Jaipur, Tuesday 12 March 2013
I haven't had much chance to write my usual diatribes about life and the universe since I began volunteering. By the time you read this one, you might be wishing I hadn't bothered!
I'll get to the point... I had my first experience of the infamous Delhi Belly this past week. I suppose with hindsight I got off fairly lightly, given that I escaped the vomiting, if not the other emissions. Anyway, I spent Friday morning and afternoon in my sleeping bag, going from hot to cold like you do with the flu. Gabi and I were due to leave late afternoon to go away for the weekend, but I was still feeling a bit wobbly when she got home from the Shrestha school at 3.30pm. I packed (more out of optimism than sense) and waited to see if I'd feel better. Although I was still a bit weak and shivery, we set off in a tuk-tuk around 5pm to catch the bus to Pushkar, a pilgrimage town south of here. More about that later.
I don't know what it was that got to my stomach in the end. Gabi and I had been in the town centre the previous evening, for a wander around the bazaars, and had a lassi and dessert in a decent restaurant. I also had an Indian sweet afterwards. The only other thing I ate was dinner here later that evening, but I was already feeling a bit bloated before dinner. Perhaps it was what we ate in the restaurant, or eating the sweet with dirty fingers... I'll never know. Gabi's stomach wasn't happy either, but she didn't descend into the shivers.
One of the big pluses for me in being in India is being able to enjoy Indian food every day. There's no way I'm going to avoid it, in the hope of not getting ill. And it has been one of the big pleasures for me so far. My stomach has lodged the odd informal inquiry before now, but has then sorted itself out. On Friday, I got the clear message that it had done all it could and was retiring for a while to regroup. Meanwhile, whatever bug it was ran rampant around my guts causing havoc, before my body's cavalry charge put it in its place.
As Lonely Planet says on the subject of food in India, fortunes favours the brave!
I haven't had much chance to write my usual diatribes about life and the universe since I began volunteering. By the time you read this one, you might be wishing I hadn't bothered!
I'll get to the point... I had my first experience of the infamous Delhi Belly this past week. I suppose with hindsight I got off fairly lightly, given that I escaped the vomiting, if not the other emissions. Anyway, I spent Friday morning and afternoon in my sleeping bag, going from hot to cold like you do with the flu. Gabi and I were due to leave late afternoon to go away for the weekend, but I was still feeling a bit wobbly when she got home from the Shrestha school at 3.30pm. I packed (more out of optimism than sense) and waited to see if I'd feel better. Although I was still a bit weak and shivery, we set off in a tuk-tuk around 5pm to catch the bus to Pushkar, a pilgrimage town south of here. More about that later.
I don't know what it was that got to my stomach in the end. Gabi and I had been in the town centre the previous evening, for a wander around the bazaars, and had a lassi and dessert in a decent restaurant. I also had an Indian sweet afterwards. The only other thing I ate was dinner here later that evening, but I was already feeling a bit bloated before dinner. Perhaps it was what we ate in the restaurant, or eating the sweet with dirty fingers... I'll never know. Gabi's stomach wasn't happy either, but she didn't descend into the shivers.
One of the big pluses for me in being in India is being able to enjoy Indian food every day. There's no way I'm going to avoid it, in the hope of not getting ill. And it has been one of the big pleasures for me so far. My stomach has lodged the odd informal inquiry before now, but has then sorted itself out. On Friday, I got the clear message that it had done all it could and was retiring for a while to regroup. Meanwhile, whatever bug it was ran rampant around my guts causing havoc, before my body's cavalry charge put it in its place.
As Lonely Planet says on the subject of food in India, fortunes favours the brave!
Jaki! I finally found your blog! Fantastic to see you on your wonderful adventure. I have another friend who's just done the TSR to Mongolia, will send you a link to his blog.
ReplyDeleteStay safe and enjoy every second!