January 2008 Archives

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There are plenty of ethical dilemmas that travellers face on the road, and it’s a Canada Goose Coats On Sale minefield deciding how to deal with them.

The thing is, you go on the road to experience different cultures, and to see how other people live. But what happens when you get there, and you decide you don’t like what you uk canada goose outlet see? Have you got the right to kick up a stink? Or is it wrong to try cheap canada goose uk to impose your values on another culture?

Canada Goose Outlet It’s something travellers have to deal with almost daily. Canada Goose Outlet

buy canada goose jacket cheap With food, there are plenty of examples other than just the whales: I don’t like seeing snakes skinned alive all over Asia, or knowing that dogs are being farmed and eaten in various countries, or the thought cheap Canada Goose of geese being force fed to produce foie gras buy canada goose jacket cheap (as, er, goddamn tasty as it is). buy canada goose jacket cheap

canada goose deals But there are plenty of other http://www.mycanadagoosejacket.org things that can raise the Western travellers’ hackles. One reader emailed me about bullfighting in Spain you might be violently against it, Canada Goose online but canada goose factory sale do you, as a guest of the country, have a right to complain? canada goose deals

canada goose store There’s also class systems in some countries the worst of which has to be the caste system in India. It tears you apart to watch people begging in the street, doomed to a life of poverty because of the caste they’ve unwittingly inherited, while Brahmins and canada goose coats on sale their ilk cash in on India’s economic boom. canada goose store

canada goose coats And travelling through the Middle East, it’s Canada Goose Outlet easy to get frustrated by the draconian laws concerning women the kind of inequality that would be the subject of fervent protest in our own countries, but which goes unchecked in theirs. canada goose coats

So what does a traveller do about all this? In my opinion, while you’re travelling: nothing.

canada goose clearance This is how I see it: you’re a guest in someone else’s country, and you’re there canada goose uk black friday to observe. If you went over to a mate’s house and didn’t like his furniture settings, would you change shift them around? (That’s dumbing it down a fair bit, but you get the idea.) How can you justify forcing your own set of values on someone else (the most extreme example of this being invasion and war but that’s probably a subject for a different forum)? canada goose clearance

With the food, you just have to lump it if you Canada Goose Jackets disagree, don’t eat what’s on offer. Steer clear of the foie gras in France, and the dog in canada goose store Korea. Turn down uk canada goose the whale in Japan most people probably would.

canada goose clearance sale The same goes for the bullfighting in Spain (or Mexico etc) you can exercise a form of protest by not going to the events, but you can’t really get up on your high horse and start telling the Spanish how they should be living. Remember, these are often practices and traditions that countries have had for thousands of years, so it’s a bit rough to be copping criticism from people who canadian goose jacket count 100 years of eating meat pies as a national trait. canada goose clearance sale

canada goose And unless you’rea strict vegan, you’re probably responsible for just as much animal cruelty as the matador. canada goose

buy canada goose jacket The Middle East situation is the same that’s their culture. If you disagree, and want to fight to change it, go ahead more Canada Goose Parka power to you. canada goose outlet But do so from home. buy canada goose jacket

Canada Goose online The strongest form of protest, after all, is boycott. If your objection to another culture’s practices is strong enough, you shouldn’t visit. Canada buy canada goose jacket Goose online

canada goose black friday sale But if you do, show a little respect. canada goose black friday sale

How do you deal with ethical dilemmas on the road? Do you voice your objections, or keep them to yourself? Would you eat whale? What’s the worst practice you’ve encountered?

He usually brings it out at the worst times. We’ll be sitting around at a train station at 2am, having just found out our canada goose black friday sale train has been delayed again, and I’ll be sulking, when a serious, canada goose uk outlet all knowing look will come over Matt’s face. “Chin up mate, it’s the journey, not the destination,” he’ll opine.

Or we’ll be cramped up in some rickety old bus that’s doing about 5kmh in 40 degree heat, and I’ll be starting to get annoyed with the whole thing. “It’s the journey buddy, not the destination,” he’ll say. “Anyway, you’re ‘The Backpacker’, you’re supposed to love this, right?”

cheap Canada Goose I’ve nicknamed him “the Swami” in honour of these deep pieces of wisdom, but Matt does have a point. Sometimes, in all the hurry to get to a place, you’re missing the best bit. cheap Canada Goose

An English bloke who used to run overland tours in Africa once told me about the time he was driving his truckload of passengers from Kenya down canada goose coats into Tanzania, via the world famous Masai Mara game park. Motoring along, he looked in his wing mirror, expecting to see elbows out and cameras flashing from inside the truck. However, nothing.

So he pulled up, jumped out of the cab (probably not the best idea in a game park), climbed into the back of the truck, and found his passengers either asleep, listening to iPods, or playing Scrabble.

Canada Goose Parka “Guys, what are you doing?” he apparently yelled at them. “This is the Masai fookin’ Mara! This is what you saved all your fookin’ mooney for! Now do us a favour an’ ‘ave a look out the fookin’ canada goose clearance sale windoo.” Canada Goose Parka

His passengers did as they were told, and spent the rest of the day watching huge herds of game wandering through the park.

canadian goose jacket I had the same experience working on tours in Europe. My favourite drive, scenery wise, was always the trip from Paris through to Lauterbrunnen in Switzerland, which went from flat French countryside into the soaring Swiss Alps, and along the banks of Lake Thun. canadian goose jacket

It’s absolutely incredible, and I used to love watching passengers’ jaws drop when we got into Switzerland. On one tour, however, we hit Lake Thun, and I turned around to watch the inevitable head explosions. and there were canada goose clearance my passengers, with every blind in the bus pulled down, sound asleep. We canada goose uk shop tried to wake them up, but they were hungover and uninterested.

Canada Goose Jackets I’ve had some of my best travel experiences merely trying to get where I need to be. Sometimes, the actual act of travelling is far better than the place it takes you to. Canada Goose Jackets

Needless to say, no plane journeys make for memorable experiences, because they’re sterile hellholes. Trains, on Canada Goose Online the other hand, are awesome. Particularly in India.

I spent 24 hours on one rickety old Indian train as it lazily made its way from Chennai to Mumbai. Along the way I made friends and shared food with the large family travelling below my bunk, marvelled at the Indian version of “reserved seating”, sat and stared out the window for hours at countryside and cities I never dreamed I’d see (also, people defecating by the train tracks, which, again, is something I never dreamed I’d see). I met more people and saw more interesting things in that 24 hours than I would in a year at home.