In 2013 I travelled three months backpacking around Nepal, India, Thailand, Sri Lanka (former Ceylon) and Vietnam. I always like to absorb the local culture wherever I go, but this time, because I was a bit more concerned about my health, because I was planning to travel alone, stay at the cheapest and shabbiest guesthouses, eat mainly local food at local restaurants or in the streets, and move around visiting shabby old little villages where hygiene habits were bad.
- Eat just enough, but don't fill yourself. If you can skip dinner, much better. I used tap water to wash my teeth even in India, and I drank tea everywhere in the streets, and I even drank tap water occasionally in Nepal and Sri Lanka. But if you don't overload your organism with too much food, it'll have enough strength to defend itself from external bacteria. I'm not recommending that you take the same risks that I took. Instead I recommend that you don't eat too much, in order to be stronger. I ate whatever I wanted, but in smaller amounts that I usually do.
From all, my biggest concern was India, where I was planning to stay at Shirdi, Aurangabad and Varanasi (Benares), because of the negative feedback I had had from friends that always (or too often) get food poisoning when they travel there. This was my second time to the country, but my first time alone and in a wilder way.
I did all I planned to do and experimented all the foods I was curious about, and ate and drank regularly at street-stalls. Here are some tips I followed and that helped me not to get sick a single time:
- Eat just enough, but don't fill yourself. If you can skip dinner, much better. I used tap water to wash my teeth even in India, and I drank tea everywhere in the streets, and I even drank tap water occasionally in Nepal and Sri Lanka. But if you don't overload your organism with too much food, it'll have enough strength to defend itself from external bacteria. I'm not recommending that you take the same risks that I took. Instead I recommend that you don't eat too much, in order to be stronger. I ate whatever I wanted, but in smaller amounts that I usually do.
- In India (perhaps not so much in Delhi and other ultra touristic places) it is very common that the glasses and cups are just rinsed after they are used. So, if you will have a drink in the street, like Chai (Indian tea), avoid the street stalls that are located too near from rivers and water streams, as it is probable that they may just rinse the glasses there.
- Even if you love spicy food like me, avoid spicy food in India if can prevent it. Not always it is possible to avoid it, because in many regions in the subcontinent you will be faced to cities and towns where people speak virtually no English whatsoever, and it'll be harder to explain how you want your special food. But you can always try ask them to cook "less spicy". Your organism will be grateful for that, and will use that spare energy it would require for processing the spicy food in defending itself from other bacteria and external enemies.
- Just in case also go well prepared: mosquito repellent, pills for diarrhea, and other first-aid medicines.
- Don't eat raw fruit and vegetables from the street.
- Remember that in India the people clean their ass with their hand, and most of the people don't wash their hands with soap afterwards. Still, you will notice that whenever they serve your food or drinks it is common that they do so with their fingers inside your glass. Everything is very dirty. So, be careful to wash your hands whenever you have the chance to. And carry some disinfectant of gel-alcohol for your hands.
- Whenever you buy bottled water make sure that the seal is intact. Preferably make sure that there is a plastic seal/protection on top of the cap.
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