Green Holidays

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If local women are not allowed to visit somewhere - why should female tourists get access?

I was just reading an article in last months National Geographic about a peninsula in northern Greece filled with around 2000 monks.   This self-governing state is seen as the focal point of Orthodoxy in this region, and is home to over 20 monastical buildings and various other shelters and buildings - and not one single woman!

The males here have decreed that there should be no women allowed to visit, work or live on the peninsula - and they have lived here a long time holding on to this wish.

Mainly as they do not want to be distracted from their busy lives of worship and also as the land they occupy is hemmed in by great mountains, and only accessible by boat, so they have a certain amount of control over who enters.

Everything that happens here is ruled by the self appointed ‘rulers’ and they are sticking to their word.

However, now Greece has become involved in the European Union and many of the monasteries are receiving financial support from it - there is talk of ‘changes’ to modernise the area and bring it into line with the rest of the country.

And this could mean allowing women to visit!

Is That Wrong?
Just because we (as travelers) can visit virtually anywhere in the world that we want to, including remote Amazonian tribes in Brazil and Aboriginal families in the vast wilderness of Australia, does that mean we can ignore their culture - and their history - and in this case; their beliefs?

So, should men be able to stop women visiting this region?  Well, I think so.  Or more correctly - women should see how important this is to the monks and refrain from going there.

It is directly comparable to our personal space.  For example: when we go to the gym - we don’t just wander into the men’s locker room?  When we visit someones home - we don’t just go looking around their bedroom - so why should we go and ‘look’ at their monasteries?

It’s a matter of respect really.

Preservation Of Culture:
We all know that as the world expands, so history and culture are lost - so why are we not helping to preserve them?  Things may well eventually have to change - but we shouldn’t be the one’s speeding it up.

There are plenty of people living in the world today that do not want to or do not need to become modernised and have everyone trampling all over their land to see what they are like.

They should be able to just continue doing what they have done for centuries before without being ’studied’ or dissected to see how they ‘fit in’.

It is amazing to think that their are still places in the world that we don’t know about - and I must admit that I enjoy reading about such places and the people who live there.  People living their whole lives in religious seclusion or totally isolated from the rest of the world.

And sometimes, I just hope it will stay that way.

Can wearing a bikini top be the rudest thing ever?

If you are visiting a local island in the Maldives - then yes, very much so!  It is almost like spitting in the locals faces if you want to relate it to our ideals.  I mean the thought of women baring their shoulders in the Maldivian culture is very offensive and can make local women very uncomfortable.

It also creates a boundary between the people who actually live there and the tourists who want to visit these islands.

And it isn’t just these Indian Ocean islands that have something that seems to normal to us to be so offensive to local communities.

Why Act Like The Local People?
Well, if you relate it to something in western culture it always makes a lot more sense - for example most people in the US would be offended if tourists began to walk into peoples front yards and having lunch, or pushing to the front of shopping queues in the UK.

However, some Americans are happy to wander around a church taking pictures and eating ice creams, or British parents allowing their children to climb all over city monuments or scream and run around in local stores or museums.

I am only using these 2 as examples, but there are plenty of other things that travellers don’t think twice about - yet are so rude in the eyes of others.

I mean some people are even this rude when visiting places in their own country!  However, when trying to experience another culture, you need to at least research the basics and try to blend in with the community you plan to visit.

Even the basics can bridge the gap between you and the people you are hoping to communicate with during your stay.

Culture differences are always important, but even more so when language is already a barrier, and different religions or beliefs can only make things worse and the difference even greater.

It doesn’t take a minute to learn a few polite phrases and some of the most important ‘don’ts’ of the location you plan to visit - so please take the time to do so and make your visit better for the people you are visiting as well as yourself and your family!