Just about every monument in Bangkok is at most 200 years old (not that impressive), and so incredibly kitch and ugly you'll want to claw your eyes out.
Also, avoid the nature parks close to the cities. They're filled with loud Russians.
On the other hand, however, Thai cities offer what is probably the best price/quality ratio anywhere in the world. You can stay at quite fancy hotels and eat in quite good restaurants for a very, very reasonable price.
Also, the massages. God damn the massages. Those are some awesome massages. Stay away from massage parlors that don't massage their clients in the open (like, on the ground floor or out on the straat), though. Or you might find that the 14-year-old girl massaging you might suddenly reach for your privates. A quite startling experience - and you'll feel pretty silly when you're bursting into the room where your girlfriend is being massaged, in order to snatch her away before the dude that's massaging her gets the funky on too.

Tl, dr version: go for nature, stay away from the cities (except for the food).