Simple Tips to Keep Bali Belly at Bay During Your Holiday

Simple Tips to Keep Bali Belly at Bay During Your Holiday

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Simple Tips to Keep Bali Belly at Bay During Your Holiday

Bali Belly is a common mishaps among travelers in Bali, particularly for the first timer. The sudden change of diet and lifestyle often cause upset stomach which often ends into frequent visit to toilets a.k.a diarrhea. With lots of delicious food and free drinks everywhere, it’s hard to expect when the Bali Belly will come and which food will be the deal breaker. Sometimes it’s the innocent Nasi Goring that you have trust so much.

You know you got Bali Belly when your stomach feel strangely full and bloated, and it seems like you just gain 10 pounds. You might initially feel uncomfortable to walk and move for the next two to five hours from your last meal. Then, your stomach starts to feel funny and you need to go to toilets every 5 minutes. Just when you thought it’s finished, your stomach began to cramps like it’s never been before. The Bali Belly can make you uncomfortable for a day and may include nausea, fever, and loss of energy. While Bali Belly can be cured in a matter of day, it’s best to avoid it instead of wasting your precious holiday time dealing with upset stomach. Follow these simple tips to avoid Bali Belly during your tropical holiday.

Never drink tap water.

You must know that tap water in Bali is not drinkable. It should be boiled for at least three minutes to kill all the bugs and bacterias. Take only bottled, carbonated, or filtered water to drink, For extra caution, you can opt for bottled water to brush your teeth and avoid the water shower get into your mouth. Your body is not used to the new bacteria as the locals do.

Always Ask About the Ice

Bali’s hot and tropical weather often tempt us for a glass of refreshing ice drinks. Many times overlooked, ice cubes has many times become the culprit of Bali Belly cases. Always ask if they used regular ice cubes with hole in the water. The latter is produced in factories with safe filtered water and made under clear regulation, while the regular ice cubes often made with tap water. Same thing apply for juices and cocktails.

Avoid free drinks

Speaking about cocktails, it’s best to avoid free drinks if you cannot trust the provider. Some spas, restaurants, resorts, and hotels often gives free welcoming cocktails to the guest, and it’s often hard to resist. Who doesn’t love free cocktails anyway? Pay attention, however, that many times the free cocktails are using locals arak instead of real vodka, and it can cause serious food poisoning. Bali has complicated relationship with arak, as it’s not clearly regulated nor standarized, which make it a lot cheaper than any other alcoholic drinks—and the most economic option to provide the free drinks.

Avoid Raw and Rare Meat

For some meat lovers, rare meat is the best. When you come to developing country, however, it’s best to opt for safer option. Medium cooked meat is your best choice if you don’t want your meat to be fully done.

Eating The Street Food

Oh, the street food. Some of us even come to Southeast Asia for the oh-so-delicious street food, but it turned out to be the worst diarrhoea culprit for many travellers. It’s really saddening as Bali’s best pork satay are often the one sold by the street vendors (the restaurant pork satay doesn’t really taste as authentic). Street food can be safe, but it can be tricky to choose one. First thing first, never pick up the one close the big road—pollution, smog, and dirt can taint your food. Choose popular street vendors as you have bigger chance to have food fresh from the fire—not the preheated one. Lastly, always ask the vendors to completely dry the plates and cups before serve it to you—or make sure they use a clean, disposable one!

Have a good time without Bali Belly!

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