When Hand Sanitizer Is Not Enough

One of the risks that come with traveling to a foreign country is that your body will inevitably be exposed to bacteria, viruses, and other infectious agents. Much of the local population has built up an immunity to these agents, but to a foreigner they can cause serious illness. The common term for such an illness is known as traveler's diarrhea. Symptoms can include not only those inherent in the name, but many other unpleasant ones as well. I thought I had taken the proper precautions by purifying my water with iodine, avoiding risky foods, and applying hand sanitizer liberally. It was not enough though and I ended up getting hit with this sickness quite hard. During the last three days we were in the country I barely left my bed and certainly never ventured from the room. My symptoms continued for seven full days, including the miserable twenty-hour flight home. Let's just say it was good that I had an aisle seat. Home had never sounded so good. It good have been a lot worse though. I was glad I had already completed the surveys at the schools in Gorkha and returned to Kathmandu before I fell ill. The six-hour drive back over bumpy, winding, narrow, mountain roads would not have been pleasant at all.