Originally Posted by
camsean
I hate foreigner pricing. The extra money is never put into maintaining sites, does nothing to help regular locals, and only enriches the corrupt ruling class.
Yep, this guy gets it.
Originally Posted by
NeedstoFly
My take u won't like -> in Bangladesh you enjoyed one side of white privilege, in Nepal you've "enjoyed" the other side.
I actually think your take is a good one. I'm not sure if "white privilege" is the correct word to use and it's a word that has loaded connotations. But the point you're trying to make seems to be that in certain countries, westerners are perhaps cherished and a novelty and something to be fascinated with, and in other countries, the locals see the westerners as walking dollar signs to exploit as much as possible. That's certainly true.
PS: nobody owes you a meaningful cultural exchange.
Correct; nobody owes us anything, including meaningful cultural exchanges. But we're entitled to formulate -- and share -- an opinion on a travel destination based on the friendliness and genuineness of the people, and the extent to which we can have meaningful interactions and cultural exchanges with the people.
There are places I think we'll mostly try to avoid because they seem to have been ruined by mass tourism, and there are places that are at the top of our list because other travelers rave about the people.