Being a woman and travelling half of the time alone in Asia is not easy. I am going to write some posts about women related safety issues, here's the first one, I thought of this when talking with some female friends who are also travellers but they haven't been in Asia alone.
Do not talk to strangers
When I was little my parents told me not to talk to strangers and this worked out for me pretty well until I moved to Asia. People here are so nice and so curious about you that they want to get to know. The ways of showing this curiosity go from:- Honking at you from their mortorbikes or cars
- Saying "Hi", smiling and moving their heads when you walk by
- Rolling down the window and screaming things like "Welcome to my country!"
- Stopping their car in the middle of the road at 11pm when they see you walking on a direction that makes no sense.
- Asking you where you are from when you are walking on the street.
- Showing you the places where they like to eat (this applies everywhere we have been but not Thailand).
Do not take food from strangers
Again, I know I shouldn't take food or drinks from people I don't know, but some of the best experiences that I have had are because people gave me food or drinks as presents. Here's some of the best examples:- Bringing you drinks when you share a long bus ride with somebody.
- Giving you fruits that they picked from their gardens
- Inviting you to coffees, even if they don't talk to you and they just seat in the table next to yours
- Inviting you to have tea with them and chat for hours
- Bringing you a birthday cake with candle included because they heard it was your birthday