Chris:
> Western Europe is also boring as Hell, but never mind.
> You should go to Belarus. Now they've got order!
>
Chris - so what is not boring? Being pestered to buy stuff everywhere I went in Instanbul? (they did some wonderful architecture too, but of the same boring variety as that in Western Europe, or for that matter, the Hermitage). Or being told by my hosts (natives, not US-ers) not to go under any circumstances anywhere but to designated business areas in Nairobi (and take only taxis from the hotel)? Or taking the blue line metro in Leningrad to the airport only to discover that the train, for some unexplained reason, is following the yellow line with the end result you missing the plane (trams in the Venice of the North do similar tricks). Or a train porter attempting to rape your female coworker in New Delhi rail station?
Wojtek