Is your piece of paradise one you're happy to share?

Bloody hell!

Agreeing with both Chanchao and Zorin in the same thread??

Quick .. anyone with a razor .. !!

My wrists, you idiot, not my beard!!

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<hr>Is your piece of paradise one you're happy to share? <hr></blockquote>

Sometimes i keep something quiet, when i can see the potential of a place being ruined if it became a mass destination for other travellers (and here, i'm not talking about Guesthouses or anything petty like that. But remote natural areas). I found one place in South America a few years ago. It's one of those places that was so difficult to get to, that i feel i've earned the right to keep it to myself and let others <b>discover</b> it themselves. If other people want to go, they have to make the effort as i did. Do research, talk to locals, and hitchike and live on the hospitality of locals. I had no map, and only the vaguest idea of where i was headed. Yet, all these things made it special. It was a journey taking about 2 weeks, and is one of my fondest travel memories because it was me, a local guy, a camp fire, and the jungle. Fantastic. Sometimes the effort involved in finding rare spots, is half the fun. Cut a road, put it in a guidebook, and that side of things is over. Discovery and adventure is still alive and well, in the world (contrary to what many people think). You just have to make effort, and drag yourself off the easy track.

What you are talking about is what I refer to as "the beach"mentality that I see among the tragically hip backpacker set who feel that they should be the last ones allowed in and anyone coming along after is intruding on their turf.
I dont want to be too judgemental about it because I have felt similarly about my little havens but I often can not keep a good thing to myself and want others to have the same joy.
As stated in earlier posts these are not really "our" places and if the owners wish for more business it is their right.
There is a line from a movie that goes something like as soon as a place gets listed in lonely planet is is the beginning of the end but that is reality.It is played out over and over with people moving out of the city to quaint little towns but they want the roads improved,water and sewer,places to shop and eat,then pretty soon everyone and their brother are moving in and thay are back to living in the city.
I guess just keep searching for your paradise place and enjoy it while you can.

Excellent points Buddaddy - esp the so called hip backpacker crowd ;-)

I better get up to Isaan before they all discover that!

trying to keep quiet about the nice places isn't just confined to the 'hip' backpackers. A Thai friend I met on an island told me that she wouldn't tell her work colleagues exactly where she was going on holiday for fear that they'd all start turning up with the entire extended family.

Local people do not open businesses in the hopes that it will remain secret. They open them with the expectation that others will come and spend money and therefore help pay off their business loans from the local bank. Their lives are much more important than your secret one week holiday retreat. There, I've said the unspeakable and I'll suffer for it the rest of my miserable life, on my secret island.

I've been chastized for pointing people to place like Lek Seafood.
But, being so close to Silom, it's far from being "hidden".
Plus, in the Lek case, it's always been crowded; it's just that the farang business has cause a price rise.
Instead of $3, it might cost $5 to pig out on seafood.

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<hr>Their lives are much more important than your secret one week holiday retreat.<hr></blockquote>

There's an amazing eatery in the "greater" Koh Chang area that I will never share.
They serve amazing food, do a booming business, but it's layout still makes for a peaceful setting.
I'm afraid a large boost to business would lead to its expansion and appeal.
Soon it with have new mood music!

one of my stories...

a while back, I found this place where I could get a 2 hour thai massage for x amount of money. great deal!!!

..invited some friends to check it out. wanted them to be happy.

we all packed into this 5 bed suite so that we could all chat together while getting our massage.

at the end of the 2 hour thai massage, I asked how everybody felt. the consensus was - great!

so, then, as we are leaving, I told my friends to just pay a 20% tip in appreciation for the service.

first, I exited - paying the typical 20% tip.

next, friend #1 paid a 50% tip. ..I asked him why? he replied, it's my money, I can do anything I want with it.

next, friend #2 paid 100% tip. ..I asked him why? he replied, you cheap bastard. it's my money, I can do anything I want with it.

next, friend #3 paid 200% tip. ..again, I asked him why? he replied, that was the best massage I ever had.

how could I argue with all my friend's replies? the answer, I couldn't

..not too long afterwards, the place increased their price for a 2 hour thai massage 50%.

evidently, my "friends" told everybody about the place, and so, it became a hit with the tourists.

..I lost my little paradise where I could relax to enjoy myself. ..my stupidity.

I now go to a place that is frequented by the local thais only, and is half the price of the other place. hehehe. ..do you think I will make the same mistake with my "friends"?

..NOT ON YOUR LIFE.

this same scenario happened to many other places that I know about.

do you know of the suda thai restaurant on sukhumvit soi 14? when I first went there to eat on a daily basis, the food cost was like any other place on the street. now, with being listed in the lonely planet guide, the prices have increase 3x. no joke.

..tourists. what can I say?

live and learn.

Didn't someone use this idea as the basis for a book?

Yes, it was Apocolyps Now but I think it was filmed in the Philippines.