Cultural Experiences:  Living Among Them

The best part about traveling cheaply is that you are already living with the local people! Whenever you travel, you sit with scores (and scores) of them in the bus or train. You often sleep and eat in the same places that they do; sometimes you share a room with them. Instead of staying in an isolated resort or hotel compound, your pensione is on the backstreets of the village, or next to the town square; you take your breakfast at a stall in the middle of the bustling marketplace. Your life is not theirs, but it is certainly right in the middle of it!

Now, these may not be the "cultural" experiences you had in mind when planning your trip. You thought of visiting ancient temples and fortresses, watching traditional dance, drama, and music performances, taking notes in museums, or perhaps visiting unique tribal groups in isolated mountain retreats. These experiences are all available, and should not be missed. They are what the tourists come to see -- you can see much more. You can know the everyday lives of the people, if you take the initiative to live in their midst. It's not all that difficult, especially if you're on a budget.

There are many styles of travel and you might categorize them by the type of lodging you stay at and who you share it with. If there is room service and local people are not even allowed into the lobby, you are at an upscale resort or some posh hotel. If there is no room service, you have to fold up your own hammock each morning, and the only other inhabitants have four legs or none at all, you are walking alone through the American jungles. More likely, you will be staying at  A). a small hotel with some tourists and tourist amenities,  B). a cheap local hotel with local salesmen, workers, or hookers, or all of them, or  C). a backpacker's hangout full of travelers and "western" food.

You don't have all the options in every country, but if you go for a trip of several months you should have the opportunity to experience a variety of these situations; in fact it is boring to stick to only one. It's great to get out into the hinterlands and see how the peasants really live; it's also great to get into to the city and have a hot shower, a cold beer and a decent cup of coffee. It's great to live among the people and experience their everyday life; but sometimes you need to get away to a travelers' hangout where you can relax in a frankly western manner, away from the scrutiny of local society.

That is why Thailand has become a bit boring me. Every place you go to (and there are only about five or six places travelers actually visit in Thailand) is a traveler's hangout: all the tenants are western travelers, there is an English menu with fried eggs, coffee, marmite, vegemite, porridge, yogurt, museli, and milk shakes; there is a guy in the entryway who speaks very good English and will sell you any and all kinds of excursions, bus tickets, women, boys, drugs, or trinkets. This kind of place is a real pleasure and a relief if you've just come from three or four weeks bushwhacking in the countryside, staying in rip-off Chinese hotels and eating nothing but gang ped and chai. But when you spend your entire stay in Thailand at hangouts such as these, you're missing out on something of the local people and culture.

My first trip to Nepal, I flew into Kathmandu. As every one knows, "Kath" is the gastronomic nirvana of Asian travelers. Historically this was true not only because of the exuberance and creativity of the Nepalese in recreating western food (better Mexican food than any place in South America), but because (15 or 20 years ago) the cheap food you got in much of the rest of Asia -- or in Nepal for that matter -- was appallingly poor and monotonous. Having come from two and a half months in India, I greatly appreciated the food. I had also read that what the locals ate was some "concoction of rice and dal" called "Dal Bhat" which sounded wholly unappetizing.

When I finally headed into the countryside of Nepal, the first bus rest stop was at a small town with 3 cafes serving nothing but "Dal Bhat"; I checked them all to see if they had anything better. When I was finally served my first plate of Dal Bhat, it was great! Simple, but quite good and nourishing rice, dal, vegetable curry, and pickles. Girls passed among the tables ladling out seconds on everything for free. I continued to enjoy the same Dal Bhat all over the countryside of Nepal. I thought of people who had spent four weeks or more in Nepal, and had perhaps never eaten Dal Bhat. They missed out not only the experience, but some good food. It is so easy to do. I myself had quickly become accustomed to the enchiladas, quiche, lemon pie, and viener snitzel in Kathmandu, and was loathe to even try Dal Bhat. I was ashamed of myself for being so elitist, but it happens so easily.

I feel some sympathy for people who travel to places like Bali, Thailand, Nepal -- practically anywhere nowdays -- and are presented with nothing but what I call "tourist" situations. You meet touts who speak English and take you to a lodging full of people like yourself, where you can sit around in your underwear sunbathing if you like. You eat local versions of western food in cafes blasting the latest rock music and full of the same travel people. Then you go to the travel agent next door and buy a ticket on a tourist coach, non-stop, direct to the next traveler's hangout. You'll be sitting next to yet more western travelers. There really are local buses and local hotels in these countries, but you'd feel like a fool using them since "no one" else does.

Cultural Awareness

Part of feeling At Home on the Road, is feeling that you understand, and to some extent are accepted in the social cultures you live among. Social cultures are a fascinating field of study (Anthropology) and the more you learn about them, the more you will be able to understand, accept, and be accepted by the people around you.

Philosophy

There is a different social philosophy in much of the Third World, which may help to explain some behavior. My perception of it is this:

There is a finite amount of the good things in Life. Since there is not enough to go around, the only people who will get the benefits are those who fight for them.

In our modern societies, we like to believe that there is plenty of everything for everybody; that if we just stand in the queue and wait our turn, there will always be enough left over for us to have "our share". When you have seen the doors and windows shut before you get to the head of the queue, you start to realize that if you are going to get "your share", you will have to beat out a lot of other people to do so. That's Life in a lot of the Third World.

This doesn't mean that you should always accept such behavior, or even feel sorry for them, it is just a fresh way of looking at life that you may even find yourself adopting, especially when it is your only hope for a visa or a ticket out of town.

Local Customs

Be sensitive to the cultural values, customs, and taboos in the places you visit. First you must take the effort to find out about them. You can learn a lot just by watching how the local people interact with each other. Most guide books will also give some information about customs and taboos you should observe in order to avoid inadvertently offending the local people.

In general, First World people don't observe as many cultural taboos as in other areas, but there are more than you may realize. Two that come to mind are personal distance and touching. Personal distance is the amount of "space" you need around you to feel that others are not intruding rudely or unnecessarily. In America, we tend to stand relatively far apart while talking. In some countries, even strangers may come up almost nose to nose when carrying on a conversation. We would consider that quite rude and intrusive, but they might be baffled by our negative reactions.

Check out Doing What? under Glimpses of the Road, back on Randy's Travel Page.

In America, only men shake hands, and only on their first introduction. In Latin America, and also much of Europe, it is common for both men and women to shake hands each time they meet and depart, and in France it is common for acquaintances of either sex to kiss cheeks when meeting and parting. I'm always at a loss to know who to kiss and how many times! In much of Asia, touching is quite taboo and shaking hands is also uncommon, although you will meet locals who want to try it out because they know it is your custom. They show some cultural sensitivity. They don't always do it right, but it is the effort that counts!

In East Africa, even the shortest of personal exchanges begins with formal greetings. Before asking directions of someone on the street, you should say "hello" and inquire about their health; to omit doing so is considered rude. This is a good practice in any country. It is not too much effort to learn the standard greeting phrases in the local language of the countries you visit. When you approach someone with the proper greetings, you are not only showing common respect, but perhaps surprising them with your interest in learning their language. A very few words can go a very long way in opening up friendly relations.

Some people find the Mexicans rude or even hostile to tourists. Since I can speak Spanish, I have sometimes noticed a definite change in attitude as soon as they realize that they can deal with me as a "real" person, instead of a rude intrusion into their own lives. Even a few basic phrases can make a real difference, compared to just walking in and confronting people with English.

There are any number of cultural taboos in various countries and you can find entire books written for travelers on the subject. ("Do's and Taboos Around the World" and "Gestures -- The Do's and Taboos of Body Language Around the World", both by Roger E. Axtell.) You can't learn them all, but you should try to learn the basics for the areas you will be visiting. Your best guide is to be very observant of how different people around you behave. In much of Southeast Asia, touching of the head and pointing of feet is considered very rude. For this reason people usually sit on the floor cross-legged, or with their feet behind them. When sitting on a seat, they don't cross their legs so that a foot is pointing at someone else. Putting your hand on a child's head can also be considered quite rude, if not dangerous to the spirit of the child.

In all of the Muslim world and in the Indian sub-continent, the left hand is never used for anything except work and cleaning yourself after going to the toilet. To use it in eating or touching other people is understandably an outrage; stuff it into your pocket so you won't be tempted!

Hand gestures are another area of amusing study. Almost every country has some of their own, and you can be pretty rude sometimes if you just use your own. Even the British and Americans have a significant (and embarrassing) difference in their usage of the two-fingered "victory", or "peace" sign. The upraised thumb from a clenched fist can mean "OK", "Good", "Screw you!", "Men", or "I want a ride", depending on where you are. Watch for reactions! In Mexico, the edge of one hand hit against the other palm means to "pay money"; in Japan, you use the circled thumb and index finger with the other fingers extended (our sign for "OK") to mean the same thing; but this can also mean "sex" in some countries.

The most commonly misunderstood is the "waving" of the hand. Waving your fingers with the palm extended outward from you usually means "come here", while doing so with your palm facing in to you means "come back soon" and is used to say good-bye. These are exactly the opposite of what North Americans do!

These are just a few examples to give you the idea. Try not to use too many of your own handsigns in the sign language you use; you could be grossly misunderstood.

The wearing of shoes indoors, especially inside of religious buildings can be almost unforgivable; this taboo is common to Buddhists, Hindus, Moslems, and Sikhs. Often there will be signs, or piles of shoes outside. Don't commit the terrible offense of wearing you shoes into a place where the locals do not. If you don't want to leave them behind, you are usually allowed to carry them with you.

In India, there are a number of temples which non-Hindus are not allowed to enter, and several others where you cannot bring anything made of leather. In Sikh temples, you should cover your head, as well as going barefoot. In Bali, you should wear a sash to enter any temple; in Latin America covered arms are required in many religious and government buildings, and women should cover their hair in churches.

Finally, you should be aware that local people will not necessarily come up and reprimand you for violating their taboos. They are either too shy, or feel it is beneath their dignity to point out such offenses, or even to approach you. Do not assume (as many travelers do) that because no one stops you, your behavior is accepted. They have seen rude behavior before and it is not their responsibility to prevent every berk from making a fool of himself. It is not a children's game to see what you can get away with; don't wait for someone to complain before deciding to follow the local rules. You may unknowingly (or knowingly) be offending the local people and creating a bad impression as well as a bad reputation that will affect all foreigners that follow after you. Do the rest of us a favor by preparing the way with conscientious behavior.

Photography

At an isolated Tibetan temple, I took several photos of some of the monks near an altar. They had seen me come in, and appeared friendly and unperturbed (as they always do). As one of the monks left, he came up and smiled at me. Then he looked at my camera and smilingly shook his head from side to side. I felt terribly embarrassed because I realized that I had already offended their customs by taking several photos. But it was far beneath them to get excited about it and chase me out.

Some people have the dubious blessing of the journalist's lack of scruples about photographing anything and everybody. In some places you will only offend shy people by taking these great photos, in others you may open yourself to bodily harm! In Arabic countries, the photographing of local women is strictly taboo and only slightly less dangerous than photographing a man's camels! In Kenya, you risk a barrage of spears being thrown into your truck if you are caught taking photos of tribal people without their permission! This is not a joke. Again, while people may not complain, it is clear to see when they do not want the intrusion of cameras into their faces and private lives. Be sensitive to avoid offending people and ruining it for the rest of us. Always ask before taking photos of people. It doesn't hurt to strike up a conversation and show some interest in them as human beings, first. If they refuse, save your money and buy some of the fine photo books that are now available about most interesting spots on the globe.

There are still a few places left where local people are friendly about random photography, and some will even pose for you when you point in their direction. I have had several people come up to me and ask to have their photos taken, even when I explained that I could not produce an instant photo. On a number of occasions, I have taken people's addresses and sent them photos after I returned home. Often they wrote their address in an unintelligible script which I cut out and taped to the front of the envelope! But in many places, just pulling out your camera will demote you to the ranks of exploitative imperialist tourist -- or worse, journalist!

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All text Copyright © 1992-2008, Randy R. Johnson.