So, I’d like to take this opportunity to rant a little. All of this Asia travel comes with the goods and bads. There have been great foods, cheap accommodations, beautiful tropical scenery and relatively good weather. But then there has also been the heat, the pollution, the insistent hawkers and all the people trying to rip me off. Fine. It all comes with the territory; all part of the adventure. But I am really getting sick and tired of being leered at, whistled at, followed and basically harassed by men. It is SO annoying.
Traveling as a woman alone in Asia can be tough work. Maybe not as bad as traveling through the Middle East as a lone woman but definitely worse than doing Europe. Maybe men just aren’t as exposed in Asia, or maybe I’m just not used to the blatant hawking and cat calls and rude stares (that the local women have perhaps learned to deal with on a daily basis) but honestly, it’s all enough to make me go mad. I’m so much more cautious because I have to be, and it makes me less open to meeting potentially nice people along the way. Because of the random jerks that I’ve met thus far (whose intentions have been less than good), I am less apt to trust any other man that strikes up a conversation. And that annoys me. It annoys me that my gut instinct is to be judgmental, cautious, suspicious. I don’t like traveling this way. =(
For India (if I actually end up getting a visa in time), I’ve got a new strategy. I am going to be married. That’s right. Tomorrow, I am shopping for a wedding ring. Preferably simple and gold, just like the locals would have it. This is the best traveler tip that I’ve gotten so far, from a guy I met who traveled to India with his girlfriend. He told me to go and buy a decent looking wedding ring and to be armed with a story about meeting my husband and our two kids at some town nearby in a few days. Brilliant! Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant! That plus a shawl, sunglasses and hat should do the trick. =)
Of course, this plan could all go bust if I don’t get my visa in time. Plan B is to go get my diving license somewhere off the coast of Thailand or Indonesia. We shall see how the drama unfolds!
