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We found Cebu a fascinating city of many contrasts. We stayed at the Cebu Midtown. It was part of a really nice shopping mall, 3 story. Yet there were people begging on the streets and prostitutes all around. I was approached several times by hookers and once by a pimp. I was on the corner with my wife and daughter when he came up. I thought he was offering a cab but he whispered in my ear, "want pretty girl?".
We found Cebu a fascinating city of many contrasts. We stayed at the Cebu Midtown. It was part of a really nice shopping mall, 3 story. Yet there were people begging on the streets and prostitutes all around. I was approached several times by hookers and once by a pimp. I was on the corner with my wife and daughter when he came up. I thought he was offering a cab but he whispered in my ear, "want pretty girl?".
If anyone looks at the tens of thousands of YouTube videos on the Philippines and Thailand, there are literally thousands of videos documenting the sex trade in those countries. Most of them are "PG-13" or "R-rated" but they pretty much document the various red light districts that are present in most of the large cities. In addition, they also document the level of poverty that is present both in the large cities as well as the provinces.
I have to admit, however, that I was approached more often by prostitutes in Toronto and Montreal than I was in Manila.
If you go off the beaten path and go somewhere that doesn't get many foreign tourists, you can expect to get a lot of attention from curious locals. People may stare and may even want to talk to you and take pictures with you!
Here's a video of two black Americans taking a walk in a third tier Chinese city.
Harassment and attacks? I've experienced very little of either in Europe, the Himalayan countries, Southeast Asia, and Pacific and Latin American countries. I did encounter frequent verbal and sometimes physical harassment (touching, grabbing, stone throwing, knife and rape threats) in North Africa, the Middle East, and Central Asia -- but, having said that, the most overt hospitality and helpfulness I enjoyed was in these same countries.
Use common sense precautions, stay alert, be especially careful at night or in lonely places, and try to avoid groups of idle young men.
Here's a video of two black Americans taking a walk in a third tier Chinese city.
It's pretty common, we've taken tons of selfies with locals in China or had them trying to put us in their selfie without us knowing it.
It doesn't even have to be in a smaller city, lots of folks from rural towns come to bigger cities on tourist trips so many times at tourist attractions you get to pose in pictures with a bunch of school kids all wearing same color shirts since they don't get westerners out where they live. They are especially excited about black people, blondes, and women with tattoos.
If anyone looks at the tens of thousands of YouTube videos on the Philippines and Thailand, there are literally thousands of videos documenting the sex trade in those countries. Most of them are "PG-13" or "R-rated" but they pretty much document the various red light districts that are present in most of the large cities. In addition, they also document the level of poverty that is present both in the large cities as well as the provinces.
I have to admit, however, that I was approached more often by prostitutes in Toronto and Montreal than I was in Manila.
I think the "sex tourism" business has been big sometimes in the Philippines. Poverty drives a lot of it and there are thugs there that exploit it for all they can get.
I’ve visited Thailand, Mexico and the Dominican Republic and other than touts soliciting taxi fares, prostitutes and locals selling items, I’ve never been harassed. I’m a low key traveler, generally, and blend in.
Interesting thread. I love how some people include European countries. And I wouldn't classify Thailand as 3rd world.
I lived in Uganda for 2 years. As a white person I got stared at and often asked for money, but never hassled. I felt very safe, safer than when I visit the US - no mass shootings in Uganda. Kids in areas where many touriss go will yell 'mzungu, give me money'. But they are asking, not demanding. I lived in the southwest. I would not walk through Kampala late at night, but oherwise safe.
It fits for both the old geopolitical classification and the more commonly used yardstick of being a developing country, why wouldn't it be classified as 3rd world?
Sure they've got a subway in Bangkok now, but they've also still got women wearing gold rings around their giraffe necks up in the hills, many roads where 90% of the passing vehicles are scooters with at least two people on them, and rivers/fields crammed with trash due to lack of proper sanitation infrastructure.
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And I wouldn't classify Thailand as 3rd world.
