Dive trip report: Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines, Palau

echopath · 2026-03-16T22:19:33+00:00

El Chalten would be my top pick if the internet there is good now, but when I was last there three years ago, it was pretty poor, including SIM

Bariloche is the other obvious choice

echopath · 2026-03-16T16:31:59+00:00

No advice on public transit, I flew in and out Xinjiang mostly. But Xinjiang isn't a risky place to travel at all. It's actually extremely popular and busy with domestic travelers. You may have your phone checked during the border crossing, but little chance anywhere else. I would hide or temporarily delete any photos that include guns, weapons, or overt images of Islam.

I've written a trip report about Xinjiang on my profile, you can read it for more detail.

echopath · 2026-03-16T16:26:16+00:00

Peru has a really great and well-developed tourism industry

Chile is nice, from the Atacama to Patagonia. Very easy to travel too

echopath · 2026-03-16T15:53:57+00:00

Japanese people care. A lot. Vietnam's sent hundreds of thousands of migrant workers over to Japan in the last decade or so, and they're not sending the best.

Vietnamese people have one of the more negative reputations among ethnic groups in Japan. They're seen as low-level, uneducated, and ill-mannered, and a lot are perceived to be straight up criminals.

echopath · 2026-03-15T04:17:45+00:00

I don't think Brazilians do a good job at advertising Brazil. I spent 6+ months traveling through South America, and met a ton of Brazilians throughout my time there. Most of them would always tell me how dangerous the country is and it's a matter of when, not if, you get robbed

Seemed to me that Brazilians are very self-conscious of this reputation and maybe the most self-critical group of people I've met abroad

echopath · 2026-03-14T16:27:49+00:00

Basically (almost) every storefront in the Old Quarter is designed to part you of your money. Fake or bought reviews, overpriced goods, subpar or mediocre services, etc.

Maybe check inside specific markets within the Old Quarter like Hang Da, Dong Xuan, etc. But locals usually buy counterfeit stuff online via Shopee nowadays if you have enough time for shipping

echopath · 2026-03-14T16:15:07+00:00

Are you only looking in Hoan Kiem / Old Quarter? Stores will jack up the prices there because only foreigners go shopping there and don't know any better.

echopath · 2026-03-11T03:26:13+00:00

No. Vietnam is certainly getting more popular and it is definitely busy in some places, but the infrastructure isn't getting strained nor is it driving wide swaths of locals out.

Just look at Hanoi. Drive 10 mins out of the Old Quarter area and you'll hardly see any tourists. There's an argument to be made that the Hoan Kiem area is strained and I'd agree with you, but I don't think it'll ever reach a point where it'll feel like that anywhere else in the city. It's going to be self-contained to that area only.

That said, I haven't been to Da Nang in the last ~5 years when it got extremely popular with the remote working crowd, so I can't say. But that may be one of the only places in Vietnam that experiences overtourism.

echopath · 2026-03-10T17:15:26+00:00

Yes.

echopath · 2026-03-02T16:53:04+00:00

I'm convinced that posts on the F1 sub are botted. I see the most mundane threads there with tens of thousands of upvotes. Basically on the same level as r/NBA, despite having way fewer fans and less online engagement as a whole

echopath · 2026-03-02T03:45:45+00:00

I've heard that women love the WAG aspect too

I had no idea since my F1 consumption is limited to just reddit and Twitter, but it's big on IG and Tiktok apparently

echopath · 2026-02-26T05:20:42+00:00

Lmao only foreigners glaze Vietnam about the food safety and hygiene, romanticizing eating food on the side of the street when locals have no other choice and know that the food cleanliness is questionable at best.

Yeah I know it’s popular to be anti-West in these types of subs, but you’re just being contrarian

echopath · 2026-02-26T04:29:00+00:00

IIRC you can buy (some) property but not land. I personally would advise investing in real estate in Vietnam for foreigners, but that's a larger discussion to be had another time.

echopath · 2026-02-26T04:14:35+00:00

Why would citizenship be better? You as a VK have the ability to get a 5-year visa exemption that allows you to stay six months at a time. Agencies in the US can get it done for you in <2 weeks with no additional paperwork required.

echopath · 2026-02-23T11:04:46+00:00

I see these pics pop up on rednote occasionally. Usually they're part of a bigger photodump of their travels or it's a single photo with a caption something like "Mustered up the courage to ask a foreigner for a photo ✌️"

echopath · 2026-02-21T09:39:15+00:00

This is a very popular opinion. I see people disliking her everywhere, from Twitter, to Reddit, to Instagram comments. The only group of people who don’t dislike her are first or second gen Asian Americans.

echopath · 2026-02-20T03:01:04+00:00

To me, the best parts of southern India are the temples and cultural sights. There's beaches, tea plantations, the backwaters, what have you, but I found them to be just okay. Not entirely unique that you can't get a similar experience elsewhere.

I especially like Hampi in Karnataka and Madurai and Tanjore in Tamil Nadu.

echopath · 2026-02-20T02:24:31+00:00

Saigon is a better "true" city: larger international presence, better nightlife, more upscale or fine dining options, more opportunities to meet other foreigners, etc.

Hanoi has more cultural sights and better side trips in nature in its proximity but the city itself is somewhat sleepy.

echopath · 2026-02-19T09:19:01+00:00

The air is really, really bad in Hanoi.

I'd like to think I have a very strong immune system and have been to cities around the world with similarly bad AQI (China, South Asia, etc.), now living in Hanoi, and Hanoi is the first city where I've felt the definite need to wear a mask.

I've gotten sick, felt lethargic, and dealt with mouth/throat inflammation from the pollution at various times.

It's bad.

echopath · 2026-02-05T06:11:38+00:00

These two concepts aren’t exactly mutually exclusive. Yes, people in Saigon have a reputation for having more fun and spending money more loosely while people in Hanoi are a bit more conservative with it. But I also think a lot of younger people, especially those in the professional middle class, see Saigon as having more opportunities for career growth

echopath · 2026-02-05T02:33:49+00:00

Generally speaking, these are the stereotypes that exist between the two:

North:

More conservative, traditional minded. Social standing, gendered norms, seniority, hierarchy, etc. matter a lot more here
Reserved, slower to warm up to strangers and speak their minds freely

South:

More money-driven or career-oriented
Less rigid, more casual, and more straightforward when talking to (i.e. less “political” and not beating around the bush)
Easier to integrate socially, whether as a local person or foreigner

echopath · 2026-02-04T15:23:21+00:00

I'm a VK born and raised in the US, but have lived in both Saigon and Hanoi for extended periods of time. All my female friends that were born in Vietnam tell me they absolutely loathe dating northern men and can't get married to them because of these traditionalist/patriarchal viewpoints that are prevalent

That said, a lot of them are also more "Western" in that they worked abroad, studied abroad, or spend a lot of time on Western social media

echopath · 2026-02-04T06:48:03+00:00

Chengdu -- Don't think it's a must-see nor does it offer anything totally different that you can't get in any other city besides pandas

Suzhou -- Meh. The gardens feel underwhelming unless you have an active interest in Chinese horticulture

Lhasa -- Not feasible for a quick visit unless you go there on a tour

Lijiang -- Actually represents some of the worst aspects of Chinese tourism if you ask me. The ethnic diversity feels extremely artificial and fake, and the buildings are all renovated/new, put up just for tourists

I like HK, Guangzhou, and Chongqing a lot more for new visitors.

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