Thread: What is the most exotic location you've ever visited?

Originally Posted by CAnderson

Like many, I'm having trouble with my own visions of "exotic". I've been to many of the places already described, and am having difficulty fitting them into the mold. It's gotten so that in many far flung places, even the dogs bark in English. For me, exotic requires a place that won't take $US for taxi rides (if they even have taxis!)

For my vision, exotic would, at a minimum, imply that the landscape, culture and language were sufficiently foreign to keep me slightly off balance in some way -- requiring that I keep my eyes open constantly to avoid missing something. Places like Hong Kong wouldn't qualify in any of those ways. The interior of Belize is about as close as I could come so far, and even that isn't much of a stretch. It's hard... the world has become too homogenous and I feel I've missed all the good parts that haven't yet succumbed.

I'VE GOT IT! My "Exotic" MUST include this facet: NO one who lives there should be expecting a person like me to arrive!

Sounds like an old Groucho Marx line...

The world is not all homogenous. Just try asking where the bathroom is at the shopping area in Moscow, right next to Red Square. NO English spoken, not one person knew what I was saying...and we went from shop to shop trying to find someone that spoke English. People were friendly enough, and many tried hard to understand and help us. But we had a hard time trying to convey "I have to pee" using gestures. What IS the iternationally accepted gesture for that, anyway? You want to know what time it is, you point to your wrist. You are hungry, you rub your belly or pretent you're eating. But this was not so easy! NO Dollars taken, either. It costs a few Russian rubles to get into that bathroom stall. No rubles, no pee.

Originally Posted by Texashorselady

The world is not all homogenous. Just try asking where the bathroom is at the shopping area in Moscow, right next to Red Square. NO English spoken, not one person knew what I was saying...and we went from shop to shop trying to find someone that spoke English.

Not ALL, no .. just TOO.

Granted, it's a fluke, but that wouldn't have worked as exotic, either. They were offering Russian when I was in jr. high and high school, and ... oh well. Did you know that the word for the name John in Russian is "Vanya" and bathroom is "vanaya"? It's amazing the points that seem important when a person is in jr. high. Does make a person wonder who stole which idiom from whom, though. Next time, ask for someone named John and it might even be close enough.

I can certainly understand how that would be exotic for some folks, and how that would have been far more true "back in the day". Being "minded" by an Intourist "guide" all the time certainly made for some interesting experiences, but at least I think they'd have spent a penny for you in a pinch. Currency conversion was different -- the only sane rate was the black market rate. I'm sure you must have visited more recently.

Naw -- I'm still thinking that the right place is the place that wouldn't expect someone like me to show up. Red Square is a real tourist event. Places visited by cruise ships seem to have their flavor changed anywhere near port. It's just for that reason that we've started to do more private tours. You're getting out into areas we haven't tried yet, especially on Gauguin. Somebody PLEASE tell me that Bora Bora doesn't have a Diamonds International!

Is it just me or are there others that think every time they see this thread that your mind goes dirty????

Originally Posted by CAnderson

Naw -- I'm still thinking that the right place is the place that wouldn't expect someone like me to show up. Red Square is a real tourist event. Places visited by cruise ships seem to have their flavor changed anywhere near port. It's just for that reason that we've started to do more private tours. You're getting out into areas we haven't tried yet, especially on Gauguin. Somebody PLEASE tell me that Bora Bora doesn't have a Diamonds International!

Bora Bora is amazingly beautiful and unique in lots of ways, but they are totally set up to accept tourists. So no, if your definition of exotic would be the element of surprise this might not be the place. They would not be at all surprised to see you.

Bora Bora has some gorgeous hotels, and some names you would recognize. The most coveted of them all being the glass-bottom-floor "over the water bungalo" which you see sort of as an attachment to a lot of the main hotels. If you stay in one of those they can bring you room service via outrigger canoe and you can have breakfast in your own private thached roof hut as you look down at the tropical fish in the crystal clear water below you. Some of these places can look rustic from the outside, but they are really upscale inside...and they are all outrageously expensive. In fact, the cost of a Paul Gauguin cruise (which ain't cheap) is about the same price as a week in one of the nicer places. We choose the cruise because that way we got to see more of the islands...and because it was a cruise...and because it was the Paul Gauguin.

The nice thing, however, is that it's sort of like going back in time. There are no pushy salespeople like you see in the Caribbean...nobody yelling at you "hey preddy lady, you buy this shirt...it look good on ya!" (ugh!) and not a lot of tacky gift shops lining every street with shot glasses, refrigerator magnets, or T-shirts saying "my parents went to Bora Bora and all I got was this shirt..." etc. You do see lots of native Tahitians at tables in outdoor craft markets selling handmade crafts...not made in China...and black pearls for sale everywhere. Lots of jewelry, but not the Diamonds International type shops. It's refreshingly simple, with friendly and softspoken natives...but who knows how long that can last as more and more people go there.

I took this photo from the helicopter tour as we flew around Bora Bora...

Another photo of an over the water bungalo...

In my mind Jamaica is exotic although my memory of it is from 1981 so I guess its probably changed alot. My perspective was probably alot different as a teenager too. My sister and I were going down a river and the guide had a pole and pushed the bottom of the river to move us. He was pretty upset when we jumped out to swing on the vines into the river but we had a blast. Later I realized he was probably worried about his tips or maybe the water wasn't safe, who knows ignorance in this case is bliss. I'll always remember the river in the middle of a jungle.

Originally Posted by Texashorselady

Another photo of an over the water bungalo...

Really pretty looking place. Hope it stays just as you describe it for a long time to come...