Essential The Official Coli Travel Thread

[Malta]

Especially if you're like me and don't really fukk with the guided tours and venture out on your own. You can see some real squalor.

I respect your gangsta

 

[Harry Sax]

tell a story about cancun

cancun....me and 4 of my homies went...we were the talk of cancun

tha first night we went out erbody had on white t's so random ppl was callin us tha franchise boys (this was 06)

SOOOO MANY HOES

we had 2 sets of bytches...some hoes from dallas they was really just chillin buddies...they had this big brolic nikka wit em turnin all the nikkas that was tryin to holla at dem down...he was cool wit us tho, prolly cause he knew we'd beat his ass

it was some other hoes from louisiana we was wit too...ol bayou bytches, bad as fukk..we actually went to JAIL behind them hoes

this one club they had is literally on the water and the dance floor was a huge wooden plank that kinda swayed...they had specials where you'd pay like 25 dollars and get like 15 shots of whatever...bytches was buyin them and leavin 7-8 shots on each tray...me n my nikka went around gettin drunk for tha freeski

well our hotel was like a mile on the other end and one of my ho chasin homies had us following them to they hotel...well my potna that was drinkin shots wit me started trippin, he ripped a phone out the phone booth, punched a taxi cab driver n tha shyt and was pissin in the middle of the road...federalis lookin at this nikka like

when i seen the lights i jus started running...they caught 3 of us and we spent the night in mexican jail...smmfh...we had to pay like 200 a piece to get out and by that time we were dead broke...


ummm those la hoes...we had them in my room, it was 4 of us in one bed, me a chick, my homie and his chick...im tryin to game tha bytch im wit them all of a sudden i feel rockin on the other side of the bed..this nikka was fukkin like 5 inches away from me

 

[rocksteady]

I'm lucky enough to be reasonably well-off in terms of money and what I do for a living affords me a lot of travel opportunity, as well as long stretches of free time (to travel more).

What places surprised me the most? Tough one, so I'll touch on a few areas. China, Beijing in particular. In North America and Europe people have this pretty narrow view of how Asians are supposed to act - namely submissive, polite, whatever. This goes out the fukking window in Beijing. It's swarm upon swarm of rowdy, rude, and pushy people (literally). Subways in Beijing in the summer are insane. You can literally be swept along if you aren't careful. Waiting in line for something? There are no lines. Just pushing and shoving to get to the front, lol. Concern for the common stranger? fukk no. I saw this older guy have some sort of seizure, he fell and hit his head on the sidewalk, and people just gathered around to stare. No one made a move to help, call for assistance, anything. People just laughed. That was odd. The culture shock, honestly, was really jarring. Sometimes I felt like I was on a different planet. I didn't expect it to that extent. Good luck finding people/non-tourists outside of your hotel/tour groups/whatever that speak English, lol. Oh, also the amount of con artists running around was off-putting.

Another place that surprised me was Cambodia. Just the abject poverty, man. Especially if you're like me and don't really fukk with the guided tours and venture out on your own. You can see some real squalor. I met this one Scottish guy over there who seemed on the level and we ended up hitting various bars. We found this one really sketchy place; soon as we got inside, this enormously fat American approaches us and starts suggesting we see what sort of "merchandise" they had in the back, etc. Turns out to be a bunch of child prostitutes - ten and eleven, younger. fukking disgusting man. I felt sick to my stomach.

What place didn't live up to expectations? Malaysia, easily. That place is unequivocally a shythole. Just dilapidated architecture for the most part, rundown people, disgusting beaches. Having said that, the food was good, lol. Particularly the outdoor hawker centers. Really cheap.

Egypt is one of my favourite places I've been. I'm somewhat partial to places with rich history and that place is it. I went from Alexandria in the north, stopping in Cairo, down to Luxor and Aswan by train. Saw all those sites you see in documentaries. Crazy to actually be climbing up into the Great Pyramid in sweltering heat, hunched over and slowly moving up the shaft, lol. The food was okay and you've gotta have thick skin because all those scammers and beggars can get on your nerves. People expect a tip ("baksheesh") for everything. Someone points you in the right direction to go somewhere and they'll have their hand out a second later, heh. Just annoying but you can laugh about it too. Either way, I'd recommend it, Cairo is hot and filthy but it's got a great vibe, I've gotta say. The city doesn't sleep ever. 4AM and the streets will be crowded and noisy still.

Least favourite place? Malaysia, again. For the aforementioned reasons.

awesome response, thanks... i have a few more questions if you have the time...

how were the cultures and the people? what aspects of some cultures would you adopt? who were genuinely the nicest people you encountered?

 

[Roger Sterling]

awesome response, thanks... i have a few more questions if you have the time...

how were the cultures and the people? what aspects of some cultures would you adopt? who were genuinely the nicest people you encountered?

How were which cultures and which people?

Regarding whether I'd adopt cultural aspects from elsewhere... Well, in a life-altering, day-to-day sense? Doubtful. I mean, take South America, for example. I've been to a couple of places there and there's plenty of truth to the stereotype of the people being "passionate" and quite extroverted (although, this is pretty generalized, after all, the people I met were the ones out and about). People are really touchy-feely, in-your-face... That's cool for a little while, but I couldn't see myself wanting to be like that ordinarily, lol.

Having said that, I think North American culture could definitely take a few cues from the Thai and Tibetans. Both groups were ridiculously polite and friendly. So many times I had people in those places just approach me out of curiosity, sincerely wanting to get to know me, etc. Ended up drinking, eating with a number of them. Language is a bit of a barrier, of course, but it's fun nevertheless.

As an aside, if you've not been and are interested in really "feeling" like you're traveling the world, most parts of Asia are a safe bet.

 

[Swagaveli]

Roger Sterling, as a young nikka out there trying to come up, I gotta ask you, what is that you do for a living, that makes you so wealthy? I always like to hear about -real- success stories, and perhaps learn from them, and what better place than a forum. OF course if you're an heir or something, we can forget it :D

 

[Roger Sterling]

Check your PM.

 

[chineebai]

How were which cultures and which people?

Regarding whether I'd adopt cultural aspects from elsewhere... Well, in a life-altering, day-to-day sense? Doubtful. I mean, take South America, for example. I've been to a couple of places there and there's plenty of truth to the stereotype of the people being "passionate" and quite extroverted (although, this is pretty generalized, after all, the people I met were the ones out and about). People are really touchy-feely, in-your-face... That's cool for a little while, but I couldn't see myself wanting to be like that ordinarily, lol.

Having said that, I think North American culture could definitely take a few cues from the Thai and Tibetans. Both groups were ridiculously polite and friendly. So many times I had people in those places just approach me out of curiosity, sincerely wanting to get to know me, etc. Ended up drinking, eating with a number of them. Language is a bit of a barrier, of course, but it's fun nevertheless.

As an aside, if you've not been and are interested in really "feeling" like you're traveling the world, most parts of Asia are a safe bet.

I've had the opposite experience in Thailand, not unfriendly or anything but not to the extent where people would come up to me and talk to me, maybe it's because I'm chinese american so I kind of look like them. Never been to tibet but been to Nepal, and they're so friendly and warm. The friendliest people that I've met are Fujians. They are very inviting and easy to talk to.

 

[chineebai]

I'm lucky enough to be reasonably well-off in terms of money and what I do for a living affords me a lot of travel opportunity, as well as long stretches of free time (to travel more).

What places surprised me the most? Tough one, so I'll touch on a few areas. China, Beijing in particular. In North America and Europe people have this pretty narrow view of how Asians are supposed to act - namely submissive, polite, whatever. This goes out the fukking window in Beijing. It's swarm upon swarm of rowdy, rude, and pushy people (literally). Subways in Beijing in the summer are insane. You can literally be swept along if you aren't careful. Waiting in line for something? There are no lines. Just pushing and shoving to get to the front, lol. Concern for the common stranger? fukk no. I saw this older guy have some sort of seizure, he fell and hit his head on the sidewalk, and people just gathered around to stare. No one made a move to help, call for assistance, anything. People just laughed. That was odd. The culture shock, honestly, was really jarring. Sometimes I felt like I was on a different planet. I didn't expect it to that extent. Good luck finding people/non-tourists outside of your hotel/tour groups/whatever that speak English, lol. Oh, also the amount of con artists running around was off-putting.

Another place that surprised me was Cambodia. Just the abject poverty, man. Especially if you're like me and don't really fukk with the guided tours and venture out on your own. You can see some real squalor. I met this one Scottish guy over there who seemed on the level and we ended up hitting various bars. We found this one really sketchy place; soon as we got inside, this enormously fat American approaches us and starts suggesting we see what sort of "merchandise" they had in the back, etc. Turns out to be a bunch of child prostitutes - ten and eleven, younger. fukking disgusting man. I felt sick to my stomach.

What place didn't live up to expectations? Malaysia, easily. That place is unequivocally a shythole. Just dilapidated architecture for the most part, rundown people, disgusting beaches. Having said that, the food was good, lol. Particularly the outdoor hawker centers. Really cheap.

Egypt is one of my favourite places I've been. I'm somewhat partial to places with rich history and that place is it. I went from Alexandria in the north, stopping in Cairo, down to Luxor and Aswan by train. Saw all those sites you see in documentaries. Crazy to actually be climbing up into the Great Pyramid in sweltering heat, hunched over and slowly moving up the shaft, lol. The food was okay and you've gotta have thick skin because all those scammers and beggars can get on your nerves. People expect a tip ("baksheesh") for everything. Someone points you in the right direction to go somewhere and they'll have their hand out a second later, heh. Just annoying but you can laugh about it too. Either way, I'd recommend it, Cairo is hot and filthy but it's got a great vibe, I've gotta say. The city doesn't sleep ever. 4AM and the streets will be crowded and noisy still.

Least favourite place? Malaysia, again. For the aforementioned reasons.

What you say about China is very true, especially Beijing. When I went, the restaurants you go to brings out a boiling pot of water so you can pretty much clean your own fork and chopsticks and bowls. I went to the great wall and it was a literal thunder storm like I never seen and the guards basically trapped the tourist up while they hide inside. But China in the villages is very different, very friendly, very giving and helpful.

I'm surprised to hear you don't like malaysia, it is a pretty decent place. I went to langkawi and redang, very beautiful beaches, comparable to thai beaches. The food is awesome, a nice mix of chinese indian and malaysian.

Egypt was a shyt hole to me, and I had to get off the bus because I thought I was going to get rape by the local men there. Foreign men can sometimes be considered exotic there, no joke.

 

[Roger Sterling]

I've had the opposite experience in Thailand, not unfriendly or anything but not to the extent where people would come up to me and talk to me, maybe it's because I'm chinese american so I kind of look like them. Never been to tibet but been to Nepal, and they're so friendly and warm. The friendliest people that I've met are Fujians. They are very inviting and easy to talk to.

Yeah, I could see that being the case, actually. Being noticeably "touristy"/more of an outsider probably warms people up a little bit and piques interest.

I had actually considered doing a stop in Nepal but couldn't line it up in the schedule. I'm surprised you say that about Fujian people as when I was in China quite a few mentioned that Fuzhou was a dangerous city with lots of organized crime and what not, haha. Kinda coloured my opinion, I suppose.

 

[chineebai]

Yeah, I could see that being the case, actually. Being noticeably "touristy"/more of an outsider probably warms people up a little bit and piques interest.

I had actually considered doing a stop in Nepal but couldn't line it up in the schedule. I'm surprised you say that about Fujian people as when I was in China quite a few mentioned that Fuzhou was a dangerous city with lots of organized crime and what not, haha. Kinda coloured my opinion, I suppose.

Sorry I meant Fijians from Fiji. ANd fujian people are rude as fukk lol

 

[rocksteady]

How were which cultures and which people?

Regarding whether I'd adopt cultural aspects from elsewhere... Well, in a life-altering, day-to-day sense? Doubtful. I mean, take South America, for example. I've been to a couple of places there and there's plenty of truth to the stereotype of the people being "passionate" and quite extroverted (although, this is pretty generalized, after all, the people I met were the ones out and about). People are really touchy-feely, in-your-face... That's cool for a little while, but I couldn't see myself wanting to be like that ordinarily, lol.

Having said that, I think North American culture could definitely take a few cues from the Thai and Tibetans. Both groups were ridiculously polite and friendly. So many times I had people in those places just approach me out of curiosity, sincerely wanting to get to know me, etc. Ended up drinking, eating with a number of them. Language is a bit of a barrier, of course, but it's fun nevertheless.

As an aside, if you've not been and are interested in really "feeling" like you're traveling the world, most parts of Asia are a safe bet.

i've been to a few places and have been fortunate enough to experience different cultures. personally, what i realized was that people's "hearts" are relatively the same no matter the location. people need and desire the same things (for the most part) to varying degrees.

sometimes i think back and revisit the places i've been to and equally impressive were the images of the smiles and laughter that took place upon the scenery.

 

[Roger Sterling]

What you say about China is very true, especially Beijing. When I went, the restaurants you go to brings out a boiling pot of water so you can pretty much clean your own fork and chopsticks and bowls. I went to the great wall and it was a literal thunder storm like I never seen and the guards basically trapped the tourist up while they hide inside. But China in the villages is very different, very friendly, very giving and helpful.

I'm surprised to hear you don't like malaysia, it is a pretty decent place. I went to langkawi and redang, very beautiful beaches, comparable to thai beaches. The food is awesome, a nice mix of chinese indian and malaysian.

Egypt was a shyt hole to me, and I had to get off the bus because I thought I was going to get rape by the local men there. Foreign men can sometimes be considered exotic there, no joke.

I assume you went to the Badaling section of the wall? I did the opposite and went to Mutianyu which gets less traffic. Speaking of which, that was pretty amazing. I got there at about 7 in the morning and it was almost entirely deserted (it was raining a little) so I got to walk huge segments by myself in total silence. Memorable.

About the people - I can imagine it's much worse in urban areas compared to small towns and villages. I kinda stayed in the touristy cities (Beijing, Shanghai, Xi'an, Guilin, Chongqing, Urumqi, etc) for the most part. Getting called "laowai" by every taxi driver in sight gets on one's nerves, lol. From what I understand rural areas should be a little closed in that respect too, no?

In Malaysia I was in KL, Ipoh, Ayer Tawar, Penang, etc. I thought all the beaches were shyt, man. Trash everywhere, crowded, people swimming around in full attire, lol. Awful.

I don't mess around with public transit in any Arabic/Middle Eastern country whatsoever. I have many friends from that part of the world and the stories are all the same - watch your ass. Literally!

Sorry I meant Fijians from Fiji. ANd fujian people are rude as fukk lol

Incredibly loud talkers too. Yelling about everything.

 

[Roger Sterling]

i've been to a few places and have been fortunate enough to experience different cultures. personally, what i realized was that people's "hearts" are relatively the same no matter the location. people need and desire the same things (for the most part) to varying degrees.

sometimes i think back and revisit the places i've been to and equally impressive were the images of the smiles and laughter that took place upon the scenery.

Yeah man, I know what you're saying. People are people, as the saying goes. For the most part, we all want and pursue the same things, goals, whatever.

That's one great thing about travel though - realizing what a small world this is and that the differences between us aren't as great as we might think otherwise.

 

[chineebai]

In Malaysia I was in KL, Ipoh, Ayer Tawar, Penang, etc. I thought all the beaches were shyt, man. Trash everywhere, crowded, people swimming around in full attire, lol. Awful.



Incredibly loud talkers too. Yelling about everything.

Yeah you got to go to redang for nice beaches, the perhentians has the most beautiful beaches in the world, better than the Maldives. They filmed a lot of the "The Beach" movie on there.

We do yell a lot, I don't but my family does. Our voices travel too.

 

[Ain't That Something]

Check your PM.

Since u sending business ventures pm a nikka some too.