What You Need to Know Before Visiting Asia

Asia is a remarkable part of the world that millions of travellers visit every year. The eastern culture is vibrant with numerous traditions. Whether we’re talking about China, Myanmar, Cambodia, Thailand or Vietnam, there’s plenty to see and experience. However, before you pack your bags, there are several important things to consider.

Health First

Many travellers focus on planning the trip and seeing which sites they’ll visit, but the first step should be your health and safety. Going to the other side of the world is a big change for your body. You need to take all the necessary measures to prepare yourself for the local conditions. While the locals are used to the presence of particular viruses and diseases, your body is not. That’s why it’s essential to get all the necessary shots before your start your journey.

Make sure that you begin the process months before you go to Asia. The local pharmacy will need to check the vaccine supplies, and it takes time for your body to develop the antibodies. Some of the shots you should get include:

  • Hepatitis A, B, Typhoid Vaccine
  • Tetanus, polio and diphtheria Vaccine
  • Rabies and Encephalitis Vaccine
  • Yellow Fever and Malaria Vaccine

Some of these are related to particular parts of Asia. If you’re not visiting them, you won’t need to take all of the abovementioned shots. Check the requirements with your local doctor.

Research and Plan

After learning which shots you’ll have to take, use the time to research your destinations. Create a detailed plan of sights you’re planning to visit. That will be the foundation of your travel plans. You can then book accommodation and plan how much time each of these destinations is going to take. After the essentials are out of the way, it’s time to research the following:

  • Travel visas
  • Travel insurance
  • Getting the local currency
  • Prepare a map

Once you figure out all these details, there’s more to learn about the countries. Head over to online publications that specialise in travel and understand more about the culture. Knowing some customs will keep you from accidentally offending someone. Additionally, you’ll find out which are the perfect places for eating out, what are the local scams to avoid and what are some other local attractions to explore.

Remember to always have cash on you, as some rural parts of Asia don’t have ATMs. Get ready to haggle, as the locals usually overcharge foreigners.

Check the Weather

The weather in Asia can be quite tricky. It’s best to run a thorough check for the period of your stay. Use separate weather sources to get the most realistic idea of what it’s going to look like. There’s an important rule to follow — avoid the monsoon season. It lasts from June to October. During this period, the weather quickly changes and can get wet and windy.

Travelling outside this period is better for all travellers, as the chance of bad weather is lower.

Should Hiking Be Considered a Sport?

Many sports started out as a hobby that gradually became more popular. However, in order for a hobby to be a sport, it needs to have a competitive aspect. Collecting stamps is a hobby, but it’s not really competitive, as the only thing you can do is compare your collection to someone else’s. Video games are competitive, and those that really focus on player vs. player dynamic are now eSports. This is why it’s difficult to place hiking into the sports category because the whole concept is somewhere in the middle. So, let’s take a close look and see if hiking should be a sport. 

Can Hiking Be Competitive? 

Hiking is basically faster walking, but not fast enough to be considered running. Meaning, it’s always physically possible for hikers to go faster, and the reason they don’t is that they are not racing one another. That being said, people can compete in terms of how many miles or kilometers they can traverse during their hike. In other words, you can make it about the distance and add some rules on top to make it more interesting. However, would this be enough to make hiking a sport? 

Why Hiking Doesn’t Work as a Sport

The sport needs to be a spectacle, and people need to demonstrate their athletic fitness, fitness, endurance, or another physical aspect that would be also entertaining. Hiking, although it can test endurance, wouldn’t be too entertaining to spectate, and it would probably last for hours or days. It can be impressive to hear how many kilometres someone has passed on foot, and on difficult terrain, but no one would be interested in watching the whole thing happen. In other words, you can’t make hiking interesting without turning it into a race.

A Potential Solution

Perhaps there can be a sport that could rely on hiking but with a different theme. Hiking is about exploring nature, so why not turn it into a treasure hunt. There could be a long trail involved, but the majority of the points are scored by uncovering treasures and bringing them to the final destination. This way of running wouldn’t make sense, and the best thing to do would be to slowly explore the surroundings and find the hidden objects. 

Competitors might need to solve certain puzzles in order to get the items or at least some hints where the items could be.

It doesn’t really make the whole thing more exciting to watch, but it makes for a more entertaining competition for those who are participating. 

Conclusion 

So even if it is healthy and treated as physical activity, hiking cannot be considered a sport. It can be competitive on its own, but that doesn’t make it interesting for those who are watching. If we were to make it about speed or distance, it would no longer be considered hiking, and that’s why it can never be a sport or a stand-alone competition.