The Reason

My Step-mom and I are both big travellers. The more remote, off the wall and random, the better. So when two very good friends of mine found themselves headed to Mongolia for work, Terri and I saw it as a perfect opportunity to visit a country that we both have always wanted to see. This blog is going to serve as a virtual trip planner for the two of us and then morph into a travel blog once we are actually, uhhh traveling, which looks to be sometime in July.

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Are there actually lands without McDonalds?

Someone at work was shocked to hear that there were actually countries that were McDonalds free. He was certain no place left on earth was unscathed from the wrath of the Golden Arches or the familiar green and white Starbuck's cup. And although, depending on the source, McDonalds are found in anywhere from 97 to 117 countries, there are currently 97 independent states that are McDonalds free:



Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Armenia, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belize, Benin, Bhutan, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burma, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, Djibouti, Dominica, East Timor, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, the Federated States of Micronesia, Gabon, Gambia, the Ghana, Grenada, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, the Holy See, Iran, Iraq, Jamaica, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kiribati, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Maldives, Mali, the Marshall Islands, Mauritania, Mongolia, Montenegro, Mozambique, Namibia, Nauru, Nepal, Niger, Nigeria, North Korea, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Rwanda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Solomon Islands, Somalia, Sudan, Swaziland, Syria, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Togo, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, Tuvalu, Uganda, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Vietnam, Yemen, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.


Just for the record, I don't really have anything against the Golden Arches. I think friends of mine have valid points about the fast food giant's impact on globalization, the environment, developing nations, peoples waistlines etc....None of this would stop me though, from kicking any unfortunate toddlers out of line who happen be ahead of me the that magical day McDonalds comes to its cooperate senses and brings back the Shamrock shake.

That being said, there is something seemingly untouched about a McDonald-less land that makes it all the more appealing.....

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I never realized there were so many MacDonald-less lands. I have lived in a few of them (I currently live in Gabon, and travel to Sao Tome quite a bit), but the worst part is that if MacDonalds is not there it is because of a culture that does not embrace fast food. Many African countries may not have MacDonlads, but have a South African chicken chain called "Nando's", which is in more countries in the world than Macdonlads (but NOT in the US!). The funny thing is that since living overseas, I have ome to appreciate fast food, especially when it is 1 PM and I forgot my lunch, the deadline is approacing ad everyplace nearby takes 1 1/2 hours to get through lunch.

Mel said...

Fast food is definately a comfort food, and when I was in Nepal, I must admit that there were a few days when when a quarter pounder with cheese would have done some serious soul soothing....Thanks for the information on Nando's! Its always cool to learn about something new about a place, especially a fact that impressive. thanks for reading.