A common problem you have to contend with when traveling is touts trying to sell you stuff such as drugs, hotel rooms, taxis or asking to take you to their "friends" shop or to a market. In Asia most of these touts seem to assume that every western tourist wants to buy drugs and as a result when you are in the main tourist areas you are constantly harassed by them.
In Shanghai when walking down the main tourist shopping street guys will walk along side you whispering "marijuana, cocaine". In Thailand things are a little different due to their strict approach to drug dealing and drug possession. Drugs are still offered to tourists but those offering them are quite discrete. Next you have Cambodia where restaurants will have "happy" items on the menu, for example you can order a regular pizza or a "happy" pizza. Marijuana is illegal in Cambodia yet it is sold in many restaurants and bars. The owners pay bribes to the local police and they are left alone.
Vietnam is a little more discrete than Cambodia but yet the moto taxi drivers ask if you want a taxi when you refuse their next question is if you want Marijuana. Malaysia is a little different, when you arrive in the airport you see a big sign saying "Drug possession is punishable by death".
Finally Dali in the Yunnan province in China is different, you are regularly offered drugs but they are far from your stereotypical drug dealer. When you walk around the old town you are constantly approached by elderly ladies who say "Smoke, ganja, ganja, smoke?". They are quite aggressive, they will follow you down the street repeating it over and over again and they do this everytime they see you. I was in Dali for almost two weeks and it was took until the second week for them to recognise me and to realise that I wasn't interested. I was not brave enough to take a picture of them when they were following me but I got a photo of them walking away.
In Shanghai when walking down the main tourist shopping street guys will walk along side you whispering "marijuana, cocaine". In Thailand things are a little different due to their strict approach to drug dealing and drug possession. Drugs are still offered to tourists but those offering them are quite discrete. Next you have Cambodia where restaurants will have "happy" items on the menu, for example you can order a regular pizza or a "happy" pizza. Marijuana is illegal in Cambodia yet it is sold in many restaurants and bars. The owners pay bribes to the local police and they are left alone.
Vietnam is a little more discrete than Cambodia but yet the moto taxi drivers ask if you want a taxi when you refuse their next question is if you want Marijuana. Malaysia is a little different, when you arrive in the airport you see a big sign saying "Drug possession is punishable by death".
Finally Dali in the Yunnan province in China is different, you are regularly offered drugs but they are far from your stereotypical drug dealer. When you walk around the old town you are constantly approached by elderly ladies who say "Smoke, ganja, ganja, smoke?". They are quite aggressive, they will follow you down the street repeating it over and over again and they do this everytime they see you. I was in Dali for almost two weeks and it was took until the second week for them to recognise me and to realise that I wasn't interested. I was not brave enough to take a picture of them when they were following me but I got a photo of them walking away.
Not your typical drug dealer
