invisible

Question to seasoned and semi-seasoned travellers:

What were your personal discoveries when travelling to new countries, which were unknown/not obvious to you before embarking the trip?

In other words, what you've learned in a particular place/country place which was not plastered around Internet (or FT, to be honest)?

Thanks

jrl767

lhrsfo

You can read as much as you want about a destination, but you won't begin to understand how it operates until you go there. The reading will tell you about the past but not about what makes people tick, how they operate and where the city or region is going.

yyznomad

Basically what @lhrsfo says.

But the first thing that came to mind when seeing the OP was public transportation in whatever city I arrive at for the first time... despite everything I read up on the internet/FT or in tourist guides (e.g. Lonely Planet, Footprint, Fodors, etc.) it's the little nuanced things that you have to figure out on the fly. You always thing you "get it" beforehand, but then realize it's slightly different than what you read or interpreted from others. Of course, the more and more places you go, the easier it is to get the hang of things because you've become that much more "savvy", if you will.

tmorse6570

I had read about and then forgotten that in Japan, they don't like crinkled or even folded bills. I had shoved some bills into my pocket and when I went to pay for something the cashier almost wouldn't take them as payment.

OskiBear

I love return trips to favorite destinations. Once I've hit all the main tourist spots/attractions, I love the freedom of simply being there, not having a specific agenda (other than, perhaps, a few good meals each day), and generally wandering among the local people. In the understandable rush to experience the main attractions, I feel that I miss out sometimes on the "soul" of the place. So, it's nice to have trips where there's the initial "tick the box" kind of touring and then later have the generally unstructured type of trip.

MissJ

I totally agree. I think there is so much desire to go somewhere new every time, but going back is really great. It can often be a better trip than the first since you know how things work, can get around, don't need to go to any big attractions if you don't feel like it. For me, London is a prime example of this. I have been so many times that I generally show up with no plans, just wander and see where I end up. I get on the tube and barely have to look at the map. I've seen all the big stuff, but now I can go to the little places and seek out smaller experiences. I'll go for one night just at the end of a trip to Europe and visit a favorite restaurant or two and walk around. Of course I've been to places around the world that I really didn't like and will probably never visit again, but I try to make at least a second trip to every place that I do like and just take it in more slowly.

rosensfole

Yes. Absolutely spot on. This is where you really discover the things no guidebook or travel blog can cover. My first trip to Singapore was all "by the book" - really enjoyed the visit but I learned nothing. On the 2nd visit I had been put in touch with a local; a completely different view of the place was gained having been introduced to a way of life I could never have imagined. The 3rd trip was different again as I deliberately inveigled my way in to the world of the ex-pat - another eye opener. Finally, my last trip was a relax and soak it up affair yet this opened many other avenues as I met up with fellow travelers and ended up watching the NYE fireworks from one of the city's swankiest apartments. Something new and unexpected on every re-visit.

It was similar with Lisbon; I really didn't get on with the city or the area on my first trip - I simply didn't know anything about the place. Now it's my favourite city in the world to visit and, again, each visit chucks up a fresh experience.

gfunkdave

Or could be that you tried to hand the bills directly to the cashier instead of putting them on the tray first? (Handing someone uncovered money is a faux pas)

For me, the biggest realization is that people are the same everywhere. Before going to China I thought that it was populated by scary robot-types bent on world domination but then realized that the Chinese people I met, like everywhere else, just want to have a comfortable existence, a nice place to live, and a better life for their kids.

BuildingMyBento

By searching for citizenship overseas?

tmorse6570

No. She was definitely more concerned that the bill was bent and had folds. She kept trying to flatten them out before placing them in the register.

CMK10

That Sweden at one point had a nuclear weapons program. Seemed very anti-Swedish to me but while at the Swedish Military History Museum I learned this along with the fact that they had a huge global empire in the 16-17th Centuries including a North American colony.

pinniped

In Nepal, I've had notes rejected for being both too worn and too new. They definitely don't like torn or excessively worn notes, but are also skeptical of brand-new ones as well. I was carrying a version of the Canadian $20 that was both super crisp and of a fairly recent design overall, and several places wouldn't take it at all. The currency that moved the easiest was the US $20, of which I had a few in my wallet with a "normal" amount of wear to them.

I've always heard that some places don't like Benjamins or the bigger Euro notes because they're popular counterfeiting targets.

As for a thing you can't get from the Internet: the intensity with which all of your senses are engaged during any trip to India. No amount of reading, film, cuisine, or knowing Indians living in other parts of the world can fully prepare you for a trip there. You just have to go and immerse yourself in it. I know the same is true for many travel destinations but I find it even more striking in India than almost anywhere else.

thebakaronis

Here are a few of mine:

1. Street dogs in Turkey are the laziest street dogs I've seen anywhere. It was unusual to see one that even twitched its eyelid. Even when they follow your movements they do so by moving their eyeballs, not their heads. In general Turks aren't fond of dogs, which is why most of them are feral.
2. Buenos Aires, on the other hand, loves dogs. It is full of dogs and dog parks. And dog poop on the sidewalks. If I were a pooch, that's where I'd want to live.
3. jäääär is one of the (if not the) longest sequence of vowels in a word. It's Estonian for the edge of the ice.
4. I knew that the border between Turkey & Armenia is sealed, but I didn't know that you can fly from IST to EVN nonstop, which sort of defeats the purpose of sealing the border.
5. Many of Turkey's famous historical structures were architected by an Armenian, which, given recent history between the two peoples, is ironic.
6. Israel is really small. Yes, you see the map and you think it's not a big country. But it appears even smaller in real life. And the lines between "Israel" and "Palestine" are blurred in a lot of places. The other thing that's really small is the River Jordan. When I went there it looked no bigger than a stream created by a dozen drunk soccer fans pissing in unison after a night at the pub.
7. Colombia is nowhere as dangerous as people in North America think of it. Nor is Mexico. In fact Medellin today -- even the comunas that were the heartland of Escobar's activities -- is safer than lots of North American cities. Stop watching the news and just go.

84fiero

One evening in our hotel in Arequipa, Peru, my wife and I heard a faint sound of a horribly rendered, tinny sounding rendition of the tune "Under the Sea". The sound gradually grew louder. We finally looked out the window to see that the sound was coming from loudspeakers mounted to a garbage truck coming down the street. When it stopped near our hotel, it was mind-numbingly loud and we noticed the driver and his assistant wearing hearing protection. People were bringing their trash bags out to the truck (though I think some trash cans were already sitting out by the curb). So presumably the music is intended to alert residents of the garbage truck's approach.

Then another evening in Ollantaytambo, Peru we were eating ice cream in front of a convenience store and heard a loud, similarly horribly tune - though not one we recognized this time. Before long a garbage truck came around the corner playing some awful tune on 30-second repeat. Most residents here brought out large buckets and simply emptied the contents into the back of the garbage truck. A few folks had garbage bags. Once again, the driver and assistant hard hearing protection - understandably so!

It was interesting and amusing seeing a unique approach to a mundane task that we don't even think about. Basically it was like the opposite of the ice cream truck coming around with its music blaring. Only instead of frozen, creamy treats inside, these trucks had stinking garbage!