7 Fascinating Foreign Traditions

If you’re traveling to any of these countries, here are some of the quirky local customs they observe in case you want to get in on the fun!

Piercings In India

Religious traditions can be quite elaborate, but none are nearly as aesthetically obvious as the intricate piercings that Indians undergo as part of their Hindu beliefs.

There’s a ritual called Hindu Thaipusam Piercings, and it involves tongue piercings, nose piercings, etc. If you notice a lot of piercings during your travels to India, don’t stare too long since it’s likely due to the person’s commitment to their religious beliefs.

The Monkey Buffet Festival In Thailand

You’ll find some bizarre things (compared to North American culture) when you travel to Thailand, but perhaps the most bizarre is the annual Monkey Buffet Festival in Lopburi, Bangkok.

If you arrive around festival time, you might be surprised to find monkeys sitting on buffet tables while they stuff their faces with food.

This is an annual festivity that involves nearly 4,000 kg of food, mainly fruit and vegetables, and draws thousands of visitors. It makes for a hilarious and interesting event because it draws around 3,000 monkeys — and as we all know, monkeys are hilarious!

Throwing Cinnamon At Single People In Denmark

Being single late into a person’s 20s and even 30s is becoming much more common, but apparently, Denmark hasn’t gotten the message.

If you’ve turned 25 and have yet to marry, expect your friends to randomly ambush you with a shower of cinnamon at any time, in any place. It gets worse the longer you stay single with the 30s bringing on a full-out pepper shower.

Pulling Fingers In Austria

There are a lot of strange sports out there, but competitive finger-pulling might top the list! Austrians, especially in Fingerhakeln, take finger-pulling very seriously and even have a set of rules to accompany it.

The point of the game is to drag your opponent across the table using just a finger, so if you’re feeling bold, challenge someone to a finger match if you’re in a Fingerhakeln pub. The same sport is practiced in Bavaria, Germany as well.

La Tomatina Festival In Spain

There are very few competing festivals, but as far as we know, La Tomatina in Spain is the biggest tomato fight in the entire world. Basically, everyone in the town of Bunol, plus roughly 50,000 visitors from all over the world,engage in the biggest food fight known to man. This year the festival is on August 29, so bring a pair of goggles and get ready to get messy!

Welcome Drinks In Fiji

There are lots of good reasons to visit Fiji, and one of them is the special welcome that visitors get when entering villages.

Upon arriving in a Fiji community, visitors are greeted with a unique cocktail called Kava. It’s made from squeezing roots into a wooden bowl, and it has a rather… “special” flavor to it.

Camel Wrestling In Turkey

You might feel like interfering if you see two camels fighting, but in Turkey, feel free to jump right in! Similar to cockfighting or bull running in Spain, camel fighting is a common phenomenon in the local Turkish culture.

Fortunately, injuries rarely happen as two male camels fight. Caution is advised, though, as they can get quite rowdy and they also tend to work up quite a nasty smell to go along with the saliva discharge.