Responsible travelling

I guest everyone had heard before about ecotourism. It is all about preserving and conserving the environment of the places you visited. But we must also protect the local culture and economy. So 2 aspects, culture and economy.

Culture

The cultural shock is mutual. In some countries such as India, foreigners are still not very common in some places. Many from the older generation might have never seen a foreigner before. One must remember, we are walking into their daily life. Respect them, show courtesy. 

In Varanasi, there were these koreans. I met them in one of the burning ghats. Burning ghats is where they cremate the body of the dead. It is an extremely holy place in Varanasi and everybody in India wants to be cremated here. The ritual is of course very emotional for the family members of the dead. 

I stand from far to watch the ritual going on. I dared not to even moving a step closer. But these koreans showed no respect at all. They walked around trying a find a higher ground, climbing up and down the staircase of  temples, to get a closer look at the ritual. After they found a higher spot, they kept taking pictures. Imagine you are in your relative's funeral, and a bunch of tourists just walk all around the funeral and taking pictures. Of course you will be angry at them. So same case here. Those f**king stupid parasites, in fact i have seen a lot of people like this, all they care about is taking some stupid photos.  

Economy

After i traveled to India, i realized how rich i am, comparing to the local indians. All of a sudden, everything seemed so cheap there. Even the prices for foreigners, which are normally much higher than those for the locals, are still very cheap for me. So, during the first few days in India, i spent money without bargaining, without second thought. For taking taxis, tuk-tuks, buying stuffs, etc., I just gave whatever the price they offered.

Then i realized there is a danger within. I realized i had became a person i always don't want to be, an irresponsible traveler. The impact to the local people is important if i continue to do so. 

If we think a little, imagine a boy rowing boat on the Ganges, fetching tourists, he can easily gain more money  daily than his teacher. Will he respect his teacher anymore? He must be wondering what is the use to continu studying. It will be worst if we don't bargain and have no doubts on the prices given. Slowly, people will abandon their present job and go into tourism, simply because jobs related to tourism can let them make more money easily. 

No doubts tourism is a booming industry. But in developping countries, we cannot rely solely on tourism. Tourism is a fluctuating industry, depending largely on political stability, climate, etc.. For exemple, a suiside bombing attack in a small town will be enough to scare foreigners from getting into the country. So, many will be jobless during these low seasons. This is exactly what happen in Tozeur. People there are living a hard life during the summer when the temperature is burning hot. 

May be we can copy Bhutan's policy, controlling the amount of tourists in their country annually. But as an individual, we cannot simply change a national policy. But we can bargain. Always try to get the local price instead of tourist price.

I remember the favourite movie, the Beach. Many of us are f**king parasites. We, tourists, discover a new place, exploit the place, take what we need, and move onto the next. This is what happen in Varanasi, Kho Samui, Pulau Redang and many more. Last year i went to Redang, and i was very disappointed. I expected a beautiful beach, but all those tourists with their cameras, all those hotels and bars, had ruined everything. Within 10 years, Redang from a secluded beach to a famous holiday spot. When i was there, there are more hotels under construction! Poor little Redang, how many hotels they wanna put on it...