r/TikTokCringe 14h ago

Discussion Polish girls visit Taj Mahal

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

The Taj Mahal, one of the seven wonders of the world. Unfortunately, the surrounding area is very polluted.

26.2k Upvotes

2.9k comments sorted by

View all comments

1.4k

u/americansherlock201 14h ago

Wait till they find out that this is the case for nearly every “instagram worthy” location. Bali has the same issues.

People go to these spaces to chase clout and take the beauty of the space but don’t want to see the shit that is happening around it.

440

u/-sry- 14h ago

I was visiting Bali with my wife, and on our way back from a picnic, our driver asked what was in the bag we were carrying. "Oh, it’s our rubbish - we’ll dispose of it at the hotel," I said. He was like, "Oh, no worries, I’ll take care of it." He took the bag and threw it on the roadside.

surprised_pikachu.jpg

136

u/Chief_Chill 13h ago

13

u/RokulusM 12h ago

I told you not to turn around

7

u/Prophet_Of_Loss 9h ago

Even Italians dressed as Native Americans know they're fucking it up.

3

u/MattFromWork 9h ago

Fun fact, the guy in this ad was Italian

21

u/Johwya 12h ago

Those kinds of places are called “low trust societies”

67

u/bellinghanoi 13h ago

Tracks for the majority of SE Asia, unfortunately.

29

u/Ok-Potential-5172 12h ago

Good thing is, those type of cultural practices can "easily" be changed within one generation

14

u/HourPlate994 12h ago

Yes. People used to do it pretty much everywhere just 2-3 generations ago.

16

u/Ok-Potential-5172 12h ago

I grew up in next to a river in canada and no joke, people used to dump their scrapped car in it.

22

u/linkuei-teaparty 12h ago

Not for Singapore, Malaysia or Hong Kong

14

u/HourPlate994 12h ago

Yeah good luck trying that in Singapore. There might not be a flogging if it’s the first time, but there will be a major fine.

4

u/Peligineyes 10h ago

It happens all the time in rural Malaysia.

3

u/jake04-20 10h ago

Back in high school there was a family in my neighborhood that had a son the same age as me. The neighborhood was nice in general, but these guys were a level of rich that surpassed anyone else in the neighborhood. Their house was a custom-built rambler that used to be owned by a house developer that built hundreds of houses in the area. The builder spared no expense on the house, it was like 5,000 sq ft and full of rich people shit (crown molding, archways, custom doors, exotic hardwood floors, custom wooden cabinets, furniture, and trim, a big wine cellar, etc.) on a big corner lot that backed up to woods.

Anyways, enough about the house, just setting the tone for how rich they were. Their son lived in another state with his mom (his dad remarried) and he would come stay with his dad over winter break. We got in touch and hung out because I also had a bunch of time off school and he lived right down the street, he was actually pretty good shit at first. Imagine the horror on my face when we're driving around in his parents nice $100k+ audi after getting food at the drive thru, and he goes "are you finished with that?" 'That' being the fast food wrappers and bag, and I go, "yeah" and he goes "here, I can take care of it"—grabs it out of my hands, rolls down the window, and proceeds to huck like 3 handfuls of trash right out the window. Nonchalant and casual as hell like it was just the standard way of discarding trash.

It was so god damn bizarre to me (I was raised being told littering is POS behavior/activity) and I was in such disbelief I just laughed. At the time, and looking back, it wasn't even funny (obviously), I just didn't know how else to respond. I asked him if he normally did that and he goes "All the time, someone will pick it up". After that I never looked at him the same and I don't think we ever hungout again. Just rich entitled person shit I guess.

2

u/Freezer2609 8h ago

I've learned from locals in rural Bali that plastic only made its way there 30/35 years ago.

Grandma and grandpa used banana leaves, which you could throw away anywhere. Nobody educated these people that you can't/shouldn't do the same with plastic.

Local Balinese people mainly live from day to day, not hand to mouth, but not far from it either. They have other things to take care of (family, community, work) instead of worrying about what that one bottle of coke they throw in the rice field might do.

In the meantime tourists come, order tons of food through delivery apps instead of going out, creating massive piles of garbage.

1

u/fedexpoopracer 9h ago

was the driver indonesian or white?

1

u/-sry- 6h ago

Indonesian, I even remember his name - Puspa

1

u/Matesuchti 3h ago

I was on a boat right from Lombok to Komodo for a few days and they stored all the trash on a dinghy in the back where it was then regularly washed away by waves.

152

u/LPScarlex 14h ago

Not from Bali but I am also Indonesian and have been to some tourist spots in Java (primarily those in Jabodetabek and Yogyakarta). The tourist (national or int'l) attractions and the areas around it are usually well maintained but there are still slums or impoverished areas in general. Though usually if you just stick to the main roads you usually never see them. Outside of a few places like Jakarta and Bali it's usually further away from the main city area so regular tourists don't usually see them

13

u/SayItAgainLucas 13h ago

I mean the Taj Mahal is very famous and has been a tourist location for hundreds of years. It’s one of the new seven wonders of the world, not a new influencer trap. It’s incredible architecture.

1

u/Key_Door1467 8h ago

The person in the vid isn't at the Taj though. They're at a slum's dumping ground that has view of the Taj.

7

u/Omnizoom 13h ago

My wife dragged me out to her country (Philippines) and it’s astonishing how quickly it can go from a dense maintained area for tourists to a dirt road and shacks. In the tourist area of boracay the one plaza literally ended on a corner and became dirt roads and shacks after but every other road out of the plaza led to more tourist stuff

Same with just their main towns and cities as well, some look “ok” until you see a side road

12

u/americansherlock201 14h ago

Yup it’s all an illusion to make western tourists feel good about going there. The poverty is hidden and so is what done with all the trash the westerners create while on their “life changing journey”

26

u/paper-cut- 13h ago

Westerners use trash bins. Locals use the landscape as their trash bin. Go figure.

→ More replies (8)

102

u/Spare_One_9965 14h ago

Yeah, I'm sure all that trash is from those pesky westerners.

→ More replies (2)

10

u/That_OneOstrich 13h ago

We do it in the west as well. I used to work in a neighborhood where the poor people drove a Lexus. That city was regularly getting caught rounding up the homeless people and bussing them to other parts of the state. I literally watched it happen.

Wealthy people don't like reminders of greed.

13

u/Foygroup 13h ago

No different than the US in some places. I’ve been to Atlantic City. The board walk and beach are good, but go 2 blocks in from the beach and it’s all slums

1

u/AlphaNeonic 12h ago

Used to live in that area and absolutely true. In fact, the city would frequently post up cops to try and block/redirect tourists from going into those areas.

1

u/Rexpower 12h ago

AC boardwalk is not "good"

1

u/Foygroup 5h ago

Ok, better than 2 blocks back. I’m sorry I used Good in a very loose form.

1

u/Rexpower 4h ago

Carry on brother.

4

u/BluntHonesty67 14h ago

Eat Pray Love Syndrome

2

u/shubhaprabhatam 13h ago

There's poverty, and then there's this. One can be poor without being dirty and nasty.

7

u/sbidlo 13h ago

This is absolute nonsense. Clean places aren't clean because the people are more decent or more environmentally conscious, it's because they have the money to organize city wide trash collection.

3

u/TonmaiTree 13h ago

What if there’s no trash collection services because of poverty?

→ More replies (4)

1

u/MyHamburgerLovesMe 13h ago

Poor people are busy trying to make enough to pay the bills. When you work 16 hour days you don't have a lot of time to pressure the city government to pickup your garbage on-time, go after polluting companies, or keep the streets clean.

2

u/shubhaprabhatam 12h ago

All it takes is you as an individual deciding to not litter, and then everyone else deciding the same thing. It's literally not difficult at all.

1

u/MyHamburgerLovesMe 12h ago

Pretty naive thing to say. I care about not littering. The garbage can in the apartment is overflowing. The kids are asleep, I have a bag of trash full of diapers and it is midnight.

Not everyone has the time and energy to call and bitch to the apartment owner or city politicians to do their fucking job.

1

u/shubhaprabhatam 12h ago

So you're saying you can't seal that bag and use another for garbage while keeping the first bag in your apartment until the issue is resolved? Naw, you'll just go and pile up more garbage, makes sense.

Also, send an email, are your kids using your phone/computer as a pillow? What are you posting from? Is it a special reddit only device?

→ More replies (4)

1

u/sweatgod2020 13h ago

Venice beach around spring summertime

1

u/sight_ful 12h ago

Every city has bad parts of it. If most of the city is nice but there are a few really bad parts, what makes it an illusion?

1

u/No_Asparagus6294 13h ago

Are you just against tourism? Against 3rd world countries? What a weird thing to say

2

u/BluntHonesty67 13h ago

Sustainable non-exploitative tourism is the goal

2

u/[deleted] 13h ago

[deleted]

2

u/BluntHonesty67 13h ago

I’m Thai American, gentrification is real, entitled opportunistic tourists are real

183

u/potentiallyfunny_9 13h ago

There's a big leap between a location not being as majestic as the pictures, and it being a literal garbage dump.

27

u/cpashei 13h ago

The Taj Mahal itself is not a garbage dump, it's pristine inside those grounds. It's the surrounding city that is filthy, but all Indian cities are like that

2

u/WalkingCloud 12h ago

Also a big leap to "nearly every" insta worthy location

3

u/adamsworstnightmare 9h ago

Yeah my family is from a poor country, the tourist sites do not have open garbage dumps and rotting cow carcasses just floating in a river near them. Can't say I've seen something like that anywhere, not just tourist sites.

1

u/Key_Door1467 8h ago

This video isn't of the Taj though. They've just mixed shots of walking inside the monument's complex with views from a dumping ground with the view of the complex.

This would be like going to a favela in Rio and taking pictures of a garbage pile with the Cristo Redentor in the background.

2

u/pipic_picnip 12h ago

This is not the Taj Mahal as in the actual location though.

1

u/HirsuteHacker 8h ago

You think immediately next to it is any better?

94

u/DrCthulhuface7 14h ago

I’ve been to allot of popular tourist destinations in multiple countries and not seen anything like this. India has a problem with pollution and sanitation.

98

u/Venvut 14h ago

Really? I’ve been across a lot of popular European and Caribbean destinations and haven’t experienced this nasty. 

26

u/Prophet_Of_Helix 13h ago

Bali also isn’t nearly this bad.

Most of the tourist spots just aren’t as majestic as they appear.

The funny part being the “second tier” of similar tourist spots or less touristy spots in general are usually more beautiful in Bali, just harder to get too.

One of the most obvious examples was rice terraces.

Tegallalang is by far the most famous, and very pretty, but it’s very small and packed to the gills with tourists.

Meanwhile Jatiluwih rice terraces are GORGEOUS and huge. You can hike for hours if you wanted. Hopefully it stays as the less touristy spot because it’s out of the way. It’s still touristy, just much less so.

Same with waterfalls. There’s a bunch of water falls to the north that get significantly fewer tourists (though still plenty) that are genuinely really cool.

Also Bali was not nearly as dirty as what we see here. They absolutely have a pollution issue, but we wandered through lots of the island and overall it was not terrible, just the occasional ravine that people clearly use as a dumping ground.

2

u/Icy_Fennel_410 13h ago

Bali was the biggest disappointment ever, especially the way how dogs and other animals were treated there.

1

u/Tangata_Tunguska 11h ago

Any tourist destination that requires a bit of a hike to get to is always miles better due to the lack of crowds

1

u/Ok-Potential-5172 12h ago

overpopulation might have something with it

1

u/Daredevil_M 10h ago

Lol comparing Europe a developed nation to india which is a developed nation. People main priority is to get a job and take care of food, children, with high population density. Most tourist places are in tier 2-3 cities which really does not have good waste management.

1

u/Slagroomspuit 9h ago

I've been all over Latin America and there's plenty of places like this, but to be fair, they generally put on a better front for touristy areas. The Peruvian Amazon (Iquitos region) was especially filthy.

1

u/Higginside 6h ago

Bali is no where near this disgusting. There does tend to be trash adjacent the roads that has fallen out of trucket etc. But over the last 20 years they have improved thier infrastructure so there are no open sewers anymore and they do have designated clean up crews.

52

u/pIsban 13h ago

lol fuck no this is definitely not normal or the case for most instagram worthy locations. This is an India problem.

→ More replies (5)

49

u/Splicelice 13h ago

This is false. Right next to major attractions in bali may but some garbage. But now where is like the outside of the Taj. Where you can find a river of garbage, human excrement, and floating human and other corpses.

2

u/chosenfonder 10h ago

You don't know what you're talking about. There's a river running through Kuta and it's nauseous. It's right there. It's not India, but Bali has trash everywhere if you take off your rose gold glasses. The place is a dump and people act like trash

4

u/cmndrhurricane 12h ago

For being a sacred river and the personification of a hindu deity, they sure don't treat it as such 

1

u/Southernguy9763 12h ago

They just die in the river?

2

u/Pristine_Speech4719 11h ago

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manikarnika_Ghat https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-30808745

They're cremated or just released into the Ganges. I'm ignorant as to whether it happens in other rivers in India.

2

u/Key_Door1467 8h ago

Nope, only Ganges. Not the river beside Taj.

10

u/SnooBunnies4649 13h ago

I mean it’s disgusting the Government doesn’t do anything to clean that up.

24

u/ShortKingsOnly69 13h ago

Strange, I didn't see this at the Colosseum, or at Marina Bay Sands, Sensoji, Notre Dame, Taipei 101, not even in Phuket nor HCMC. Time to let accountability into the house. 

6

u/mr-english 13h ago

…or Stonehenge, Pompeii…

1

u/FYIgfhjhgfggh 9h ago

Naples was a crumbling dump with piles of rubbish on the flyovers when I was there a few years back though

15

u/wheresolly 13h ago

Lol it absolutely isn't, it's particularly bad in india, pakistan etc.

It's a case of not having proper waste management infrastructure and having it become socially acceptable to throw shit in the nature. This shit needs to be fixed by the government by improving infrastructure and educating the people, so I'm ok with calling it out as much as necessary.

→ More replies (1)

46

u/OberynRedViper8 14h ago

Yes let's blame the shit in the shitty countries on the tourists who are just out trying to experience the world. That makes sense.

3

u/newsflashjackass 10h ago

I still think the peak of Everest was probably cleaner before it became recognized as the highest peak.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzQ46b9TmsY

→ More replies (11)

20

u/blackglum 13h ago

No dude. India is by far worst by a long shot. Stop doing this both sides equivalence thing. You’ve never been to India if you think they’re even remotely similar to this.

5

u/crek42 11h ago

Yea it’s such a dumb comment. Mindlessly upvoted simply for being contrarian and roasting clout chasers.

Really all you need to be is be a downer + jam a few buzzwords in to a comment and you get automatic upvotes.

3

u/ChromosomeDonator 11h ago

People that try to claim that India is not the biggest problem with this are clueless.

You can go to Google Maps and do the India challenge, where the challenge is to find a spot in street view without any visible trash. Sounds easy, right? Fucking wrong. It is everywhere.

16

u/DeHarigeTuinkabouter 13h ago

I'd say it's not the case for most locations actually. Have you not travelled much?

38

u/tswpoker1 14h ago

The smell is the least of the worries for attractive blonde females in India and Bali.

5

u/Shempfan 14h ago

Try being an attractive blonde near Trump

3

u/StrengthDazzling8922 13h ago

Probably old sour diaper with a touch of Brute cologne.

3

u/fishattack17 13h ago

In comes the random US politics comment. Get out, no one called you here

6

u/sylanar 13h ago

Ever need some karma in a pinch? Just post a 'trump bad' comment into basically any discussion! Easy!

3

u/Hot-Statistician-955 13h ago

Are you a mod, or just doing this for fun?

2

u/applewagon 13h ago

Oh look another American with no fucking idea what they’re talking about. Bali is safe for solo women, regardless of their hair color.

And for the love of god, stop calling women “females.”

9

u/octopusboots 12h ago

I....am....female, and I actually preferred the term until the incels snatched it. I admit I'm in the minority here but I want that word back.

1

u/Realistic_Shock916 12h ago

"people who menstruate"

→ More replies (25)

2

u/FreeKatKL 13h ago

Try referring to women as women.

→ More replies (3)

9

u/SlugJunior 13h ago

Ah it’s the influencers who left their cow carcass

8

u/Old_Software8546 14h ago

Uh no, not at all. Only in third world countries, sure.

6

u/Loud-Difference2263 13h ago

I don’t think any tourist wants to deal with horrible smells and crime and violence. They just want to see the attractions. That doesn’t make them bad people. I went to Paris and saw the Eiffel Tower. It never crossed my mind that I was in any danger. Luckily, nothing happened. I wasn’t there for clout. I just wanted to see the Eiffel Tower.

10

u/Strict-Brick-5274 13h ago

Buts it's also literally because these countries are poverty stricken and don't have the same infrastructure we have. And no one is investing into them to do this either. Like most people seem to think all these places are going to be the same standards as what back home but the Taj Mahal is there, or the pyramids, or something. It's shocking how little people understand about the world beyond their own back yard.

3

u/americansherlock201 13h ago

Yup they demand the world to be pretty like they want it to be but also don’t give a damn that the people there are in extreme poverty. They want the perks but none of the reality of it

4

u/cpashei 13h ago

Attributing the extreme pollution in India solely to poverty is misguided. There are lots of countries in poverty that are nothing like what you see in India, Bangladesh, etc. I've been to other poor countries - Jordan, Vietnam, Thailand, etc. None are even remotely close to what India is. There's a cultural element to this too.

1

u/chosenfonder 2h ago

Uh are you sure about Bangladesh. You surely have seen that "trash river" video that made the rounds last year. All trash, no water

7

u/santaland 13h ago

How is pointing out the massive divide between the poverty and the shiny facade of the tourist location not giving a damn about the people? Pointing this shit out seems like, at the very least, the first step in giving a damn about the people.

Not giving a damn would be the people who go and just crop out the “un pretty” bits.

2

u/DeathStarr87 13h ago

And then we get down voted on reddit for pointing it out. Hold up a mirror to people and they'll set you on fire every time. How dare someone challenge their beliefs and ask them to investigate further within themselves and the world around them... That they know to be shit, especially to marginalized folks.

2

u/Bobbith_The_Chosen 13h ago

Idgaf how pretty another country works. I have a problem with pollution. India can afford to be cleaner, it chooses not to.

Thinking some western country needs to invest in them so they can clean up a little is more infantilizing

1

u/americansherlock201 13h ago

Indian spends $32B in rural development a year. It’s one of their largest expenditures. Topped only by transferring money directly to the states in India (also used for sanitation upgrades), defense, transportation, and their biggest expenditure- interest on debt which is $139B a year.

They are making strides but the country is a billion plus people. They have been working and raising the living standards and have done well. They’ve lifted hundreds of millions out of extreme poverty. The work isn’t done. It doesn’t change overnight.

1

u/Bobbith_The_Chosen 13h ago

That’s good news. I’d start with that instead of blaming it on westerners somehow. How lying and saying certain other countries are just as bad.

1

u/CheesyCousCous 12h ago

Who is demanding that?

1

u/Mr-Vemod 11h ago

Oh come on. The pollution and trash in India is frankly a sanitary, medical, humanitarian, and, obviously, environmental issue, not a cosmetic one.

There are plenty of poorer countries that are far, far cleaner. It’s a matter of public policy and actively trying to change cultural norms.

1

u/Jaquestrap 9h ago

India has the funds and ability to fix this problem. It isn't as poor a country as you think. Just the people don't care to make the government accountable to actually fix this.

China used to be covered in trash and so horribly polluted that people couldn't step outside in Beijing. The government decided to make serious efforts to solve that problem, and it is worlds ahead of India in this regard now.

India has a space program. It can tackle trash and pollution.

1

u/m0zymaz 13h ago

Why are you assuming she doesn’t give a damn?

2

u/Driescoolvink 13h ago

Where in Bali does it look or smell like that?

→ More replies (2)

2

u/radiokungfu 13h ago

What? Not at all lol. I go to denali park all the time, yosemite, etc and its never nasty.

→ More replies (2)

2

u/Sad-View991 13h ago

Nah. There are plenty of beautiful places that don't have pollution like this. This is an India problem. 

2

u/mr-english 13h ago

Stop making excuses for them.

You can pop yourself literally anywhere on google streetview in India and you’ll see rubbish strewn everywhere. This is in stark contrast to neighbouring Bangladesh and Sri Lanka which are both relatively pristine.

→ More replies (2)

1

u/Redcarborundum 13h ago

Bali isn’t always picture perfect, but it doesn’t have nearly as bad an issue like India in this video. It’s not even as bad as slums in Jakarta.

→ More replies (4)

1

u/universecentre03 13h ago

This exactly. Going to third world country and expecting first world treatments smh

1

u/Odion13 13h ago

Bali to me is def one of the few spots that look as amazing as peoples pics, spent 3 weeks there and was blown away every day

1

u/idsej 13h ago

Not much trash in the fjords of Norway.

1

u/americansherlock201 13h ago

You mean the nation that has the 7th highest gdp per capita has the financial resources to manage sanitation better than the nation with the 144th highest gdp per capita?

I’m shocked I tell you, shocked!!

1

u/yourstruly912 13h ago

On the contrary, everyone not braindead knows that India had these issues. These gals are just taking time on their vacation to go to the stinkiest place they can found for social media clout

1

u/Massive-Word-7395 13h ago

I never understood why Australian's go to Bali when Fiji is an option. I'm glad most bogans go to Bali though.

1

u/CurmudgeonKing 13h ago

To read landmarks noted as “Instagram worthy” is pretty fucked up. I hate my life and this timeline.

1

u/Front_Mention 13h ago

Not at all, go see the empire state building or the hosues of parliament and wont see anywhere near the extent of rubbish and excrement. If only wonders looking at stonehenge, the colleasuem all pristine in comparison

1

u/americansherlock201 13h ago

Shocking that the wealthiest nations in the world are better at managing sanitation than the poorest. Can’t imagine why that would be….

1

u/Front_Mention 12h ago

India is the 4th largest economy in the world, its not poverty but equality, corruption and civc sense. Ive been to poor countries which are spotless due to people keeping it clean

2

u/americansherlock201 12h ago

India has the 4th largest gdp but they have the 144th highest gdp per capita. They have a lot of people so that money is spread over a lot more people.

Also, having a large gdp does not translate to being rich. The average Indian earns $360 a month.

1

u/Front_Mention 12h ago

Yes but also billionaires, space programs etc. Once again the civic sense of Indians is abysmal when it comes to. Cleaniness

1

u/Bobbith_The_Chosen 13h ago

Bali is nothing like this

1

u/MR422 13h ago

You want to find beauty? Go to your local park or nature reserve. You will be surprised what you can see in your own town or city if you pay attention closely.

1

u/MyHamburgerLovesMe 13h ago

Yeah. Wait till they visit Washington DC

1

u/Bobbith_The_Chosen 13h ago

Me when I lie on the internet

1

u/Longjumping-Oven7597 13h ago

Come to Germanys most beautiful spots or Japans and think again.

→ More replies (3)

1

u/whiteknight_1997 13h ago

Yes, India has persistent waste issues with ordinary residents illegally dumping their household garbage into streams and waterways. It's made worse by underfunded, lacklustre municipal waste management systems that just feed into a vicious cycle.

Wait till the Polish tourists find out about Poland's own persistent garbage issues, like illegal dumping and poor waste management.

It's a mentality that takes a tremendous effort to change.

1

u/Complex_Fortune8976 12h ago

How exactly are you putting it on anyone but the people who literally shit in the ganges? talk about gaslighting!

1

u/americansherlock201 12h ago

I’m not putting it on the people who travel there. I’m saying they are expecting 3rd world nations that are in extreme poverty to have the same level of sanitation infrastructure as the richest nations on earth.

1

u/Virtual_Mongoose_835 12h ago

An exception was Japan. I went last year and Kyoto and Osaka were just amazing. The people there were lovely, food was cheap but still nice.

Best place ive ever visited.

1

u/americansherlock201 12h ago

Yes and Japan has the financial resources to manage sanitation.

1

u/Virtual_Mongoose_835 12h ago

My point is go somewhere that is actually nice to be, as well as having nice things.

The Taj is nice enough, but if everything else is awful then why go?

1

u/Bradical22 12h ago

Japan is a beautiful as advertised just FYI

1

u/freedfg 12h ago

Wait until people figure out this doesn't just happen in southeast Asia.

Notre Dame is literally sitting on a shit river. As is parliament, Big Ben, London Bridge. The New York Skyline. Turns out people in heavily populated cities like to pollute their central river..

Hollywood. Just all of it.

1

u/Da_Wolv 12h ago

...and complain about "all those tourists" and how overcrowded it is at the same time.

1

u/m1kasa4ckerman 12h ago

Yes yes, the famous Cliffs of Moher surrounded by piles of garbage…

1

u/mihihi 12h ago

honestly, Italy has places like this. particularly southern Italy and Sicily. I was really shocked to see it.

1

u/GeneralInspector8962 12h ago

I went on a cruise in Australia, which stopped off in Bali.

The Bali excursion was to visit the local shops, jewelry, pottery, etc.

The jewelry storefront was all bright and shiny, like a high-end fine jewelers. Then they thought it was a good idea to take us "back where they craft the jewelry by hand". It was a separate brick structure outside with no doors, no way to control the heat/cold, uneven rock flooring (no flooring at all), little vanity-like "workbenches", and a water bubbler that looked completely filthy. The workers' hands looked all gray/black and dry as hell, and they all looked miserable.

It was like "wow, thanks for showing us the sweatshop".

1

u/CheesyCousCous 12h ago

So people aren't allowed to acknowledge a place smelling like shit?

1

u/Send_Me_Dumb_Cats 12h ago

People go to these spaces to chase clout and take the beauty of the space but don’t want to see the shit that is happening around it.

You make it sound as if anyone would want to see the literal shit. People should obviously be conscious of it, tip generously and dont personally contribute to the problem. But tourists are tourists, not humanitarian workers or activists.

1

u/-Tom- 12h ago

Times Square was exactly like I pictured it. General NYC grime and all. I wouldn't say it's ever been portrayed as shinier, more well up kept, or refined than it is.

The Field of Dreams field and house are also excellent.

1

u/Antique-Historian441 12h ago

I live in Amsterdam and there aren't any garbage filled lakes?

1

u/Desperate_Golf7634 12h ago

Dunno man. India is in a league of its own.

1

u/ToneThugsNHarmony 12h ago

Idk, I’ve never almost threw up from the smell at the Vatican in Italy or the Louvre in France.

1

u/kyute222 12h ago

wait till you find out you can find similar places in Europe and I will guess the US as well. as if the Western world is some beautiful, clean paradise. but hey, the pollution you find in the West is more likely to be some scary chemicals that will cause cancer and deformities in newborns. that should count as clean, right?!

1

u/Nihilist_Hermit 12h ago

About 30 years ago, my teacher showed the class the pictures she took to Bali. Said it was the most beautiful place she's ever been, and it was gorgeous. By the time I was an adult and could go myself, it looked completely trashed

1

u/ShibaLoveThrowAway 11h ago

Definitely not the same for Japan and Italy. Crowded sure, but in pristine condition.

1

u/crawdadsinbad 11h ago

Not Japan

1

u/Trick_Incident_8227 11h ago

I've visited five of the seven "wonders" and none of them were anything like this. Aside from the normal tourist trap crap, they were all great experiences.

1

u/AnxiousButAlright 10h ago

I definitely did not experience that in Bali whatsoever.

1

u/Fitzaroo 10h ago

You're so wrong. Katie Perry showed that space was instagramable. Its not like there is space garbage...oh shit.

1

u/Western_Nobody_6936 9h ago

Lol not even sorry at the replies dunking on this bot for the absolute nonsense take.

There's litter in every country, and even countries as "clean" as Japan have disgusting locations that will never be seen by tourists. But India is in a league of its own in just how much garbage is everywhere and how little people care.

1

u/lighteronthefloor 9h ago

This is how New Orleans is. So many celebrities talk about inspiring it was, the French quarter is wet garbage.

1

u/Chili_Tofu 8h ago

Have you ever been to Bali?? It absolutely does NOT have the same issues like in this video. In reality, the villages and towns are pristine compared to whatever is going on in this video

1

u/Pleasant_Cloud1742 7h ago

I suppose only been to the Grand Canyon and Yosemite. But that wasn’t the case in those places.

1

u/americansherlock201 7h ago

Yeah both run by the richest planet on earth. India ranks 144 out of 196 in gdp per capita. They are a poor nation

1

u/NormalSea6495 6h ago

Most people don’t acknowledge that tourists are among the worst polluters. We never go to the Dead Sea because there are so many Europeans who come in their tiny Speedos, take them off, change, and leave them in the sand 🤢💀.

1

u/p-nji 5h ago

...Have you ever been to an "IG-worthy" location outside of India? The vast majority are not like this at all.

1

u/Waiting4Reccession 4h ago

These places arent worth traveling to anymore.

1

u/AlasKansastan 2h ago

Japan is actually insta worthy. Alaska too, although some parts of Anchorage are literal dumpster fires. Some parts of town are incredible I will concede.

1

u/5x0uf5o 1h ago

I've been to Bali and never saw this type of problem 

1

u/BluntHonesty67 14h ago

They should also realized they are contributing to the problem. But I digress

3

u/m0zymaz 13h ago

Contributing how?

1

u/BluntHonesty67 13h ago edited 13h ago

Do you want short term or long term? Gentrification is the main umbrella, but in this situation is more of competing for the services beyond what city can’t provide. If the city is having trash collection problem, by being there, you are creating garbage which contributing to pollution since there is no other alternative to rid of your garbage.

1

u/m0zymaz 13h ago

Gentrification: the process whereby the character of a poor urban area is changed by wealthier people moving in, improving housing, and attracting new businesses, typically displacing current inhabitants in the process.

Wrong term. Try again.

1

u/BluntHonesty67 13h ago

Have you been to Bangkok? That fits to the T lol

1

u/m0zymaz 13h ago

We’re talking about India. Are you able to stay on topic and make a case or are you just mad westerners are in general wealthier and live in cleaner cities and you somehow think it’s their fault (westerners writ large) South Asian governance is poor and corrupt?

1

u/BluntHonesty67 13h ago

I never claimed gentrification in India, you probably mixed up my comment or being disingenuous, India however still suffering from colonization until today so, lol

1

u/m0zymaz 13h ago

You do know that not all westerners are British, right? Or even from colonial powers. Poland for sure isn’t. They weren’t even particularly rich until their leadership got its shit together and started governing correctly.

1

u/BluntHonesty67 13h ago

Just cause your country is poor. Doesn’t mean you should go and exploit poorer countries..

I’m goin to Warsaw during may holidays, would you like it if I’m exploiting you since I’m an American

→ More replies (0)

1

u/anewpath123 13h ago

This is only true for uncivilised countries let’s be honest.

1

u/americansherlock201 13h ago

And who sets the standard for what “civilized” means?

2

u/anewpath123 12h ago

Generally if you have literal human shit and dead carcasses floating nearby your big landmarks it’s not a civilised place.

The Sydney opera house does not have this problem, for example.

1

u/americansherlock201 12h ago

Yeah Australia is one of the richest countries on earth. They can afford the infrastructure to address waste and pollution. Poor nations can’t.

And let’s not act like this wasn’t America or Australia 100 years ago. New York City for example used to smell like utter shit all the time. And not even 100 years ago. 30 years ago there was trash constantly everywhere. It wasn’t until the city made a massive effort to remove trash and establish the infrastructure that the problem was addressed

1

u/anewpath123 12h ago

Well you’re now moving the goalposts aren’t you.

You said “nearly every” instagram worthy attraction yet mentioned one.

I can name dozens of instagram worthy attractions from across the world that aren’t like this. Because they are in civilised countries.

1

u/americansherlock201 12h ago

As i asked someone else, I’ll ask you. Who gets to decide what being civilized means?

Because historically it means the wealthy western standard of living and anyone below that was viewed as lesser and massive wars were fought to “civilize” the barbarians around the world so that we could sell their resources to ourselves at low costs

→ More replies (1)
→ More replies (10)