Wednesday, October 07, 2009

slumming it

Further to an earlier post on poverty tourism we now read this report

Rich tourists are being offered a chance to live like a beggar in India to teach them about poverty.

For £150-a-night they can live with members of the so-called untouchable Dalit community, eating their food, and sleeping in one of their makeshift homes made of cardboard and plastic.

But the squeamish can pay a £100 supplement for an upgrade to a deluxe beggar's home - complete with clean sheets, a brand new mattress, fresh mineral water and insect repellents.

The holidays - in India's poverty stricken Uttar Pradesh state - are designed to mark the 140th anniversary of Indian human rights hero Mahatma Gandhi's birth.

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