Exotic Holiday Guide [antikvár]

INTRODUCTION"I suggested that she take a trip around the world. 'Oh, I know' returned the lady, yawning with ennui, 'but there are so many other places I want to see first'."S. J. Perelman.Publishing a book with "exotic holidays" in its title invites at least two sets of criticisms. One will come from readers who scorn our inclusion of familiar holiday destinations, claiming that by sheer weight of visiting numbers they forfeit their right to fly the exotic banner. Once the major tour operators gain a toe-hold, the critics argue, the quality of exoticism is bound to be diluted by a babble of English accents. How can Thailand, now the number one long-haul destination for the British traveller, still be considered part of the mysterious Orient? Have places such as Goa, the Maldives, Penang and others, now served by cheap long-haul charters, not sacrificed their faraway charisma in favour of the crowd?The second brigade of protestors will raise serious objection to our labelling a number of hard-to-get-to places as "holiday" destinations; they would exclude Bhutan, a country so isolated that only recently has the West even had a name for it; and Mali whose capital, Bamako, as writer Mary Anne Fitzgerald claims, "leans more toward the chaotic than the exotic". Other readers may wonder how we could possibly devote pages to Georgia, when the hotel in which Fay Weldon stayed considered a single potato a worthy main course. And where, far from welcoming visitors, the locals tore down a newly erected ski lift as a protest against the provision of tourist facilities. "Holidays" ought surely to be comfortable experiences - opportunities to recoup from a year's worth of toil - rather than warrant a rest once they are over?Both sides would have a case. But ask any number of people to describe just what they consider to be the vital ingredients of an exotic holiday and you'll be presented with a number of different menus.We are fortunate to live in an age where the world is becoming