Jump to content

Recommended Posts

I?ve just read this story about peoples that the Lonely Planet considers friendly:


http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/travelog/2007/10/is_ireland_the_worlds_most_fri.html


There is quite an interesting summary at the bottom.


Where is the friendliest place you have visited?


I am inclined to agree with them to a certain extent about the Irish and the Turks. I don?t agree about Malawi as when I went there I got robbed which I consider to be very unfriendly indeed.


Anyway in my experience ED is by far the friendliest suburb in London and I have lived in a few.

Link to comment
https://www.eastdulwichforum.co.uk/topic/1735-friendly-countries/
Share on other sites

lozzyloz Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> I've always found Kenya a friendly welcoming place


So did I. Then I got robbed (yes in Kenya too. perhaps it is me.) and had a near death experience with a taxi driver from hell. He was friendly though but psycho.

Sorry to hear that Brendan. Reminds me of a mate from Jo'burg who had never been robbed, kidnapped etc. Came to London and was mugged at gunpoint in Soho within days!


Generally I think country's are friendly as long as you're out of the metropolis and you're not at war with them. Some friends of mine just got back from Syria and said that it was the most unbelievably friendly and welcoming place they'd ever visited. Perhaps it could be said because they had different expectations.


Most unfriendly place? Lagos without a doubt, although the music and bars kind've made up for it. I half agree with Sean's comments on France, Robbed twice in Paris (not violently) but have always found the rest of the country, even Le Penn territory most welcoming except possibly in the Basque region near the Spanish border.

I agree about USA - they hear the accent and come over to me in the shops or restaurants and just want to hear you - assume we're all highly intelligent educated people. And many times specially in the west people come up and beg me to believe that they hate Bush and did not vote him in and disagree with the war. Complete strangers being so friendly and wanting to tell you this.

New Zealand is incredibly friendly too. Such a laid back culture. Interesting to read your thoughts on our European cousins though too.

lozzyloz Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Sorry to hear that Brendan. Reminds me of a mate

> from Jo'burg who had never been robbed, kidnapped

> etc. Came to London and was mugged at gunpoint in

> Soho within days!


I?ve been robbed in Jo?burg too.


And in London for that matter.


I?m starting to think it is just me. :-S


Nero Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> South Africa was friendly and scary at the same

> time. Nero


Really? That?s nice to know. (well except for the scary bit but I fully understand you on that) As a South African I have never thought we are particularly friendly. Very hospitable but not necessarily friendly I think there is a difference.


I have also found the French quite friendly but I have only visited rural areas of France.

Since we had kids, I've found Italy particularly friendly - they just love the little ones.


Same in France really - we had a week in the Basque country this summer, everyone was very friendly, from the hotel owner to the deckchair attendant. Definitely helps if you speak the language though.

I'd have to go with Portugal as the friendliest place I've been to.

France outside of Paris is great. I've found Ireland a mixed bag, very like the UK in that respect I guess.

Spain is strange, they (we?) can be quite antipathetic on the surface, but make the effort to speak the lingo and be gregarious yourself and you'll soon win them over, at which point they're as good as it gets.

Thailand - friendly except the pushy tuck-tuk drivers and the pain in the arse bell-boys who kept phoning me in the middle of the night wanting to know if I "wanted a lady"


France - friendly except the shop-keeper who accused me of shoplifting and wouldnt apologise when I shoved the receipt under his nose


Ghana - friendly


Ethiopia - scary with big guns


Bangladesh - friendly


Pakistan - friendly from what I could tell, I wasnt allowed out of the hotel


Nepal - friendly to foreigners, not too each other


Netherlands - ever so friendly


Estonia - friendly, except the tosser who nicked my wallet


Greece - ever so friendly


Barbados - friendly with nice beaches


Italy - friendly except on the auto-strada where they turn into homicidal maniacs


Germany - surprisingly friendly


Belgium - ever so friendly and with added beer and chocolate


Spain - friendly


Canada - ever so friendly with big hugs, especially in Quebec if you make the effort to speak French


USA - friendly with big portions

been a few times - both overland from Kosovo, macedonia and Montenegro, also bari => durres ferry


great place - it really is


Property - the infrastructure is iffy - power cuts/ drainage non existant ion some areas / filth and dumped stuff everywhere - there are some interesting places on the coast but its still a bit of a basket case and hard to change 50+ yeard of mismanagement


go across and have a sniff about to make up yer own mind - dont take any preconceptions about the Albs all being gangsters and drug runners etc


I know albs in Londion who are buying beach properties back home, so thats a good sign I suppose

I looked into buying property in Bosnia back in 2000 when it was still unspoilt (by tourists anyway), but was warned against it by a mate who's (expat bosnian) uncle had tried to do the same and found the whole thing a kafkaesque nightmare paved with corruption.

Should it ever become better regulated I'd still love to.


Ooh yes, Bosnians are a pretty nice bunch too, in fact all the exFRYs in my experience.

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Latest Discussions

    • Immy, our 5yr old Tuxedo cat, has been missing from our home on Landcroft Rd for 24hrs.  She’s new to the area, very nervous, and is likely hiding in a bush/tree. PLEASE message msg if you see/find her. Many thanks, Claire 
    • “54 Ea” must be 54, East Dulwich Road? Which is the other side of the road. Isn’t there a combined pay phone/ cash machine kiosk outside the Londis?
    • The co-op uses ATMs operated by Cardtronics, and they also operate a digital ATM service (meaning he could have made those transactions electronically).  That cashpoint is operated by Natwest. It sounds like he brought up their 'Get Cash' scheme screen as the distraction (a way that allows Natwest customers to withdraw cash without needing to use their card). So he was using a skimming device to steal your card in that moment, but brought up the Get Cash screen to distract you while he did that. Your confusion was just long enough for him to get away. Card thieves are incredibly slick. Here is some info on Natwest Get Cash for reference - 'To use a Get Cash code at a NatWest ATM, you first initiate the withdrawal through the NatWest mobile app, which generates a secure code. You then visit a compatible ATM (NatWest, Royal Bank of Scotland, or Tesco ATMs). At the ATM, press the "Enter" key and follow the on-screen prompts, entering the code twice. The code is valid for 3 hours, and if expired, funds will be recredited to your account.' I use that cashpoint all the time, so it's good to know if a local thief is targetting Natwest ATMs.  
    • So, i've had time to think about ever step of this incident. The main points are: I'd entered my pin number and was on the screen/page where you put in how much you want to withdraw At exactly that point the guy appeared and said the machine had taken his card, and started waving his hands over screen A 'menu' option came up on screen with two choices, one bottom left, one bottom right The bottom left option said something about entering a code to continue with transaction The guy was saying "press that or it'll take your card" - I didn't press either but he might have I haven't ever seen these on-screen options before - I didn't enter any details The guy then disappeared I pressed the 'cancel' button on keypad - the physical keypad - same screen options remained - no card was returned Within 30 seconds of me realising card wasn't coming out I froze card on banking app and immediately had two txt msgs from bank saying transactions were being declined (but one for £251 had already gone though). The ref on bank statement for all three was: CARDTRONICS UK LTD BT KIOSK O/S 54 EA. Bank statement also said the date, time and that there was a £1.50 ATM withdrawl fee.  I checked to see if there's a cashpoint in newsagent next door, but there's not. The cashpoint at petrol station is free so no ATM fee there eiher.   
Home
Events
Sign In

Sign In



Or sign in with one of these services

Search
×
    Search In
×
×
  • Create New...