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It's a great country to travel, at the very least because most people speak English. And they are very friendly, even cheerful. Even though many of them are rather poor, they retain a bright and optimistic outlook.

I did not dare to eat balut. I also encountered balut in the street stalls in Laos on my recent visa run, but again, I passed on it and stuck with the ribs, the steak, the Indian curries. ☺

People in 3rd world countries are way happier than people in 1st world countries.

In the states we have everything and are miserable - in "poor" countries they have nothing - yet are happier.

That's true in many ways. I'm Canadian, and while Canada is a great country, I now live in Thailand, and really have no reason to return to Canada. (Except for maybe the excellent, non-ACA healthcare. :-)

While many of the people in SE Asia and other such countries are not very well off and would love to make more money, it's not their priority. For them, the most important things are family and community, not acquiring the latest wide-screen TV and all sorts of other crap.

I've met hundreds of Filipinos and other SE Asians working in the big cities or overseas, and am always impressed how unselfish they are. They'll work long hours as cleaners or in restaurants or bars, earn maybe $500 per month, but keep only $50 or so for food, and send the rest home to the family, to pay for a younger sibling's schooling and the family's staples.

Very impressive, and very honorable.

Very true!

My wife went to Thailand for 2 weeks around 11 years ago. She'd literally move there in a heart beat!

Plus people don't know how beautiful it is there!

Yep. The cities can be a bit chaotic, and some of the tourist traps are overrun. But there area many places that are stunningly magnificent, as well as peaceful and serene. You just have to search them out.

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