TRAVELS AROUND THE WORLD
Traveling Through the World and Through Life
Gabon at the Equator , 2001
“
Just
16 LOUISVILLE MEDICINE walk three blocks down the street , turn right and you will see where Katmandu originated .” As those directions were given to Dr . Jerry Lacy and me in 1986 , I did not consider them any different from receiving directions at home . Then , we turned right , and immediately I put my camera away because I felt very uncomfortable . The main street was more mud than dirt with a ditch on each side for sewage , and for humans and animals to relieve themselves . Oxen pulling wooden carts with hay , vegetables and other goods filled the streets alongside people and animals who meandered down the street . Walking block after block , I became aware of how uncomfortable I felt .
This was my first trip to a developing nation , and the term to describe how I felt was culture shock , meaning my own uncomfortable reaction to an unfamiliar situation . Sixteen days later when we started on the journey back to the U . S ., we re-visited the same street , and there was no such feeling . What happened ? We had lived in the
by DAVID DAGEFORDE , MD
culture for 16 days : sleeping in tents surrounded by yaks , drinking tea with yak milk and bread with yak butter , and making our own “ ditches ” as we hiked towards the sights of Mount Everest . We had befriended sherpas and attended a wake with Buddhist monks in a room filled with mounds of rice while the monks played the Dungchen ( Tibetan horn ).
We were mesmerized by the beauty of the mountains , especially after leaving Namche Bazaar and getting our first view of Mount Everest . We had engaged the culture and the people , and we were no longer uncomfortable . Little did I know I would be fortunate to experience many cultures over the next 25 years . Culture shock was no longer an issue on later trips to Mount Kilimanjaro and Mount Elbrus ; instead , there was excitement to learn more about the local culture and people . In Tanzania we visited with our climbing guide Thomas and his family , where he showed us their brick house under construction , only halfway completed after seven years because of the expense of the bricks . In Southern Russia on the way to Elbrus , we slept in the same complex as the Cuban soccer team , and we took pictures with a local farmer riding his donkey in his traditional garb .
In 1994 , I changed direction from hiking and climbing to short