Third world travel

[Soccer Scrimmage]

Starting next Tuesday, I will be spending six weeks in Tajikistan as part of a language program. Last year's cohort of students was apparently devastated by various stomach ailments, a fate I am determined to avoid. Does anyone have any advice either on prevention or on recovery?

And if anyone's been to Tajikistan/Dushanbe, general tips are also welcome.

[JtS]

Third world travel

Don't eat or drink anything

[San Bernardhinault]

Third world travel

Ad hoc's your man for this, I think.

(As he is for almost all obscure travel destination stuff).

I know very little except you've got the legeendary High Pamirs over in the east if you want to kill yourself up an unclimbable mountain, and the silk-road route to Kashgar almost certainly goes through.

[Soccer Scrimmage]

Third world travel

JtS, I think I might follow your advice: Tajikistan is currently experiencing severe food shortages.

I am still in the market for health tips, so if anyone's got them, please let me know. Thanks!

[ad hoc]

Third world travel

Never been to Tajikistan, so can't really help there, though i do know a few people who have (and I also know one extremely fetching Tajik girl from Dushanbe, but that's another story).

My old advice on the food drink stuff was to just go for it, and get whatever's coming early and then enjoy the rest of the stay, but this is only really advice that worked when I was in my early 20s, these days a stomach thing really tends to lay me up good and proper, and that advice is pretty poor all round. Basically now I do what all the books say - don't eat salad* unless you are sure of the washing procedure, avoid ice, try and drink only bottled water, and even brush your teeth with bottled water. Also take with you some of those electrolyte solution packets in case you do get the shits.

(*This is unlikely to be much of an issue in Dushanbe, I suspect, based on experience in the other stans.)

[San Bernardhinault]

Third world travel

Are you of the "eat local yoghurt early" persuasion, ad hoc? I've heard that from a few very seasoned travellers, who say getting a small dose of the local culture in your stomach early is excellent for dealing with smaller amounts of less friendly local bugs.

[ad hoc]

Third world travel

I think it's good advice. Though I don't always take it.

[San Bernardhinault]

Third world travel

By the way, is central asian food really as bad and grey/brown as everyone makes out?

Greasy, gristly lamb stew, fermented mares milk, and if you're lucky, a pilav of cracked wheat?

[ad hoc]

Third world travel

No I think it's better than that, though obviously it's a bit limited for vegetarians. It's a bit mutton-centric

[Soccer Scrimmage]

Third world travel

Thanks very much. The yogurt trick sounds like it might be a good one.

How does one eat fruit or any fresh produce? Does one simply avoid the exterior? Also, if the water makes you sick, how does one wash his hands? If you wash up and then grab some bread of something, will you not then be just ingesting the foul water?

[ad hoc]

Third world travel

To eat fruit, you just wash it yourself with bottled water or peel it. Obviously if you're going to be there for 6 weeks you'll be self-catering for much of your stay, so it should be fairly easy to take care of it (it's in restaurants where you have to be a little bit careful).

Having said all this, I spent a month in Bishkek (which is probably fairly comparable healthwise) a couple of years ago, and didn't get sick once, and I don't remember being especially careful. It may well be that the water is not really a major problem there (while Tajikistan is certainly underdeveloped, as with all former Soviet countries it probably had a reasonably good infrastructure in terms of water/sewage etc).

The CDC and the British government (both of whom tend to be really over cautious in their travel advice) do advise the avoidance of tap water though.

[loose cannon]

Third world travel

Get some of those chlorine 'kill everything in the water but render it just about potable' tablets.
Eat only cooked food.
You can survive without fruit for a week.

[Soccer Scrimmage]

Third world travel

Thanks very much. Dushanbe's water is supposed to be terrible--something about a malfunctioning treatment plant. As I mentioned, apparently everyone in the program last year got sick at some point.