OT: World's Unfriendliest Country for Tourists? Yep, It's Bolivia.
http://www.cnn.com/2013/03/14/travel/friendly-countries/index.html?hpt=…
Among the extensive analyses, one of the most interesting rankings was how welcome tourists are in each country, under the category "Attitude of population toward foreign visitors." And the world's most unfriendly country, according to the data? Bolivia took the dubious honor, scoring a 4.1 out of seven on a scale of "very unwelcome" (0) to "very welcome" (7).
I'd say we called it years ago. Nobody wants to deal with Bolivians.
March 14th, 2013 at 10:07 PM ^
March 14th, 2013 at 11:06 PM ^
As a Venezuelan I think recent development will help more other countries in Latam rather than Venezuela itself.... a lot of uncertainty there in the coming year.
Indeed, Venezuela used to be an incredibly friendly country towards tourist, but it did indeed take a turn for the worse over the past decade. I have many friends that ask me about visiting and I just tell them it is not worth it, especially with Caracas being the murder capital of the world.
March 14th, 2013 at 11:21 PM ^
March 14th, 2013 at 11:35 PM ^
NO POLITICS ON THE BOARD
causing Bolivia and Venezuela to be rated so poorly, Dennis Rodman is sure to be able to help. Anyone know how to send a plea to Worm to get him to take a trip to each country to turn things around? Look at all the good he's done for both North Korea and The Vatican over the last week or so...
and I failed even at that. I'll go crawl in a hole now.
On a more serious note, I am kind of surprised Mexico wasn't on tier with these two. Their gangs are scary and are invested in a lot of different things.
March 15th, 2013 at 10:01 AM ^
March 15th, 2013 at 11:08 AM ^
Having been to Mexico many times (family down there), it is not. The tourist-friendly places are limited. Cancun, Cabos, Puerta Vallarte and such are okay. Head north from Vallarte and you'll hit the Guadaljhara area. Not advised.
If you go to the middle of the country it isn't safe. Whether it be drug gangs, border gangs, or just plain wolves, Mexicanos can be pretty ruthless unless you're in big cities downtown or resort areas.
March 15th, 2013 at 11:13 AM ^
FWIW, I thought it was funny.
March 15th, 2013 at 12:28 PM ^
Profit for Lily and Cooper. Go Blue.
March 14th, 2013 at 10:08 PM ^
March 14th, 2013 at 11:52 PM ^
Depends on if you're talking about Dominic Greene or General Medrano.
March 14th, 2013 at 10:15 PM ^
March 14th, 2013 at 10:20 PM ^
March 14th, 2013 at 10:27 PM ^
Hey now!
March 15th, 2013 at 10:37 AM ^
Nah man, I'm dutch. He's got it right.
March 14th, 2013 at 10:22 PM ^
March 14th, 2013 at 11:24 PM ^
March 14th, 2013 at 10:24 PM ^
MGoProphesy... Negged, Bolivia, it's all so clear now.
Also, why is the scale 0-7? Too good for a nice 1-10?
March 14th, 2013 at 10:24 PM ^
mentioned that Bolivia was beautiful and that they got sick. A guy who had spent the past year traveling South & Central America said the only place he got sick was in Bolivia.
March 14th, 2013 at 10:35 PM ^
Upvoted for truth because I had literally the same experience: traveled to Peru, talked to fellow tourists, at least one of which I distinctly remember saying she got sick in Bolivia.
March 14th, 2013 at 11:12 PM ^
Is it possible that tourists get sick in Bolivia as a result of contact with the sickos we banish to Bolivia?
Is it possible that Bolivia is looked upon as an unfriendly place because what may have at one time been an unspoiled, pristine land, has become contaminated by the malcontents that have been forced upon them?
In a way, somewhat akin to the classic "Nature vs.Nurture" argument ---Is the unfriendliness a natural thing that evolved there independantly from outside influences, or was the unfriendliness nurtured in a negative way as a result of being a dumping ground where we send our unwanted?
March 14th, 2013 at 11:16 PM ^
Maybe they just spit in us gringo's food.
March 14th, 2013 at 10:49 PM ^
March 14th, 2013 at 10:40 PM ^
Macedonia friendly and Bulgaria unfriendly? It's strange to me since Bulgaria is where we went on leave (fun) while deployed to Kosovo and Macedonia shelled a village I was in (not fun) killing a bunch of civilians as well as one of the journalists I was escorting. It's maybe even more strange because despite those experiences, I don't feel like there's a remarkable difference between the two. I don't get the Slovak Republic or Mongolia on the unfriendly list or Morocco as the third friendliest either.
March 14th, 2013 at 11:29 PM ^
March 15th, 2013 at 12:03 AM ^
Glad you had a better experience. There were like 50 kids waiting in the dark at our "top secret" drop zone ready to steal my food and rain gear. It then rained every day for two weeks. I spent most of my time in Morocco making fake chocolate bars out of mud for those lovely children.
March 15th, 2013 at 12:13 AM ^
it does say friendliest for tourists. Wouldn't surprise me if visitors shelling out cash for pricy restuarants and hotels are better received than others
March 15th, 2013 at 12:44 AM ^
Yeah, it makes sense that people are friendly when they're ripping you off or that you'll get a few dirty looks when you're rolling a NATO marked humvee through Skopje, but that's not what I'm talking about. I think people are pretty much the same anywhere you go once you get to know them, but there are cultures that are more open and accessible to outsiders and cultures that are more closed. These lists don't reflect that at all.
March 14th, 2013 at 11:36 PM ^
March 14th, 2013 at 11:51 PM ^
March 14th, 2013 at 10:54 PM ^
I spent 6 months backpacking through South America and managed to visit Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, and Argentina. Bolivians and Argentinians were definitely the most standoffish out of the countries. Peruvians and Colombians were SUPER friendly and Ecuador was a mixed bag.
I have the same opinion, though I do have several close argentinean friends (those who don't think that Argentina is above any other country in the world)
March 15th, 2013 at 10:33 AM ^
Argentinian's are some of the most smug people I've ever met. I know that's a generalism, but they seriously think every other country is beneath them in South America. Also racism is an issue there, partly due to the majority of them being of Italian descent. (Italians are pretty well known in Europe as being very intolerant).
Again, these are only my experiences, so not to paint a broad picture of them.
March 14th, 2013 at 11:05 PM ^
Brian should change the comment mods so they can got up to 7 instead of 5 in honor of Bolivia.
March 14th, 2013 at 11:15 PM ^
Perhaps it's considered unfriendly because its populated by a BUNCH OF NOT NICE MGOBLOG POSTERS!!!!!!
Has anybody thought about that?
March 14th, 2013 at 11:15 PM ^
Mike Tyson knew exactly what he was talking about.
March 14th, 2013 at 11:21 PM ^
I tried to click the link on my phone and ended up downvoting you. I pledge to upvote you for the next week. Sorry about that!
March 14th, 2013 at 11:49 PM ^
March 14th, 2013 at 11:23 PM ^
March 14th, 2013 at 11:40 PM ^
hey to be fair, I'm not the most amiable person when I can't get the smell of human waste out of my nose.
March 14th, 2013 at 11:44 PM ^
March 15th, 2013 at 12:19 AM ^
laugh - nice one
go to 11?