Talk About Tennis 2.0

ponchi101 wrote: ↑Thu Jul 15, 2021 9:49 pm A guide would always be helpful. I should do that for Caño Cristales, but... heck, I speak Spanish. I should manage on my own (stubborn mule)

I read that without a local guide you're not allowed to go to the river itself and permit numbers are limited, but then again maybe that's on paper and locals have ways around. I'm usually not that keen on guides, but obviously a must for going deeper in the wilderness. Getting lost in those forests no fun and speaking Spanish won't help.

^^ Also seeing mention of Netherlands and Luxembourg having flooding. There's been lesser mentions of Switzerland, but they are there. Hopefully @suliso can let us know what is going on in Switzerland, I've seen the least mentioned about it.

Some flooding in central Switzerland as well, but not to the extent of houses being swept away. They say this is the rainiest summer since 2005. I moved here in 2009 so for me the rainiest ever.

I say it will go back to full Taliban control in a few years.
The UN should establish some sort of refugee protection program for women and children that will want to escape that hell. Walk in, no questions asked, relocation to the EU or USA. Before Sharia law gets them.

Drop-shot wrote: ↑Thu Jul 15, 2021 6:57 pm

ti-amie wrote: ↑Thu Jul 15, 2021 5:22 pm

Suliso wrote: ↑Thu Jul 15, 2021 6:21 am

I was going to bring up the Dominican Republic. The resort areas are beautiful but they don't recommend you go wandering around outside of them without a guide of some kind. The poverty is staggering from what I hear.

I've been to the D.R. and definitely agree and avoided doing that.... and that taking into account that we lived in Argentina and had a trained eye.

Having said that, I wouldn't venture too far in Cuba either nor would I move from city to city by myself.

Cuba is exceptionally safe, actually, shockingly so for the level of poverty. I traveled all through the country with 2 female friends and felt safe everywhere including walking alone when it's dark, stopping at random places with car trouble, etc. The street harassment is pretty bad (but largely harmless, just out of boredom, the worst was a pre-teen grabbing my butt while he was riding a bike in the opposite direction... it was almost impressive). I also generally didn't feel overcharged or taken advantage of for being a tourist - there is a double price system with the prices for tourists/the rich very much higher, but it's an official system and we also had access to the local places charging local prices.

Actually most poor but not at war/uprising countries are relatively safe for travelers. As long as you keep a modest profile and avoid particularly sketchy areas. For example me and my girlfriend felt safe in Southern Mexico even though we can't really fit in visually and our Spanish doesn't extend beyond few phrases.

Suliso wrote: ↑Thu Jul 29, 2021 3:02 pm Actually most poor but not at war/uprising countries are relatively safe for travelers. As long as you keep a modest profile and avoid particularly sketchy areas. For example me and my girlfriend felt safe in Southern Mexico even though we can't really fit in visually and our Spanish doesn't extend beyond few phrases.

Yes, but there were generally no sketchy areas that seemed more dangerous. I mean, I'm sure one could find some, but I found less need to take precautions than in other places, including not only Latin America, but US cities, European capitals, etc.

ti-amie wrote: ↑Thu Aug 05, 2021 12:01 am

I really hope she is safe there.

Kevin

If I were her, I would have chosen Lithuania over a country which is sliding towards authoritarianism itself. But maybe she has a connection there.