WILL I GET BALI BELLY???
One of the most frequently asked questions I get is "Have you ever had Bali Belly?" NO. I haven't. We have though, heard stories from friends of getting sick whilst in Bali. You have to remember, you are still travelling to a 3rd world country. You can NOT drink from the taps even in the 5 star luxury resorts and yes you will have to brush your teeth with bottled water (that will be replenished daily and never scarce) Just be smart about travelling in Bali and you won't have a problem. One of our friends on their recent travels to Bali delighted themselves in immersing their feet into one of the fish scaling tanks situated along the footpaths of Seminyak. Now, let's do some quick calculations...approximately 50,000 excited travellers arrive in Bali daily, say 10,000 of them staying in the popular area of Seminyak, lets imagine that of those 10,000 that 100 of them try the "fish feet thing" so that is 100 worth of disgusting feet and dead skin that has been in the fish tank and that's only in the past 24 hours. Now, with my nursing background (and imagining the huge amount of bacterial growth on a laboratory petri dish if ever swabbbed), combined with those calculations...I would say you are most likely to guarantee yourself some Bali belly. And that is exactly what happened with our friends daughter...whilst they were having their feet tickled by fish, their daughter got elbow deep into the tank, didn't wash her hands, went and had lunch, licked her fingers clean after she finished...and then was "surprisingly" sick the next day. So. Moral of the story? BE SMART.
The other common question I get asked is "Can you get Bali belly from the food?" Yes, I'm sure you can! Another "Be Smart" answer I normally reply with. The majority of the restaurants in Bali rival even the most classiest digs in the middle of Sydney. They are actually indescribable, photos never do them justice and they serve a mean menu to match. To put it in perspective, your fancy vegan café located on your local eat street in Australia that serves turmeric lattes and acai bowls that you go to and pay $50 AUD for the pleasure of saying you had breakfast there and took a picture to post on Instagram just to prove it so...yeh, well that "fancy" local of yours would be considered a Warung in Bali....just your average street food and a place you'd go just for a quick, cheap meal. Look again, if you're going to eat off the streets and order some pork balls from the vendor that cooked them at 7am in the morning and walked for hours selling them on the beach...hey, you might get Bali belly. Choose your eateries wisely, everywhere in Bali to eat is relatively inexpensive. So don't think you're saving thousands by being a hero and eating off the streets. In reality you are probably saving a couple of dollars. In saying that...DO however buy grilled corn off the man cooking them over charcoal on the beach...you will NEVER regret that! YUM!
Photo: The Shady Shack Canggu via Total Bali
Photo: Kynd Community Seminyak author unknown
Finally, I'll end with the "Smart Thing" again. The symptoms of Bali belly can sometimes be misdiagnosed and it often is in fact sunstroke. On our first trip to Bali, first day, we decided to go for a quick walk around our resort and ended up (moreover the kids ended up) in the main swimming pool. Unprepared for the spontaneous swim, my husband offered to quickly run back to our villa and grab their rash shirts and sun cream. I (stupidly) said not to worry as we were only staying for 30 minutes as we had plans for the day. Well after only 30 minutes in the scorching tropical sun, our entire family was burnt to a crisp! Even with our naturally olive skin complexion, the hot Balinese sun sneakily got us and got us good! That night we did feel the effects of the sun. Fatigue, dizziness, upset tummys and our son who we forgot to warn not to drink the pool water had some runny poop...these effects did not last long and we were fine the next day...and a little bit more sun smart for the remainder of our trip.
