Dec. 21 : Jaisalmer - sick sick sick
Wednesday, December 21 :: Jaisalmer, India :: 74km today / 747km total
The ankle felt good when i woke up, so I quickly taped it up, packed, and hit the road. It wasn't easy finding the right road out of Jodhpur, but eventually I was heading West, towards Pokaran.
40km into the day I started feeling sick. My stomach was queasy, and I was getting a bit lightheaded. I pushed through to Balesar, 70km in, and took a long stop to rest and drink. Things were not getting better. To make matters worse the town itself was fly-infested, garbage-filled (as usual), and a crowd followed me wherever I went. I sat down in a roadside "cafe" (if it could be called that), and immediately the proprietor produced rice and ghee and some other unknown substance; ground it together with his dirty hands, and encouraged me to dig in. Already feeling like crap, no sum of money could entice me to eat. I weakly smiled and complained that I was feeling sick, which was no lie, and suffered through his eating.
Something was definitely wrong and I wouldn't make it to Pokaran. I walked into one of the garbage piles and tried to make myself throw up, to no avail. I walked over to the bus "stand" and let it be known that I was looking for a bus to Jaisalmer. Soon enough I was underway.
Feeling horrible, I scouted the closest window to me as the bus rolled down the road. I was sitting next to a military man and soon enough I gave him frantic gestures to open the window - fast. I leaned across him, head out the window, and threw up all over the outside of the bus. Not wanting to quality for lead villian in Sleepy Hollow I had to watch the road ahead of me as I was heaving. At 70km/h this resulted in significant backspray all over my face. Ah, India, how do I love thee. Fortunately my bag was at hand so I could clean myself up with a shirt. Could things get any worse? Of course they could, as I threw up 3 more times before getting to Jaisalmer. By the 4th and final time I was an expert... between heaves I would glance forward, then throw up down and back, which kept me relatively clean.
Upon arrival in Jaisalmer I managed to get to a guesthouse. After throwing up again I quickly gathered some juice and tangerines for what I knew would be a long night. And it was quite horrible, but I fought back with antibiotics, Immodium, and water. This morning I'm feeling a bit better and haven't thrown up in about 6 hours.
I have no idea how I got sick - it could be any number of sources. I'm pretty exposed to catching bugs when I'm cycling and I'm starting to wonder if its worth continuing by bike.
The ankle felt good when i woke up, so I quickly taped it up, packed, and hit the road. It wasn't easy finding the right road out of Jodhpur, but eventually I was heading West, towards Pokaran.
40km into the day I started feeling sick. My stomach was queasy, and I was getting a bit lightheaded. I pushed through to Balesar, 70km in, and took a long stop to rest and drink. Things were not getting better. To make matters worse the town itself was fly-infested, garbage-filled (as usual), and a crowd followed me wherever I went. I sat down in a roadside "cafe" (if it could be called that), and immediately the proprietor produced rice and ghee and some other unknown substance; ground it together with his dirty hands, and encouraged me to dig in. Already feeling like crap, no sum of money could entice me to eat. I weakly smiled and complained that I was feeling sick, which was no lie, and suffered through his eating.
Something was definitely wrong and I wouldn't make it to Pokaran. I walked into one of the garbage piles and tried to make myself throw up, to no avail. I walked over to the bus "stand" and let it be known that I was looking for a bus to Jaisalmer. Soon enough I was underway.
Feeling horrible, I scouted the closest window to me as the bus rolled down the road. I was sitting next to a military man and soon enough I gave him frantic gestures to open the window - fast. I leaned across him, head out the window, and threw up all over the outside of the bus. Not wanting to quality for lead villian in Sleepy Hollow I had to watch the road ahead of me as I was heaving. At 70km/h this resulted in significant backspray all over my face. Ah, India, how do I love thee. Fortunately my bag was at hand so I could clean myself up with a shirt. Could things get any worse? Of course they could, as I threw up 3 more times before getting to Jaisalmer. By the 4th and final time I was an expert... between heaves I would glance forward, then throw up down and back, which kept me relatively clean.
Upon arrival in Jaisalmer I managed to get to a guesthouse. After throwing up again I quickly gathered some juice and tangerines for what I knew would be a long night. And it was quite horrible, but I fought back with antibiotics, Immodium, and water. This morning I'm feeling a bit better and haven't thrown up in about 6 hours.
I have no idea how I got sick - it could be any number of sources. I'm pretty exposed to catching bugs when I'm cycling and I'm starting to wonder if its worth continuing by bike.
posted by Graham Durrant at 7:03 PM
6 Comments:
umm, i know why you got sick...cuz you took your pampered butt (and let's all collectivley take a minute to thank god for our living in canada) and went to the antithesis of canadian living: INDIA!!
(no one rag on me...you know it's true.)
and for the 3 months you're gonna be there, i'd say (in billy joel's voice) that sick is gonna be an indian state of mind.
i'm placing bets on the food. i doubt it was a germy/cold/flu thing. who's with me?
grahammy, I KNOW YOU KNOW THIS and so i know you're gonna shrug it off but listen to me: make sure you SEE them with your OWN peepers preparing the food. if it's behind closed doors or even a partial partition, DON'T. EAT. THE. FOOD...ever!! watch them make it from start to finish. be an annoying tourist and say you have always wanted to learn/see how indian food was made. (make some shit up: that you're studying to be a big time indian chef and want to learn from the pros.) butter up the people with happy lively conversation and they will make you better food and keep you healthy. the key here is to talk like an interested traveller (which you are anyway) to the indian people. they like that conversation stuff to the tenth degree and they feel very, very elevated when you, as a WHITE MAN, are talking to them, taking interest in their way of life and treating them as an equal on all counts.
once you get the food, make sure it smells "fresh" not in any way be a reheated/reserved meal. take a small bite of any food that is given to you and make sure it does not taste in the slightest bit off. i know it sounds lame, but go with your senses, young grasshopper!
remember you're a soapmaker. you have an distinguishing honker that can tell the difference between sweet pea and honeysuckle. if you can smell and taste something is off in the food...even slightly, don't eat it. move onto another stand altogether no matter how hungry you are. it's not worth it the pain and hassle later.
if you can't use your own sense of smell and taste, then make sure you piggyback a local so that he orders the food in HINDI for you and himself. your chances of getting CLEAN/FRESH food increases vastly. i know this sounds bad but SOME of the time, there is a HUGE "stick it to whitey" or better, "whitey won't know" mentality in india. a complicated love/hate relationship the brits started, and while absolutely honoured to have you around, indians are also disgusted and resentful. i'm not saying they will diliberately get you sick, but perhaps some remnant animosity or even just plain carelessness can get in the way. remember to them, you are the epitome of health, wealth and happiness. they forget or oversee that you and me are pansy assed north americans, with zero tolerance and immunity, and that anything slightly off can make us sick very very easily.
if you don't feel 100% in a day or so, go see a doctor (it'll set you back a buck or two) and rest this off completely. don't be a stubborn grahammy and try to cycle while recovering from the sick. the worst case scenario might be a week or so to get rid of the whole thing out of your system. if i were you, i wouldn't rush it in the least...well, if i were you, my ass would be on the first available AIR CANADA first class flight home, but alas, i digress.
sorry to hear you're sick, grahammy, but we all knew it was inevitable. i'm rooting for you to get better soon. now go rest and write more updates :P
p.s. i leave for hawaii today. that's right, hawaii. nice first world, ahh, clean, fresh living. travel the way it was meant to be. basically toronto in the summer with palm trees and coconuts. now *that's* experiencing the world, you silly goose.
You know what, hot-headed- I'm just glad you don't live in India. If you hate the place so much, just stay away- there are nice things about India that you probably haven't experienced. Quit complaining and acting so superior.
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