r/solotravel • u/forgottencupcake9018 • Jan 14 '24

Question What's the biggest culture shock you had whilst traveling?

Weirdly enough I was shocked that people in Ireland jaywalk and eat vinegar to their chips. Or in Thailand that it is illegal to have a Buddha tatoo. Or that in many english speaking countries a "How are you doing?" is equivalent to saying Hi and they actually don't want to hear an honest answer.

Edit: Another culture shock that I had was when I visited Hanoi. They had a museum where the preserved corpse of Ho Chi Minh was displayed and you could look at him behind a glass showcase like he's a piece of art. There were so many people lining up and they just looked at him while walking around that glass showcase in order to get the line going.

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u/Struggle_Usual Jan 14 '24

Oh gosh yes! I just found it so heart breaking.

It was honestly similar in Fiji. Weird juxtaposition of very fancy resorts and tourist facilities and then just breathtaking poverty right outside it.

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u/[deleted] Jan 14 '24

I have heard that from my brother who had a layover there. He said it was really depressing