Best third-world country for tourism?

[phk]

Best third-world country for tourism?

[KillerPollo]

switzerland...

Third-world country as in neutral during the cold war... lol

second choice would be Iceland
come on! those terms are outdated.

[??????????]

Mexico. Cancun is great!

[Ebowed]

Mexico.

[Platypus]

Mauritius

[PADem]

Australia... (just kidding)


India

[angus]

never been there, but I'm told Thailand is fun.  had a colleague in Boston that went there about once a year.  Bangkok, specifically.  He claimed that the city was very appropriately named.  Like StateRights, I'm fond of our neighboring country.  In most of the country, transit is a mixed bag, but in the capital, Distrito Federal, there's an excellent subway system.  Extensive lines, taking you just about anywhere you want to go.  For less than fifty cents!  But it's crowded.  At the Pino Suarez station there's a 600-year-old Aztec altar.  It was discovered during the excavations for the station, and they changed the plans to build around it.  Now it's the centerpiece of that station.  Pretty cool.  I've been to 22 of the 31 estados of the country so far, and Chiapas is my favorite, for its rainforests, waterfalls, and ruined temples, although the archaelogical sites of the yucatan are far more extensive.  The diving along the peninsula's caribbean coastline is excellent as well.  But for really good diving along the world's second longest barrier reef, Belize beats Cozumel/Cancun any day.  Egypt has excellent diving as well, especially in the Gulf of Aqaba.  And ever since the attacks at Sharm-el-Shiek, you can expect to get dirt-cheap airfares to that region, though I'd recommend Dhahab rather than the plastic and overly touristed Sharm.  When I was younger, I was rather fond of visiting Jamaica once every two years or so, for short (two-week) visits, although nowadays I'm not sure I'm down with the runnings (patois for lifestyle).   As soon as the old lady gets her green card, the PRC is the first place we're going.  I want the boy to meet his grandparents, and I'm itching to tool around old shanghai.  And the great wall.  And nanjing.  To gaze upon a presence that spans 40 centuries is something most americans never consider, but I like historical tourism.  I'll let you know how well set-up they are for tourism once I know.  If coked-up hiking along ancient Inca trails is your game, go no further than the Cuzco department of Peru.  I'm also rather fond of Guatemala.  Peaceful, unlike its giant neighbor Mexico, and not nearly as rich or steeped in consumerism.  Costa Rica, unlike its neighbors, has excellent, modern cross-country buses, and more native species of birds than in all of US, Mexico, and Canada combined.  Never been to sub-saharan africa, but there are exotic travel clubs that won't let you join unless you've been to Timbuktu.  Maybe one day.  PADem's post reminds me that I've never been to Goa either, but that must be fun.  Another maybe one day.

[Judäischen Volksfront]

Maldives. Beautiful islands, great sunshine and you gotta see it before it gets washed away by global warming.

[Platypus]

Maldives, mauritius-same diff.

[angus]

Maldives. Beautiful islands, great sunshine and you gotta see it before it gets washed away by global warming.

Be careful, I used to say the same thing about the five-acre Tobacco Caye, Belize.  That was before Hurricane Mitch destroyed all the life there in 1998.  Not considered a light subject these days in the outer cayes in belize.  The increase in category 4+ hurricanes over the past 40 years is no doubt due to warmer sea surface temperatures.  Whether those warmer temperatures are due to human activity is, of course, a subject reasonable people can debate.  Tobacco Caye is, I can report, largely rebuilt by now, but I wouldn't want to be there when the big one comes.  Actually, I couldn't if I wanted to.  The government passed a law in 1999 which allows the Navy to force evacuation in the event of a major hurricane.  No more, "We're just going to stay here and ride it out, mon."  Of course, Belize isn't run by libertarians, as you might imagine, but that hasn't affected wide availability of primo smoke.  No surf there, of course.  The reef.  For the same reason that the diving is so excellent, the surfing really sucks.  But then I've never surfed in my life, nor ever even touched a surfboard, so I guess that's not really an issue.  Divers and surfers are very different crowds, you'll notice.

[Platypus]

I like you, angus. If you were a Melburnian and maybe 15 years younger, I reckon we'd have fun

[Hitchabrut]

Kenya.

[Huckleberry Finn]

Places where I would like to travel most.

Egypt (but not until all terrorists have been killed)
Kenya
India
China
South Africa
Brazil
Peru
Argentina
Chile
Maldives
Cambodia
Papua New Guinea

I don't care that much about Thailand. It's too "tourismized." Other Finns everywhere!

[??????????]

Kenya.

http://www.weebls-stuff.com/toons/kenya/

Heck Yeah!

[Joe Republic]

Kenya.

http://www.weebls-stuff.com/toons/kenya/

Heck Yeah!

Forget Norway. LOL

[phk]

I'd actually say, Pakistan/India just for Kashmir.

[12th Doctor]

In all honesty, it is probably Cuba.

[So the Heroes Fall]

Most of the countries mentioned in this thread are not third world, especially in Huck Finn's list. Egypt, India, China, South Africa, Brazil, Argentina and Chile are all certainly not third world.

[TX_1824]

Mexico

edit: I posted before I read State's response.

[phk]

Most of the countries mentioned in this thread are not third world, especially in Huck Finn's list. Egypt, India, China, South Africa, Brazil, Argentina and Chile are all certainly not third world.

India is third world.

[So the Heroes Fall]

They've got nuclear weapons and a giant tech industry

[phk]

They've got nuclear weapons and a giant tech industry

Per Capita GDP is still 1/10th that of the US.

[angus]

true, but whomever said these are antiquated terms makes a good point.  You see, back in the old days, and I doubt you're old enough to remember them, there was the US-friendly bloc, the Warsaw Pact-friendly bloc, and everybody else.  So, if like the UK, Japan, Germany, Australia, Canada, etc., they were friendly to the USA, then they typically had high GNP (only recently do we use GDP, the difference lies primarily in who's counted for the aggregate).  If they were friendly to the USSR, they were "red" and had lower GNP.  If they were not in either group (Africa, Latin America, etc.) they were "third" world, and typically had very low per capita GNP.  Nowadays, the Red Menace is defunct, and no one is particularly US-friendly or Communist-friendly, quite frankly.  And the world's a mess.  So the terms really are antiquated in that sense.

That said, all non-OECD countries I still refer to as "third world"  Fair enough.  But, to be sure, there is no "second" world anymore, and there won't be till China assumes its rightful place as the power-broker in East Asia.  Don't expect Russia to rise again within our lifetime.  So it's just OECD and everybody else nowadays.

[Platypus]

and there won't be till China assumes its rightful place as the power-broker in East Asia.

well, I am not sure that'll happen. I think China will become an important player on the worldstage, but I don't expect it can dominate east asia. Japan is still the second or third biggest economy in the world, depending how you count, India is growing rapidly and Indonesia, Thailand, the Phillipines and Malaysia are all (perhaps too slowly) turning towards democracy. Regional co-operation is increasing, and yes that is with China, but there is increasingly a block against it. With Australia's ascension to ASEAN practically assured, and India already in the 'plus three', I don't think China will find it easy to dominate the region. I reckon that countries like Thailand and India have seen what's happenned to west-friendly asian nations, like South Korea and Singapore, and want to emulate it; and I think they'd be looking at buddying up with Japan, South Korea, Singapore and Australia before China.

[opebo]

Most of the countries mentioned in this thread are not third world, especially in Huck Finn's list. Egypt, India, China, South Africa, Brazil, Argentina and Chile are all certainly not third world.

I see your point BRTD, though I would still call those places 'third world'.  However Chile could be considered a 'middle income' country, and Argentina nearly so.

As for the best country for tourism, first, second, or third world - Thailand!  Number two?  Probably Cambodia.. but I really want to try South America.