ok, i know some of you have seen a lot of indiana jones movies and think salmonella is a catchy name for a deadly disease.
i dont know whats up with certain kind of american/european yuppie tourists wanting the "experience" of living the grittiest of a 3rd world country first hand. and think of that as a "tourist attraction".
i mean, i think its awesome down here, there are sooooooooo awesome places to go a visit, nazca, macchu picchu, the northern shore (so many great places, you wouldnt be able to visit them all in months).... but there are certain places and things you just should NOT do, out of basic common sense (just like you would never walk around nyc central park at 3am)... but funnily enough, these places are not only avoided by this kind of american/european versions of the japanese-photographer tourist, but become in a twist of reality, MUST GO places, getting priority over places of greater value.
why so many lack this common sense and think getting mugged or getting desyntheria is an experience worth living makes no sense to me.
why the rant? a french girl who was childhood friend of mine came to back Lima, we didnt see each since since age 8, and she is now 24.
among the first things we said when we met, she made clear she wanted to know the shanty towns. i was like "i dont think there is much to see there... just abject depressing poverty and an almost certain chance of getting mugged". but she was very persistant about it.
fortunately she was in town with her 20yo brother who pushed some sense, although they liked to hang out late at relatively unsafe places. taking chances was the name of the game. they have been in town for 6 days go far, and statistics adding up dont forgive.
she calls today morning crying, she was mugged last night in a really bad part of town (a place where there was NOTHING of cultural, historical or artistic value to see). at gunpoint, they even took away her brothers coat.
i mean, whats the attraction of places like that?? seriously, people do not consider they are the equivalent of places like the run down part of greenwich in london, or the projects in the bronx??? just because they are 3rd world, poverty and crime get a romantic che-guevera-esque air injected???
geez...
i dont know whats up with certain kind of american/european yuppie tourists wanting the "experience" of living the grittiest of a 3rd world country first hand. and think of that as a "tourist attraction".
i mean, i think its awesome down here, there are sooooooooo awesome places to go a visit, nazca, macchu picchu, the northern shore (so many great places, you wouldnt be able to visit them all in months).... but there are certain places and things you just should NOT do, out of basic common sense (just like you would never walk around nyc central park at 3am)... but funnily enough, these places are not only avoided by this kind of american/european versions of the japanese-photographer tourist, but become in a twist of reality, MUST GO places, getting priority over places of greater value.
why so many lack this common sense and think getting mugged or getting desyntheria is an experience worth living makes no sense to me.
why the rant? a french girl who was childhood friend of mine came to back Lima, we didnt see each since since age 8, and she is now 24.
among the first things we said when we met, she made clear she wanted to know the shanty towns. i was like "i dont think there is much to see there... just abject depressing poverty and an almost certain chance of getting mugged". but she was very persistant about it.
fortunately she was in town with her 20yo brother who pushed some sense, although they liked to hang out late at relatively unsafe places. taking chances was the name of the game. they have been in town for 6 days go far, and statistics adding up dont forgive.
she calls today morning crying, she was mugged last night in a really bad part of town (a place where there was NOTHING of cultural, historical or artistic value to see). at gunpoint, they even took away her brothers coat.
i mean, whats the attraction of places like that?? seriously, people do not consider they are the equivalent of places like the run down part of greenwich in london, or the projects in the bronx??? just because they are 3rd world, poverty and crime get a romantic che-guevera-esque air injected???
geez...