Prubangboy

The Sanctuary fetches $400 a night, so commercialism won. Lovely resort of the rich hippie type. Was last there in '97 prior. You have to really take advantage of the yoga or book a colon blow out to justify it. 

32 minutes ago, 1FinickyOne said:

Bhutan

Done it. A lot of nature, very green Himalaya's, so-so temples, the famous town with all the penis paintings. Basically, a classier Nepal. For  Little Buddha-like exotica, Mustang and Dolpo were better. Sikhm too. 

Food: the national dish is home fries with a lot of chili peppers. People: as cheery as advertised, zero interest in you. Nothing to buy but nice incense.

Currently 50% off. Problem: $1,600 round trip flight from BKK on government monopoly Druk Air.

And like all tours, they charge you for a full day on the last day when all they're doing is feeding you breakfast and pushing you out the door.

33 minutes ago, JimTripper said:

It sounds like you are glaring & staring at people. 

They're staring at me. I have a key card. And can also tell them where to get one.

The lobby office, of course, but many need help grasping that concept.

Living dead central in a tourist location has been good for our boredom. We're around people having a mega-great day, all day, every day. They are the 100% opposite of bored.

Our building is about 90% Air BnB and we can spot the first day people. The slow turn of the head all around, to take it all in as they leave the condo. It's a little contagious. 

Sorry, but if I have to pick between Mr Magoo and Pol Pot, I have to hold my nose and do my duty.

2 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

No one can go to Antarctica without being on an organised tour or suchlike.

Would love to hear about your year there.

The most expensive Antartica tours involve flying in and boating back. The Drake Passage is rough sailing to do both ways. If you want to really burn money, The Falkland Islands add-on is only available above a thou a day, Georgia Island is another premium place since they can guarantee proper penguin swarms,

Machu Picchu and Antartica as a package is about $20K on the cheap side. An Igauzo Falls add-on is only $2K more for 3 days. The North Pole costs about double of The South Pole.

It's all about the add-ons. Kayaking? $200 more. Per day. Nature photog lessons are about the same. Hot air balloons are the craziest mark up in tour-dom. Mono-priced fixed at $500 worldwide.

1 hour ago, thaibeachlovers said:

 

 

The absolutely worst was a river cruise, near Chiang Mai.

 

End of the day, I went places on tours I'd never have gone on my own.

I'm doing the Ping River cruise soon and will report back. These days, it's two hours downstream to a wooden farm house who's been phoned ahead to to have some Khao Soi noodles ready. Reviews say it's top tier soup.

The see a bunch of stuff-aspect def appeals. I generally don't care one whit about crumbly old ruins, but if they're spoon-fed to me and I'll do 3 other things that day, I can see why the tour mark up is worth it.

It needs to be a ping and pong-type place like China or France with a lot of compelling destinations. It doesn't work for Thailand since there's not a lot for a tourist between Bangkok and Chiang Mai. It's about $300 a day for a SouthEast Asian tour that hits those two, Ha Long Bay, Luang Prubang, and Angkor Wat in 16 days.

A lot of timid trust fund kids take the SEA tours, partic Americans. These are the people who've moved up from flash packer hostels. I stayed at The Sanctuary Resort on Ko Phagnan, on which The Beach was based. So that was another hippie level up. Alternative travel is a broad church and a huge market. Lonely Planet changed the world.

In Oman, there will be pretty much nothing. They're selling their nothingness. Who goes on a nothing-tour? Anyway, it sold out.

If he had the brains that god gave him, he'd beg his ex-girlfriend to beg for the cash instead.

There was a guy begging for money for his really poor quality guest house, waaaay off the beach during Covid. Visibly sweating from the stress and hyperventilating.

This guy needs more observable misery to keep me watching. He seems merely mildly peturbed to be losing his dream.

Why is it always like an Al Queda hostage video with just a talking head in a small room?

9 minutes ago, uttradit said:

included meals too. 

9 minutes ago, uttradit said:

 

Worse: Cooking school. Twice. We actually owned a tajine pot back home.

Bottom line: Have always loved Moroccan art and music, partic. the Gnawa music. We get a Gnawa show out in the dunes. 'Can't complain. At those prices, those will be some semi-name Gnawa.

Tour tops out at 15 people. Liberal urbanites, all. It's the flavor I escaped from. It will be a little weird to be back among them.

There's a lot of shopping too. That's when I'll go off to eat.

What's the diff between 2* and 5* Moroccan food? About twenty bucks.

Old reggae was heavy on the covers. Hope some good 'uns get posted here. I prob played this 100 times

1 minute ago, uttradit said:

boring people made it suck. 

When people are really awful and obtuse, and I am not at their mercy, I sort of love it. Just like I enjoy a few laughs here.

Like when I went on the cruise filled with Black Trumpies? Def a good time. The KISS KRUISE was another wallow in stupidity.

I'll get the gentle kick under the table when I troll too much.

We opted out of the camel ride. Citing animal rights. Which everyone will believe with a straight face. 

20 minutes ago, uttradit said:

sitting on buses with the same people 

 

 

Def agree.

My wife loves this kind of stuff. I always fob the small talk duties off on her. I'm about to find out how long 18 days can be.

I'm doing Oman solo. $500 extra for a room alone? No prob. 

41 minutes ago, MangoKorat said:

Strange, somehow you think I'm old and white.  Join a circus.

"B-B-But you don't knowwwww mee." 

Another time traveler from an AOL chat board circa '97.

9 hours ago, jesimps said:

people complaining that they'd been told that they can't say "no trans" on their dating site.

 

I personally would  expect to have the right to choose to date someone.....

It's like you can't say no black women either. Woke, shmoke, it just doesn't fit the tone of today.

As per data, large black women are at the absolute bottom of the dating pyramid; even homely Indian guys are pulling in comparison, or midgets.

Thai Trans looking to date an ancient whitie like the OP? Gotta be in the low single digits.

Why does he want to loudly proclaim his exclusion of people who would franticly step into busy traffic to avoid him?

Why rub it in on dating's losers?  Let their constant and soul crushing rejection just go unstated. 

17 minutes ago, Mutt Daeng said:

I really like this one. George Gershwin - Rhapsody in Blue - Leonard Bernstein, New York Philharmonic (1976)

 

was my first classical music, around age 9. It just had its 100th birthday, good article in The NY Times arguing whether or not its to corny for modern tastes,

At her peak

When you want to listen to a good, long Leonard Cohen cut

You will def be hitting replay:

When it's indica chill time

The plucking starts a 1:12

18 minutes ago, soi3eddie said:

Food tours in; Ho Chi Minh City, Bangkok, Nice and Yangon. 

• Bicycle tour in Bangkok and Tokyo.
• Walking tour in Tokyo with free guide
• 3 days with a tour guide in Yangon.
• 7 day private escorted tour in Egypt - antiquities, museums, Nile cruise and food tour.

 

 Back out the life-threatening biking and I've done all that. Will do a foodie walking tour in Marrakesh. For a solo traveler, these little meetups provide a blast of sociability.

It was $20 a day with a driver in Yangon. 3 days is about right for Yangon.

Done Madagascar. Def some 5 star lemurs on offer, but you get murdered if you leave your resort at night. I say worth it if you have animal check list.

Egypt, I would def do on a tour. The hassle-factor is supposed to be the worst; many funny YouTubes about it. Ethiopia is legendary for getting rocks thrown at you. Haiti was the ultimate stare-athon. Pakistan is a pricey tour where they'd also be keeping the starers at bay. Some back-breaking but stunning hikes on offer there.

In Papua New Guinea, a tourist resort was ransacked, out of the blue. It's an unfathomable tribal thing that just wells up. Intrepid Tours has a thou a day visit to a festival in September. If it were only $500 a day, I might be willing to risk my life.

2 minutes ago, uttradit said:

No sex, no fun, just an atm. 

 

 

 

 

Codependency is a real problem and worth a wiki.

Short version: You're so into the drama of their problems that it lets you off the hook from addressing your own.