A Whole New Country...!

I'd like to propose a whole new country as a topic.

Call it Rantistan , and all the good folk with raves about Young People Today....Pedophiles......Sex Tourism....Persistent Hustlers...Global Warming/Cooling......Etc.etc. can give voice to their concerns without dragging good travel tales and info topics down with this stuff.
I imagine it could be one of the more popular Countries on the site...?

Any country that ends in stan will not be popular

"Any country that ends in stan will not be popular"

Uhhh ...OK ... How about Rantitom then?

...when you think about it .....it will be hot, aggressive, controversial, whingeing, self-righteous,loud and dirty ...
......in other words, a typical 'stan

Meeow..................!

How about you visit there and give us a trip report?

.....whenever someone breaks into a rant, instead of a trip report or question, there you are -
in Rantistan. Frankly, non of us should visit there.......or subject us to their trips.

The food in the cafe on the left bank is over priced and bland.

Cafe Tetanus that is

The third floor on the majestic backpackers with the water views is far superior to the 4th floor with the alley views.

It was better years ago. Now it's too expensive, has too many tourists, and the crime is bad.
Nobody goes there anymore anyway, it's too crowded.

But the taxi drivers are honest (relatively speaking).

The drug dealing has slowed down compared to the old days.

I'm not keen on the lack of public toilets.

Can I get a visa when I arrive at the airport and how much is it?

Does it matter which country I'm from?

The embassy says I can't but what do they know?

Do I really need a malaria vaccination?

Do I really need a malaria vaccination?

Just take your Malarone with you. But you DO need an up-to-date yellow fever certificate if you want to cross borders (and you will want to, believe me!)

It goes without saying that Americans are disliked and must pay an entry and exit tax.

Please noe that although the capital is spelled+ Minhungua it is +pronounced 'Minging' by the locals.
And don't let the main street, Geriatrica, fool you - it may be closed to cars, carts and taxis, but NOT to wheelchair operators, who are also permitted to carry passengers. Getting mowed down by a rampant six-person wheelchair is no fun, believe me!

Is the water safe to drink?

Are the natives friendly?

They do speak English. Don't they?

#15, reality check - there is no vaccination for malaria (unless there is a fictional one).
And #18, that sounds like the Australian beach town of Ballina, where pedestrians are not safe on the footpath, because elderly scooter drivers don't give way, and probably have trouble seeing you.

No problem with the vaccine, I'll eat lots of garlic and take homeopathic pills.

There are gigolos and hustlers everywhere. You are short-changed when you change money. The ATM's give out counterfeit notes. Your room is not secure, and the staff enters and steals your valuables when you are not there. They also have a key to the safety deposit box, so your valuables inside will be taken too. There are pickpockets and thieves everywhere, and they are always watching you. The police are corrupt, and will shake you down -- if you are lucky you can pay them a bribe, but they will want more. There are time-share hustlers trying high-pressure tactics on you to separate you from your money. Drug pushers will try to sell you dope, and then turn you into the police. Beware of that smile that the locals give you.
Did I miss anything?

Oh, there are some more:
Your bed and room are infested with bed bugs, but the hotel owner does not tell you about it. Malaria and other diseases run rampant. There are rabid dogs in the streets running loose, but the government is too poor to kill them or vaccinate them. Hospitals are where people without money go to die. If you don't have money then no doctor will treat you.

And there are prostitutes everywhere who are grabbing onto you to get your "business", but they all have AIDS, and they will steal your money too once inside your room.

God, I want to leave this Rantistan and go home. Please, let me be deported and sent home.

Hey! It's not that bad. At least you don't have to put up with hordes of fat white 'tourists' and making friends with the locals (when you find a good one) is really the way to go.
Plus, you have the advantage of exploring nearly virgin territory.

Most of the people under 30 speak English, thanks to the worldwideweb.
If you can put up with a few minor discomforts, and dress appropriately, it's a breeze. :>))

Talking about appropriate dress, as a owman, what is considered appropriate? Can I wear trousers? Sleeveless tops? Bikinis even?

Trousers are always good. Loose tops with wide sleeves help keep you cool. A wide-brimmed hat will protect your hair from the extremely intense sun.

The hospital system in absolutely crap I had to wait one hour in the out patients, why at home its at least 8 I did not have time to gather my thoughts with just an hour wait.

Bloody xmas again...already?
Gotta find me a country that doesn't do xmas...too stressful!!
...even Chiang Mai has a huge Santa balloon and "snow" sprayed on shop windows...!!!

The radical religions in my part of the new part of the old town forbid christmas under a fear of death, a bit like a sharia ruling, although they do a shoppong discount post december 25th so if you are in the old part of the new part of town you might miss out, but if you are in the new part of the old part of town it will be fine, ladies cover up men no shorts and certainly no socks and teva's.

OK where is this place & if no-one goes there why is it so crowded? Just wondering? LOL

'men no shorts and certainly no socks and teva's.'

Wow! I presume underpants are allowed? :>))

..not since 1973. filthy things...store dirt and stop the brushing away of dead skin cells, often choking blood flow around the waist too..leave them to young boys who have to have them showing where their jeans are falling down....

Hippys have a lot to answer for in creating false expectations for the locals.

Hippies brought the Truth to the locals, man...and corrupted their innocent youth...

My drug culture and loose lifestyle in the mid 70's means I may have fathered some or all of the backpacker hostel owners.

Hippies went looking for the answer back then, after finding it they went home to look for the question.

But we learned, bendejo - when you find the right question, the answer is contained within it.

The full moon party was a let down dancing to elvis does not cut it any more.

They must be all heading to Parkes NSW for the Elvis festival this weekend. They are going for the record of number of Elvi in one place at one time.

Elvi - oh stop it, my sides are a-splitting ...!
Oh and there's a Abbai reunion coming in 2011 I hear!!
Oh and Michael is scheduled to arise again this year as well....