Mainly posting this so no other POC get scammed by this company, yes it IS as audaciously catering to the white gaze as you're worried about!
SE Asia Trip highlights:
- The tour bus route went out of its way to make a pit stop at an isolated, mostly dirt lot in Cambodia where children were working, presenting us tarantulas to hold for a dollar. The activity was eating jerkied insects, which if so desired, could have been done the day before at the huge night market in Phnom Penh that the hotel was right next to. (But then that'd mean interacting with Cambodian people like they are people with their own joyful lives.)
- The 4hr bus round-trip, that ended up being 7hrs with traffic, for a 1-2hr excursion at the Mekong Delta where the tour guide told us she loved us all and sent us off by exclaiming "Me love you long time!" The entire group was so moved that even the white people stopped signing up for optional activities, so that could remain as our lasting memory. (-:
- I find it really awkward when I have to ask for the staff to get rid of the chopsticks when I dine in Vietnam. Luckily the cruise was culturally sensitive enough to serve us Viet-adjacent cuisine without any hassle of chopsticks.
- I had mistaken the "traditional cyclo tour" for a bicycle tour and decided to opt-out since I wasn't properly prepared to ride a rickshaw. No complaints though, since I got to rest at the hotel. My hotel room in Phnom Pehn gave me the perfect aerial view of the group kindly employing local elders to pedal them around. I was thoroughly impressed by how the company was able to source some of the last remaining rickshaws in the city. I really felt like I missed out when I could only Grab auto-tuktuks for less than a dollar on the app for my entire stay. ):
- Shout out to when my travel companion and I decided to leave the planned tour activity to go to a place we independently found on Google maps, to then run into our tour guide there. This happened more than once, solving the mystery of where he disappears to when we are bused off to tourist traps with traditionally inedible food. Loved his sense of humor, especially when he relentlessly told us about how Cambodian people steal.
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