I’ve been in Nepal for just under 2 weeks, and though it’s my first time in this country, there are certain third-world travel characteristics that are always present regardless of which 3rd world country I happen to be in.
Signs you are travelling in a 3rd world country:
- You always have toilet paper in your purse.
- Bowel movements is a perfectly acceptable conversation topic with people you’ve known for 2 hours.
- You justify any purchase simply by converting into dollars.
- Things that were a novelty at first – drinking soft drinks out of a plastic bag, stray dogs everywhere, cows in the middle of traffic, 6 people on one motorbike – suddenly seem normal.
- Your western wardrobe is slowly replaced by locally made clothing including bright colored pants and Buddha t-shirts.
- You brush your teeth with bottled water. Or at least you do for the first week. Eventually the tap water doesn’t seem so bad.
- “Clean” becomes “Clean enough” and then “It’ll do” and eventually “Whatever”. This applies to the clothes you wear and the bathrooms you visit.
- You never wash your hands with soap. You’re lucky to even wash your hands.
- Hot showers are something to get incredibly excited about.
- Rinsing a plate off with cold water is an acceptable form of doing dishes.
- You have some sort of play-on-words sickness– Delhi belly, Katmandu-flu
- You bargin for everything and eventually lose sight over the fact that you’re standing your ground on a price that translates to less than 50 cents.
- You search for menu items that are the least likely to make you sick.
- Personal space takes on a new meaning as you travel in a vehicle built for 4 at home with at least 8 other people.
- You start to speak English as a foreign language – “I go now” “I come back later” “Is ok?”
Have you travelled in a 3rd country? Is there anything I’ve missed?
Bea, anywhere... 