Tag: <span>Lessons</span>

Adventures

From Nepal to Culture Shock

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.

Adventures

Lessons from Nepal

Nothing is as scary as you think it is.

Nepal was my first real big trip by myself. It was the furthest I had ever been from home and the furthest I had ever been from what I was accustomed to. I was terrified before I left my home in Toronto. I knew this was the most uncomfortable situation I had ever put myself in. Yes, it was scary. But it was also exhilarating and exciting. While I do think having a little bit of fear is a good thing, it made me more cautious. This is a good thing because when traveling on my own, there is no one looking out for me, but me. I realize now that nothing is as scary as I thought it would be. Had I let my fears overtake me, I would have missed out on a lot of beauty.

Don’t eat the cucumbers

Or any raw fruits and vegetables for that matter. Unless you can peel it. Yes, I know. Rookie mistake. But after three weeks of eating nothing but Dal and curry all I wanted was an uncooked salad with raw vegetables. Should have let it go.

Fleas can bite humans

And it sucks.

I completely understand now why dogs scratch as much as they do when they have fleas. My final week in Nepal, I had flea bites on my feet and ankles, but had no idea what these bites were. The bites looked like red bulls-eyes (unlike any mosquito bite I had ever seen) and didn’t have a pattern to them (so bed bugs were out of the question). They also had gotten infected from the amount of scratching I was doing, so my feet were swollen and red with puss oozing out of the spots. Disgusting I know. And not knowing what they were was very unnerving.

I called my mom in tears one night because one of the bites felt like an insect was trying to scratch its way out of my leg. The itchiness was uncontrollable and, literally took over all my thoughts. Two weeks later, with three different antibiotic recommendations, I’m still trying to heal the bites (although, thank goodness, the itching has gone away and they do seem to be improving).

A new sense of direction

I don’t mean this in some sort of deep, philosophical way. I literally mean that I gained a better sense of direction.

I am amazing at getting lost. It’s a hidden talent really. If I can’t see the North Star or the movement of the sun in the sky, it is guaranteed that I will go the wrong way. Left instead of right, North instead of South, West instead of North. Wait… Which way is West again? That’s left, right? Even following Google Maps does nothing for me.

So spending two weeks hiking up to Annapurna Base Camp on trails that take you so far from where you started seems impossible, and was so confusing to me. Spending one week in Kathmandu where Google Maps says to turn left on Tri Devi Marg but you cannot find a street sign anywhere because, apparently Nepali people don’t believe in street signs, left me walking around in circles half the time.

And then I figured out that the temples, stupas and shrines were a good way of finding my way around the city. Next thing I knew, I was going left when I was supposed to be going left. I was walking by temples that would lead me home and shrines that told me I had to make a right. I wasn’t getting lost anymore! I knew where I was, how to get to where I wanted to go, and how to get home.

Maybe that was just because I was spending a decent amount of time in Kathmandu and Pokhara, but (knock on the North Star) I haven’t gotten lost once yet in Cambodia.