TL Travel Guide To Traveling In A Developing Country

Today we are fortunate enough to have a guest post from blogger, Teri Potts of TL Travel

About Teri

Photo: TaylorNorthey Photography

As the Owner of Canadian travel company TL Travel, Teri Potts organizes both large & small group trips to unique locations in popular destinations, as well as luxury trips for the off-the-path adventurer. Having visited almost 35 countries (& counting) she shares her knowledge & passion for travel through her work at TL Travel and all of the behind-the-scenes on her YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/tltravel.

Connect With Teri:

Online www.tltraveltrips.com

Email reservations @tltravel.ca

Twitter & Instagram @TLTRAVEL

YouTube www.youtube.com/tltravel

It is in my experience that the majority of travelers find themselves in developing countries more times than not given that they are typically cheaper, more cultural & frankly a little more exciting! Perfect for a limited budget, there is nothing like setting out in a country where you can live comfortably on fifty dollars a day & live like a king for the price of an American motel, but what else should you be expecting when you travel in a developing country?

Getting There Is Half The Fun

While road quality is slowly improving around the world, road reliability & safety are still severely lacking which, paired with the lack of personal boundaries in many countries, can make for an unpleasant ride. Expect to be crowded & expect to arrive late, but don't forget to stay calm & go with the flow of things (just like the locals do!) 

If you absolutely need to be somewhere on time (to catch a flight or start a trek for example) consider spending a few extra dollars on a private taxi or transfer ... after all... you are here in the first place because a little goes a long way.

Photo: @TLTRAVEL

Don't Think, Just Eat

While it is still important to take the proper safety precautions when it comes to eating local food (see Is Street Food Safe?) if you are eating like a local you may also end up eating vegetables & meats that you may not necessarily recognize. More times than not it will taste great & you won't think twice after the first bite, however, if you are prone to food allergies or poor reactions to new foods it is handy to either keep the proper medications on hand or avoid the unknown until you know for sure what it's made of. 

Eating like a local may also mean eating with your hands. The etiquette here is typically to use your right hand for eating & your left only for holding your bowl or glass. This is because in many cultures that left hand is used for toilet duties ... so try to keep that tip in mind! 

Photo: @TLTRAVEL

Always Be Prepared!

Back home the street lights are on from the first sign of darkness until the sun comes up, perhaps we leave the TV & air on all night while we sleep & hot water is just a turn of a tap away, but preparing for an inevitable lack of amenities while discovering a developing country is absolutely essential. Many remote areas will have little or no electricity & scarce amounts of running water (even some heavily-toured areas may limit your usage.)

Charge your electronics while you have access to electricity, pack a battery powered flashlight & be sure you are back at your hotel or home-stay before the village turns its lights out. Start your journey expecting the least & you will be pleasantly surprised when you arrive to more.

Toilet Trouble

Squatters, squatters & more squatters. From India to Tibet & Thailand to the Philippines, the squatter is the way of the world & for good reason. While it may take some getting used to, squatters rid you of the need to touch your bottom to anything & therefore lessen the transfer of germs. One of the first things I do before I visit a country is check in on the toilet situation & prepare accordingly... will my toilet be a bowl? a hole? or will it sing me a lullaby? - one can never be too prepared when opening up that washroom stall. And please ... throw your paper in the bin & don't try to flush it unless it is posted that you can.

You Are Your Doctor

Sure, there are doctors & hospitals in developing countries, and yes, you have travel medical insurance (I would hope!) but if you are heading off-the-beaten-track then it is likely you will need to be your own doctor & self-medicate every now & again. Now don't get me wrong, self-medication is not always recommended, however, with most common prescription medications (like antibiotics) available over the counter, carrying a small supply in your first aid kit when traveling in a rural area can be a life-saver in the case of an emergency.

You Will Get Ripped Off At Least Once

It is true, avoiding bribes & extra taxes/fees is dang near impossible as an English-speaking Westerner (& clear target) but you can still take some control over the amount that you pay & who you pay it too. If you know that you are going to be crossing a border or taking part in a tourist activity, try checking online forums first like TripAdvisor or ask around on reddit to find out how much people pay & what the obvious scams are that you will need to be wary of. There is no better feeling then being able to tell a taxi driver that no, in fact that is NOT the price of a taxi to the airport & YES you are certain.

Photo: @TLTRAVEL

Full Time Travel

Today we are fortunate enough to have a guest post from bloggers, Terry & Maura of Travel Kiwis

Their Story

We are Terry & Maura www.travelkiwis.com a 50 year old couple from New Zealand who have sold our home and left NZ to travel for a period of time. We are not sure how long we will be traveling, but we will enjoy this time in our lives.

We did an OE when we first got married 31 years ago. We spent three years based in England and took the opportunity to travel UK and Europe several times in between working in various jobs. All our travel was put on hold when we were pregnant with the first of our three sons who was born in 1988.

Terry has since had a career in sales and business management, and Maura is an accountant who ran a small business we purchased in 2010.

We have always wanted to revisit our travelling days - one day. We started seriously thinking about making a break from the life we were leading in 2014 after we had spent a month in Asia visiting our eldest son in Japan where he was teaching English. We added on some time in Singapore and also Koh Samui. We enjoyed the environment so much we knew we had to spend more time in Asia.

Also in 2014, the company Terry worked for had restructured and his role was disestablished, he was offered a role but would need to move to Auckland. This didn't appeal so he chose to leave the company and look for contract sales roles which he found easy to get. We also started talking to people about our idea of selling up everything and traveling for a while. It was amazing how many people we spoke with had similar thoughts, but had not made the decision. For some of those people they never would as death, ill health, injury or some other reason would prevent them following their dreams.  

Our plans were solidified one terrible day in September 2014 when news came through of the tragic death in an accident of Maura's eldest brother Peter.  It really hit home that life can change in an instant, and although we never expected anything to happen to us, we had spoken to enough people to know that it could.

We put our business on the market and that sold in August 2015, our house sold soon after in September 2015.  By the end of 2015 our sons were then 27, 25 and 22, with only the youngest living with us at home.  They are all independent and doing well in their fields so it is a good time for us to give them some space, although we miss them very much as they are great guys.

We put a lot of time into planning our adventure and decided on spending four months travelling through Asia on our way to Europe. We really wanted to spend some quality time when we stopped off somewhere, so rather than only staying 1-2 days we decided to stay 3-7 days in each place (now we think that is too short a time).

Our departure date was 14th February 2016 and we have been on the road since then.  We have spent time in Australia, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and are currently in Vietnam. We have a month in China starting 8th May before a four day visit to Abu Dhabi on our way to France.

The next segment of our adventure is to spend from mid-July until early October house sitting in France and England, we have four house sits booked over that period, each 3 weeks to 5 weeks in length.

In 2017 we want to find a small town in Spain where we can teach English to business people for a while then do more traveling around Europe and Africa.  But, we may also buy a camper van and drive around Europe. If you would like to find out more about our adventures then please visit our travel blog www.travelkiwis.com and subscribe to our updates.  We love hearing from anyone with an interest in travel and will respond to your questions or comments.

A Look Into Our Current Days

20/04/2016 Full Moon Lantern Festival, Hoi An

Photo: @travelkiwis

On the 14th day of the lunar month, every month the streets of Hoi An Old Town are only lit by lanterns as power to the street lights is turned off from 6.30-9pm. This has become a huge event for foreign and Vietnamese tourists alike.

Photo: @travelkiwis

Photo: @travelkiwis

We wandered into town around 5pm to get an early dinner and to watch the crowds gather. We started talking with a German couple Jurgen and Bea who have taken a year off their jobs in Hamburg to travel through Asia and Australia. We swapped travel stories as we people watched next to the river and bridge, we have a lot in common. We all decided to have dinner together and found a rooftop restaurant that had views over the river and enjoyed a nice meal and conversation. (The best fresh spring rolls so far, probably on a par with 88 Tory St restaurant.) The four of us then wandered around the old town marvelling at all the brightly lit and colourful lanterns. There were several wedding parties looking beautiful in their costumes having photos taken by their official photographer and lots of tourists as well, no doubt appearing on lots of Instagram feeds later.

Photo: @travelkiwis

Photo: @travelkiwis

Maura purchased a small lantern and was given a long bamboo pole with a basket at the end to place her lantern into. We then headed for the bridge to launch the lantern of good luck.

Photo: @travelkiwis

Photo: @travelkiwis

21/04/2016 My Son Holy Land

Today we were collected late by our guide and driver as we headed to a very ancient historical site 1.5 hours from Hoi An. The drive at times was hair raising as the driver decided on several occasions to try and pass on blind corners - I feared more for the poor lady or child on the push bike / motorbike beside us or coming towards us.

As we approached the local villages, harvested rice was drying in all sorts of places - along the side of the road (dust and fumes) or around the local roundabout - so funny.
The scenery then changed to local forest as we arrived at My Son temples discovered 500 years ago by the French in what was then dense forest.

We walked part way from the entrance where you are met by electric cars to take you further inland to the cafe buildings. Here we caught another Cham cultural dance. Terry was very, very happy! (well they are very talented in their craft)

Photo: @travelkiwis

Photo: @travelkiwis

From here we wandered up the path to view the various temples. Some still in tact, others damaged by a week long of bomb attacks by the Yanks during the war (bomb craters around the site), and others restored to varying degrees.

Photo: @travelkiwis

The marvel of the temples is their construction, many over 1,000 years old. There is no mould on any of the brickwork (brick but no mortar!) The mystery of the construction maybe based on the local gum tree resin used between the bricks, and the burning of the building after construction to seal the bricks.

The other interesting information of this site is the fertility symbols in each of the temples, the Linga and the Yoni!

Hers & His

Photo: @travelkiwis

Photo: @travelkiwis

Lunch today was at our local where we met up with some younger travellers - 3 from Holland and one from Belgium. They were intrigued by our travel and adamant they should have all the money now to travel rather than when they are older. It was the first time we were asked if we had grandchildren, with one of the girls wanting to marry Terry so she could continue travelling.

Tonight we headed into the Old Town to catch up for a beer and bite to eat with Craig - an ex Manawatu cricketer who is travelling with a school group through Vietnam. Of course the first conversation was cricket and Craig spoke of Terry's fast bowling hitting him in the head. Terry also hit another in Craig's team not long after but this time cracked his helmet and cut his head open! Oops! Another cocktail for Maura please. Despite this they remain friends off the pitch.

Anyway, that out of he way, we traded travel stories and enjoyed the evening.

Before heading back we decided to explore some of the small alleyways off the main streets. Some dead ends, others with small shops and eateries. Time for a coffee and we chose a roaster of the local coffee beans. We were invited to head up the two flights of stairs to the rooftop to enjoy the lanterns as we enjoyed our coffee.

Photo: @travelkiwis

China Beach - yes Terry was hoping to see Dana Delaney - but instead we were treated to sandy beaches and waves to do some body surfing. We spent most of the day here reading, sunning ourselves and swimming. Maura spied her fishing baskets sitting on the beach.

Photo: @travelkiwis

Photo: @travelkiwis

To follow along with more of Terry & Maura's adventures, Amrita and I recommend subscribing to their blog posts at 

www.travelkiwis.com

Would you rather meet the Dalai Lama or have use of a black Amex?

Would you rather Wednesday!

The Dalai Lama…a simple Buddhist monk and the spiritual leader of Tibet. He does amazing things that focus on three main levels of commitment: the level of the human being, the level of religious practitioner, and to preserve Buddhist culture. He has met many amazing people and many people seek to meet him. There is an air of mystery around him that entices many people. Truly a once in a lifetime opportunity.

The black Amex card…a high status credit card with travel perks sure to excite travellers. This credit card is mysterious in its own right. There is no official information available to the public about the black Amex (unless you own one). However, there are many rumours out there, like you need to make $1.3 million per year to receive one. Here are some of the believed perks:

• 24/7 concierge service
• 20% back on travel purchases
• $200 airline credit per year (use towards airline food, baggage, etc.)
• VIP at many hotels and airlines
• Comprehensive trip insurance
• Lounge access (in conjunction with Priority Pass) 

Which would you rather experience?

Our Choice: Richard and I would have to go with the Dalai Lama. No real reflective or deep answer here. Basically we have a wonderful credit card that offers many of these perks. And let me tell you, we do not make $1.3 million per year blogging and teaching. If you are Canadian and love to travel you should consider the BMO World Elite card MasterCard. The annual fee is $150. 

Here are some of the perks:

• Trip insurance
• For every $5,000 spent you get $100 (in points) towards air travel or hotels
• When you use your points, no blackout dates or stipulations
• Priority Pass membership (which includes 4 free lounge passes per year)

This card is great for those who love travel and we must say the lounge passes are the best! We use them to have drinks before flights, and the food is wonderful before a long flight!