I read an article this morning which listed the world’s rudest cities. I thought it was a pretty fun read and it got me thinking about which places I’ve been to that I would consider to be rude.
Before I dive in, let me preface by saying that I don’t think of any cities as being rude…but there are specific experiences with rudeness!
I’m a very tolerant guy especially when I’m travelling. I expect things to be different…I mean, I’m the one coming into someone else’s home not speaking their language, right?
If you go in expecting it to be like your home, then yes…you’ll find certain places can be very rude. If you go in expecting it to be different, then it’ll usually take a specific experience to bother you. Throw in a few of those specific experiences in one specific city and then you really go over the edge.
So in the spirit of the article above, here are two cities I’ve been to that are top of mind.
Budapest, Hungary
Budapest really is a beautiful city and I think it’s a hidden gem. I really enjoyed it there, but…
- Strike #1 – I was taken for money at a currency exchange where they blatantly did not give me as much money as they should have. When I asked about it, the person refused to give me my money and yelled at me in Hungarian! I don’t know if this happened to anyone else, but it did to me…
- Strike #2 – Taxi drivers take you for a ride. This is pretty common anywhere, but it felt a bit extreme here. I had to negotiate a fixed rate before hopping into a taxi EVERY single time. I even turned down a taxi at 4:00 AM in a not so safe area with no other taxis in sight because the driver was trying to charge me more than double what it should have been.
- Strike #3 – This is the only place in all of my travels where some of my money went missing – 4000 in Hungarian currency! I’m not saying some local stole it and I’m not blaming it on Budapest…I honestly think it might have been my roommate. But, it was a specific experience that threw me over the edge and Budapest is only guilty here by association.
Cairo, Egypt
Going to Cairo and Egypt was probably the most mind-blowing travel experience I’ve had. It’s such an amazing place to visit and everyone should go there once in their life. But…I’ve never been to a place that made me feel so uncomfortable in so many different situations.
- Strike #1 – Tipping…for everything! It’s actually a social obligation there so I don’t mind, but some situations were a bit much in my opinion. Let’s see…someone approaches me and gives me unsolicited directions while I’m standing on a street corner minding my business and looking at my map (note that I’m a human GPS and am never really lost). Hand comes out for a tip. I’m taking a picture of a friend at Giza and some stranger peers over my shoulder, steals a look at the camera display, and tells me to move the camera a bit to the left so I can get the angle right. Hand comes out for a tip. Someone does this, that, and the other. Hand comes out for a tip.
- Strike #2 – If you’re a woman, be prepared to be hit on very aggressively by every man that walks by. Our tour guide gave some advice to all of the women before disembarking our tour bus to go to a market…look around the bus and find some guy to be your husband. It didn’t even matter…all my wives were still hit on that night! (note that this market example didn’t actually occur in the city, but it was in Egypt and was fun to include here)
- Strike #3 – Being constantly harassed to buy and having to negotiate for everything! I’ve never been so aggressively approached to buy something I had absolutely no intention of buying. It also amazed me how I’d be offered something for say 400 Egyptian pounds and they would end up selling it for 50. It was fun at first, but it got quite wearing over time…that may just be me because some people enjoyed it.
- And the kicker – Traffic that kills! Imagine roads with the worst traffic you’ve ever seen, absolutely no rules, and enough room for drivers to be able to pick up enough speed to plow through a caravan of camels…crossing the street became a game of Frogger. That said, I honestly did find this amusing and actually enjoyed trying to cross the street.
I hope nobody takes this as a knock against either of these cities and I hope I don’t offend any of my Hungarian and Egyptian friends. I’m just having a bit of fun here and none of my comments are meant to be generalizations. They are both great cities to visit and I highly recommend both to anyone. These things did add something to their charm and they are fun memories for me.
Though if you do go to either city, don’t say I didn’t warn you to be prepared for a few specific experiences!
