When we come to another country, we encounter local customs, many of which may seem strange and even repulsive. That's what will certainly surprise those who decide to travel to Asia.
This is the first thing that travelers who travel to an Asian country for more than a week face. If a vending machine is an obligatory element of minimal comfort for Russians, then in Thailand and Malaysia they use laundry services. There are cheaper places where you can come with your own powder — load the laundry into the machine and wait for the machine to finish working. More expensive options are available, where the staff will do everything themselves, but this does not guarantee a good quality of service.
Finding a proper place to wash is a real challenge.
You never know if things will be returned to you without stains and in good condition. Sometimes they can fade or even get mildewed in places, because someone else's clothes are thrown at your laundry in a private laundry.
Once I put clothes and sneakers in the Balinese laundry, but I forgot to warn about the obvious thing for us: shoes need to be washed separately. As a result, the white T-shirts turned blue, and all this did not bother the laundry owner at all.
How to get out of this situation? Most travelers prefer to wash delicate items with their hands. Bed linen and clothes can be sorted and placed independently in a washing machine in the laundry, choosing the appropriate mode. It is cheaper, and there is a guarantee that other people's things will not be added to your belongings.
And seasoned travelers often just put aside things that they feel sorry to try to put in order in such conditions, and wait for washing in another country.
I also prefer not to give clothes to Asian laundries. And I carry dirty things with me until I can find a place with a washing machine or find myself in a country where I will be confident in the quality of services.
In Asia, they really litter everywhere. People here do not care about the environmental situation: it is perfectly normal for them to store garbage near some beautiful natural place, throw them over a fence or into the ocean. And on country roads, it is quite possible to find cows lying on a pile of plastic.
I have often seen locals throwing garbage or relieving themselves in canals that supply water for watering fields. And this certainly affects the quality of future products and the state of the ocean shore. Travelers often ask themselves: is it really pleasant for people to live like this?
After all, there are cities that literally turn into real landfills!
Unfortunately, it is difficult to understand the reasons for this behavior of local residents. Perhaps, over the centuries, they have become accustomed to using exclusively environmentally friendly household items, such as banana leaves, and then throwing them out into the street. Globalization has come , but customs have not changed. Some also see the reason in the low standard of living and problems with the formation of urban space.
Meanwhile, garbage from the streets does not go away, and you need to be mentally prepared for this if you are going to travel around Asia.
Even toilets can surprise! So, in Indonesia, the cost of visiting them will depend on how you will relieve yourself: big or small. In the first case, you will be given toilet paper. But, fortunately, this issue is not particularly controlled.
It is also common to see a water supply hose in toilets, with which local residents wash themselves. In general, this method is quite hygienic, but it is far from the most convenient. In addition, after washing, the question arises of how to wash your hands with soap.
The main reason for such an exotic way of selling is that people in Asia often ride mopeds that do not need to be filled with a lot of fuel at once.
Like local drivers, 5 years ago I bought 1-2 liters of gasoline and poured it into the tank on the spot. This can be done even today — the only exceptions are, perhaps, only large cities. And it's much more convenient than standing in long queues at gas stations.
At the same time, the quality of fuel in stores is no worse, so the option is generally working.
That's just confused by the fact that the seller pours gasoline with his bare hands, often splashing some of the liquid around or on his hands. And then they can also put the fruit in a bag and accept the money. So it turns out not very hygienic.
Instead of replacing old cables, providers prefer to run new ones. The result is a huge number of wires that stretch along the roadway. They hang by the ton! The wires are not particularly dangerous, but they seriously spoil the appearance of the streets. However, residents and government officials are not at all concerned about this situation.
Food delivery will surprise few people today: It is available in America, Russia, and Europe. In Asia, this service is also provided — it is used by both local and tourists. That's just the cost of delivery here is much higher than in a restaurant or cafe.
Therefore, most residents prefer the service of the "village" format, when food is simply poured into a bag and given to customers in this form.
They eat it with spoons directly from the package, and deliver it on bicycles or motorcycles.
This is a very common way of eating for local hard workers — such a set lunch in an Asian way. Of course, this food is consumed only by representatives of the poor, who are not afraid of unsanitary conditions and, perhaps, the questionable taste of the dishes.
I definitely do not recommend tourists to buy such food, because it is prepared in the same cart on which it was delivered, and is placed in a bag with not the cleanest hands. Such a meal may not be safe for your health.
The lack of traffic rules and intuitive driving are very popular in Asian cities. But the most amazing thing is that there are no sidewalks for pedestrians, and no one is going to let them pass on the roadway! This is typical, for example, for Malaysia and Indonesia.
So if you are going to travel to Asia, you will have to be extremely careful. Motorcycles, cars, loaded carts pulled by horses are participants in a very chaotic road traffic in which a pedestrian is not given a special place.
And in order to rent a moped, it is advisable either to have experience driving two‑wheeled vehicles and the appropriate category VU , or go to three to five classes with an instructor from the local Russian-speaking community.
