"One of the cul-de-sacs that a travel writer has to continually watch out for is the pervasive assumption that poor people are intrinsically nicer than rich ones. It looks silly in print but on the ground, in the dust, it's more seductive. A fond belief that poverty is synonymous with dignity, that kindness, politeness and...

Has travel become such a common commodity that people are passing up ancient architecture and natural scenery for . . . sewage plants, prisons and poverty museums? I'm not making this up. Check out Newsweek's article, Way Off the Beaten Path . A quote from one person about the sewage plant tours was funny: "Don't...