27 Countries Rated based on having been visited in the past 3 years (except Egypt last visited in 1992 but which I wanted to include for context). This is a really subjective rating and it is hard to rate 27 countries. It of course reflects my tastes and biases. But you can rate things too!
1. Switzerland Zurich over Geneva. I don’t feel I have to explain why I chose this country. Everything is fresh, clean, delicious, and runs on time. It is also a really pretty country.
2. Canada Quite polite and equitable society.
3. USA I still think the US system works better than the Canadian but Canada is smaller and more easily upgradeable; the US is large and has much creaky infrastructure.
4. Bermuda Small island paradise on the US standard but not perfect by a long shot.
5. Hong Kong Quite advanced civilization that puts many American cities to shame. Remember I haven’t been to Singapore yet. But also great poverty just beneath the glitter.
6. Austria Just a touch below Switzerland in appearance but something lurks beneath the surface that is quite temperamental and bothersome.
7. Netherlands Smaller and more manageable than Germany; slightly more efficient.
8. Belgium Smaller and more manageable than Germany.
9. Germany Clean, fairly efficient and English speaking. Not as efficient as they think though. Still too bureaucratic in this 4 country region.
10. Spain Orderly, clean, modern, with-it and moving forward.
11. Argentina Often underrated country with good infrastructure and advanced people but doesn’t reach its potential.
12. Chile Just a step down from Argentina, but moving forward in its own quiet way.
13. UK A bit quirky with old infrastructure. Not necessarily polite. Lots of internet cafes. New airport train from Heathrow. High in the ratings because they speak English.
14. France More quirky, not enough signage and not as clean. In some respects, better than UK and worse in others. Could go either way.
15. Emirates (UAE) Crisp and clean for tourists but it is far away from other places in a dangerous region and do you really want to be in Dubai if something goes wrong (ie: you get sick)?
16. Italy Civilized but mad. Needs more English signage, order and consistent infrastructure.
17. Japan Electronics doth not a civilized place make. Still backward in many ways. I will revisit this next month when I followup in Tokyo.
18. Greece A small step down from northern Europe but still quite neat.
19. Cyprus Not quite EEC standard but small, neat and safe. Very good tourist facilities. Better airport lounges in Greece and Cyprus than Italy but that wasn’t enough to sway me.
20. Israel Not as clean but an oasis compared to its poorer neighbors with fairly consistent infrastructure and Western standards in many important areas. Too much army. People living beyond means. GDP figures for the country inflated. More hype than reality. Not truly Western mentality.
21. Jordan Improving. Tourist facilities up to par but country is still poor. Airport needs work; infrastructure not consistent.
22. Saudi Arabia Richer but less clean except nicer shopping areas. Saudi water barely potable. Below this line, can’t drink the water. Below this line, no real English speakers outside a 5 star hotel.
23. Turkey Ain’t Europe. Shabby, dirty and disorienting. Certain pockets of first class facilities and roads and airport are improving. Just a bit better than Moscow. Exotic sites.
24. Moscow Still scary; things don’t work and infrastructure is still not improving and no sense that it will.
25. Beirut Except for some cosmetics, still bombed out city with various fiefdoms around the country and not really free. Entrepreneurial Lebanese rearing to go when given the chance. Close call with Moscow but the civil wars of the past few decades decided this one.
26. Syria 70’s Havana. No bank, credit cards, internet, e-mail. Very poor with third world infrastructure. At least here, everyone is equally poor but it is not obvious and it will be easier to upgrade Syria than Egypt when the time comes.
27. Egypt Utterly chaotic and congested; open poverty and no sense of any real idea how to move a hindered socialist-oriented country forward.
