3 ms·

Not entirely what you're looking for, but I just finished hitchhiking and urban camping up the Arab peninsula, and Oman is pretty great for coding. Lots of cool

by easong 13y ago

Not entirely what you're looking for, but I just finished hitchhiking and urban camping up the Arab peninsula, and Oman is pretty great for coding. Lots of cool and easy to access beaches, very friendly people, modern infrastructure, and I never encountered another Westerner, tourist or otherwise. There are resorts, but they're easy to avoid. Wifi is difficult to come by, but 4g hotspots are cheap and easy. The UAE (Dubai in particular) is all kinds of awful, though.

charlesdm 13y ago
Out of interest, why? Too much consumerism?
- easong 13y ago
  The population is something ridiculous like 83% non-citizens, many of whom are victims of human trafficking. The locals I talked to were very unfriendly and several officials went out of their way to give bad directions to myself and other travelers. The internet is censored and the laws and social mores (particularly regarding women) can be charitably described as medieval. As far as I could tell, the entire city was an enormous temple to waste and empty consumerism built on the blood of not-technically-slaves and I look forward to its collapse within the century.
midas007 13y ago
Double-thumbs down on Dubai. http://www.theguardian.com/law/2013/dec/26/wife-businessman-dubai-vanished-sfo-answers http://www.theguardian.com/law/2013/dec/26/wife-businessman-...
munimkazia 13y ago
I was born and brought up in Oman. I don't think its especially cheap to live there, and the internet connectivity isn't great. You do have 3G, but it is quite pricey.
- easong 13y ago
  I can't comment on total cost of living as I was camping and hitching rides for free, but (restaurant) food and random consumer items seemed noticeably cheaper than their bay area equivalents. 3g/4g data in particular was way cheaper than the US - I walked up to a random telecom booth in the airport and prepaid for far more data than I needed with whatever I had in my pocket at the time...under $20? The equivalent service in the US costs around $80/month via ATT, I think.
  - munimkazia 13y ago
    I was comparing the 3G prices to India and other Asian countries. I guess US has some of the highest prices around.

by easong 13y ago

charlesdm 13y ago

Out of interest, why? Too much consumerism?

easong 13y ago
The population is something ridiculous like 83% non-citizens, many of whom are victims of human trafficking. The locals I talked to were very unfriendly and several officials went out of their way to give bad directions to myself and other travelers. The internet is censored and the laws and social mores (particularly regarding women) can be charitably described as medieval. As far as I could tell, the entire city was an enormous temple to waste and empty consumerism built on the blood of not-technically-slaves and I look forward to its collapse within the century.

midas007 13y ago

Double-thumbs down on Dubai. http://www.theguardian.com/law/2013/dec/26/wife-businessman-dubai-vanished-sfo-answers http://www.theguardian.com/law/2013/dec/26/wife-businessman-...

munimkazia 13y ago

I was born and brought up in Oman. I don't think its especially cheap to live there, and the internet connectivity isn't great. You do have 3G, but it is quite pricey.

easong 13y ago
I can't comment on total cost of living as I was camping and hitching rides for free, but (restaurant) food and random consumer items seemed noticeably cheaper than their bay area equivalents. 3g/4g data in particular was way cheaper than the US - I walked up to a random telecom booth in the airport and prepaid for far more data than I needed with whatever I had in my pocket at the time...under $20? The equivalent service in the US costs around $80/month via ATT, I think.
- munimkazia 13y ago
  I was comparing the 3G prices to India and other Asian countries. I guess US has some of the highest prices around.