Before leaving Canada for Nepal, I was warned by many people that I was in for quite the shock. I grew up in a suburb north of Toronto. Drinking water is not a problem for us, when it’s hot I wear clothing that shows my legs and shoulders and, we definitely have never had to deal with the aftermath of a deadly earthquake.

Kathmandu was unlike anywhere I have ever been. Incredibly dusty (an effect from the earthquake apparently), and very loud (the city implemented a honking ban a few days before I left), with cows everywhere (literally just hanging out in the middle of the road).

The most shocking thing for me was the drive from the airport to my hostel. Nepal doesn’t seem to have very many traffic laws. Instead of checking blind spots before merging lanes, drivers simply honk to let people know they are coming in. If someone is where your car is going, then that person honks to let you know they are there. No one seems to actually check for other vehicles, just listens for the honks.

Pedestrians are just as bad. Walking out into the middle of traffic with their hands up to stop the cars. It’s honestly a miracle there aren’t more accidents (I didn’t see a single one while I was there).

I actually had mentally prepared myself for some serious culture shock before leaving Canada but I was fine. After spending some time in Kathmandu, I even learned how to be a pedestrian there, crossing streets without looking, hand up to stop traffic. The few times I came close to being hit by a motorcycle was when I was being cautious. Looking both ways before crossing seemed to cause more harm than good and moments of hesitation at seeing a vehicle fast approaching almost ended terribly for me.

It wasn’t until I was on route to Cambodia, with a stop over in Bangkok, that I experienced a bit of culture shock. Although I don’t know if I would classify what I felt as culture shock, but more of “big city” shock.

After spending a month in Nepal, including two weeks on a mountain trekking to Annapurna Base Camp, seeing the bright lights of Bangkok and the tall buildings of the city was incredibly overwhelming.

The fact alone that I took a subway from the airport into the city was shocking to me. I hadn’t seen infrastructure like that in a month.

There were no more mountains looming in the background. Just tall buildings – buildings that exceeded five stories – looming all around.

And the most shocking thing of all? Bangkok has McDonald’s. And Starbucks. Nepal has Oreos and, even that, I’m not too sure of the authenticity.

I didn’t even realize until I was in Bangkok that part of the beauty of Nepal is the lack of big Western chains. All the Western influences that Nepal did have were aimed towards trekkers and even that was known to be “Nepali quality.” Meaning it was the best damn knock-off you would ever see but the product wouldn’t last.

It’s funny how going from Toronto, a big city in itself with Starbucks on every corner and buildings taller than five stories, to the dust and rubble of Kathmandu didn’t affect me. Everything in Kathmandu was so interesting to me because it was all so different from what I was used to in Canada.

But going from Kathmandu to Bangkok was entirely too overwhelming.