Safe Eating While Traveling Abroad

[Jinmyo]

That was on last week on Food Network Canada. There are several A Cook's Tour episodes deemed too grisly for U.S. audiences. It was just a short bit about the firing range place in Cambodia. Carrot Top lost.

ediot:

I guess that's pretty obvious since bourdain's posting.

[Fat Guy]

Carrot Top rhymes with bibimbap.

http://www.carrottop.com/

[Jinmyo]

It's said "Cirit Tap"? I feel like such a fool.

[Jason Perlow]

Put the web browser down, Steven, and go back to bed.

[Fat Guy]

It's said "Cirit Tap"? I feel like such a fool.

Well that's how they say it in Boston, at least.

[Jinmyo]

It's said "Cirit Tap"? I feel like such a fool.

Well that's how they say it in Boston, at least.

Wouldn't that be "CAH-rot TAHP"?

Do go to bed, dear Steve, as Jason sayeth.

[mb7o]

uh, just to add a serious comment, antimalarials also depend on location.

because of excessive use of antimalarials, certain ones are not effective in certain areas. (e.g. larium in much of thailand).

there's also a new anti-malarial (mefloqueline/malarone?). but you should talk to a travel doctor before going, or at least read the cdc site.

a common reccomendation now is to not take a prophylaxis, but take the drugs needed to start a course of treatment should you come down with something, time is of the essence. and avoid mosquitos, though that's not completely possible.

[bourdain]

To clarify: Yes. I personally was tormented by multiple, often sequential, physically exhausting dreams on Larium. I would wake up gasping for air, trying to scream. my whole body sore from exertions of my dream self (struggling to avoid rows of hoe and flail wielding Khmer Rouge, for instance--or trying to dig myself out of a dream hole--if I was using my arms in the dream--I'd wake up with sore arms), full flop sweat, hyperventilating. I'd smoke a butt, wait a reasonable period, then fall back asleep and the dreams would continue where I'd left them the plot picking up as if never interrupted. This would go on all night. While I was perfectly willing to believe this was attributable to my own twisted psyche, every expat I met in Cambodia would just smile, shake their heads and say "Larium. Bad shit.--Don't take it any more" Given that so many expats in Phnom Penh are "comfortable" with a full spectrum of psychoactive drugs--I found their wariness and contempt for Larium signifigant.

[researchgal]

It's said "Cirit Tap"? I feel like such a fool.

Well that's how they say it in Boston, at least.

Wouldn't that be "CAH-rot TAHP"?

You're both wrong, in Boston we say:

"Give me the f*&'n clickah and turn this s^%t off! Isn't theah somethin' bettah ta watch than f*&'n cahrit tahp???"

Just to clarify, fwiw...

[Jinmyo]

Cahrit. Got it.

Doesn't matter now though since the incident in Cambodia.

[BobMcNabb]

Regarding sealed bottled water. We live in the San Diego area and have _infrequently_ dined in the bordering Tijuana restaurants. One evening we were assured that the water was "of course, bottled". I excused myself to go to the men's room and passed an area where a pile of bottles were being filled from a water tap (and sealed) by a filthy looking attendant. Lesson learned, we have always opted to drink wine or beer, exclusively.

Other posters have made the case for fluids being the main question mark for a safe passage. These problems can occur onboard cruise ships and in many countries where water simply isn't as pure as we've become acclimated to in the U.S. Typically, it's not going to kill you, but it makes you ill for couple of days. It's made a wino out of me, and I do declare that it's been a happy solution to the problem of what to drink with one's meal.

[stellabella]

reading tony's dream descriptions i'm kinda wondering if maybe he actually had malaria. when my husband was taking meflaquine a few years ago he had psychedelic waking dreams which he found rather enjoyable and reminiscent of his hippie youth.

the bit about avoiding the prophylaxis and simply taking the treatment if malarial symptoms start doesn't seem like totally bad advice. malaria has killed half the people who have ever lived. if you travel in malarial areas frequently, and if you spend long periods of time in them, you're very likely to get malaria anyway eventually [my husband did].

but as tony stresses, and this is the point i am making--it's a serious illness, it sucks really bad, it can recur, it can cause liver damage, retinal detachment, etc.--so do whatever you feel comfortable doing to prevent it. i NEVER use DEET, but i keep myself covered. mosquito netting--duh. during the last trip a local shaman showed us a plant pod that we could rub on our skin to repel bugs--it really worked. so maybe asking locals about prevention is a good idea, too.

[Ellen Shapiro]

[Ellen Shapiro]

Not to beat a dead horse--or yak, as the case may be.

[Jinmyo]

Ellen, giddyap on that dead horse. More pictures, please.