Open Wide – Before You Go #3
Safety: Health
Mom says: “Make sure you go to your local travel clinic and get your shots. The last thing you want to do is get sick away from home.” Also, make sure you get good health insurance.
I had to get the following vaccines, travelling as I am from May to August, during monsoon.
Malaria
Warning: Some people have had bad reactions to Larium (hallucinations, weird dreaming). If you have had mental health issues, it is not a good idea to take Larium. Other options are available. Having been depressed before, I will be taking doxycycline. I have to take my first pill the day before I leave, and then one daily, and continue until 4 weeks after I return. It’s a pain, but you gotta do it if you’re travelling the way I am.
Other useful prescription drug: Cipro – anti-Delhi-Belly. Need I say more?
Non prescription: Tylenol, Immodium
Food and Water
Don’t drink it unless it’s boiled. Buy bottled water. Make sure the seal hasn’t been cracked; there’s quite an industry for re-filled bottles.
Eat only thoroughly cooked food, fruits, and vegetables. Remember: boil it, cook it, peel it, or forget it. Stay away from food that has been out a long time. Avoid the street vendors. That being said, I am planning on ignoring the last to some degree because part of the reason I’m going is to sample the food of the street vendors. Samosas. Yum. See above section for remedies for the Delhi Belly I will inevitably attract.
Left and Right Hands
Do not make any kind of exchanges with your left hand. The left hand is considered dirty and the right hand is the only proper hand to use when paying someone, etc.
Many toilets in India are squat toilets. If you are not in 5 star hotels, or in major cities, many toilets do not have toilet paper. Once you have used the toilet, there is a small tap next to the squat toilet and you use your left hand and the water to clean yourself. Contrary to most people’s opinions, this is just as, if not more sanitary, than toilet paper.
Note for women: There is a website from which you can order a travelmate for women that allows girls to pee like a guy and makes staying clean and dry a hell of a lot easier. I’ve ordered it, practiced and it works. It’s a fucking miracle.
Do not eat with your left hand. As a suggestion, practice eating only with your right hand for a while before you leave. Apparently it’s not as easy as it looks. I am about to start practicing now…
More Preparations
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