The Tripbase.com blog comes up with some interesting travel lists all the time. Today’s list highlighted the most friendly countries in the world.

I wanted to see what TravelPod bloggers thought about the people in these places.

Turns out all of them passed the real traveler test. All 10 bloggers found friendly people wherever they went.

1. Ireland

Ilya with Niemh, the newborn baby

We spent some time at Kevin’s parents’ house in Athlone, which was pretty quaint. We met his sister, 2-week old niece, and his aunt, Carmel. They were all very friendly–Carmel even offered to let us stay with her the next time we are in Ireland! – Ilyaandrebecca

2. USA

Cayenne92 loved the staff at Kings' Land hotel in Hawaii

Overall, I would say good job. Maybe a couple days of operation to iron out the kinks and clean up the dust. But they are in the right direction. The staff here is very friendly and accommodating. – Cayenne92

3. Malawi

One half of Kirstyandsye on the train to Malawi

One thing instantly noticeable after crossing the border was that people in Malawi are noticeably more friendly and laid back. Everybody says ‘hello’ and theres far less agro in places like bus stations and markets, people are quite happy to let you decide when you want something rather than stuffing it in your face and telling you you do. Maybe its cos there’s much more of a beach-type life because of the lake, maybe its to do with the missionaries or maybe its that there reggae music playing wherever you go – whatever it is, its dead refreshing. – Kirstyandsye

4. Fiji

Hotel staff preparing Spoonski's dinner

I have to say the people in the villages were very friendly and seemd content despite the fact that by our standards they are living in very poor conditions. Anyone who visits Fiji and is cocooned in their luxury resort will get the wrong impression of the country. – Spoonski

5. Indonesia

Lisa_nz's friend relaxing in Indonesia

Having found this fantastic room at such a good price was great, but we also found the people in the area some of the most genuinely friendly that we have come across in Bali. There was no one around trying to sell us stuff, other than the odd snorkel trip. Alan went for a walk quite early one morning and met a family along the way. They invited him in, offered him fruit and were quite happy to chat. They didn’t speak any English, and his Indonesian is fairly limited – but they managed. – Lisa_nz

6. Vietnam

Bebabui drinking with the village elder in Dalat

The City of Dalat is a bit run down outside of the city centre but downtown is really very nice and much cleaner than the city of Sapa. It has a fabulous lake and a golf course, pretty lakeside cafes and restaurants, friendly people who smile constantly and traffic that is half decent. The gardens are welll maintained and there are benches dotted along the park where we can sit peacefully and enjoy the view. – Bebabui

7. Samoa

Johannajulien loved the staff at Malaetia's Resort in Samoa

The absolutely best thing about the place were the friendly and hospitable owners, Sung and his wife Otilia, who invited us for their family Sunday meal and cooked meals for us twice a day even when the meals were not included in our price! – Johannajulien

8. Thailand

Haz14 enlisted the help of some friendly Thais to find his way to Kanchanaburi

We successfully managed to negotiate our way out of Bangkok and to the bus terminal by metered taxi (although I pretty much had to turn the meter on!) and despite initially boarding the wrong bus, we managed to enlist the help of a couple of friendly locals and head for Kanchanaburi, home to the Bridge on the River Kwae made famous by the events of World War Two and the film of the same name. – Haz14

9. Scotland

Scenicroute2009 making dinner with new friends in Scotland

The locals here are super friendly for the most part. We went into a local pub the first night. It was race night and the pub was crowded with people placeing bets. People came up and introduced themselves, even explaining how the race night worked. The next night we went to a pub that had karaoke which was a blast. I danced with men in kilts and they taught us some Scottish songs. – Scenicroute2009

10. Turkey

Helman's new friends made him tea on the bus

In fact we didn’t actually arrive to Sanliurfa until 1pm although the bus reached the local otogar (bus terminal) at 8 in the morning. Why? Well it turned out that the people here are extremely friendly, a lot of them speak German or want to practice their English or simply want to have a small chat with a foreigner (there are not many tourists coming visiting here). And Manuel`s blond hair does attract a lot of attention, even from people several hundred meters away (they come running from everywhere;) So until we found a place to stay we had at least 15 conversations with strangers in the street and got invited for tea 3 times. – Helman

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Happy travels!

The perspective in this photo is priceless. Check out the man in dark clothing at the bottom of the screen. Awesome! Ebowley is a fantastic photographer, make sure you check out the rest of the pictures in her blog.

We reach the summit, exhausted, heaving, gasping for air. Our muscles are screaming, our stomachs are churning and our heads are light and dizzy from the exertion. We don’t care. The pale blue of dawn is peaking through the fading night and we know we are minutes away from the sun rising. We find a spot,over looking the mountains in the distance and enjoy the serenity that is around us. No-one speaks.

This was a magical experience. – Ebowley