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TheoauNepal

I am willing to bet anything that the proposed construction of the 2,000 mile border wall between Mexico and the United States is completed long before the Melamchi Water Project for potable drinking water intended for the people of Kathmandu Valley ever sees the light of day here.  Like you say, things in Nepal take a long time. Boli, boli and more boli! What to do?

PkJ33

I would like to say avoid meals that you have not been exposed before, as your body will take time to adapt. 
Finally, be patient your body will come to terms with the food. For now, I suggest you for conservative management and if serious some anti protozoal medicine will be beneficial.

jl1234

Let's start with the basics. For example, I don't think you can speak about hot chili spicy pirro food for nepalis who were brought up with it and hot chili spicy pirro food for westerners who are not used to it. In Nepal, it's not uncommon for nepali mothers to give raw chili to youngsters, to chew on, as young as 4-5 years old. Nepali mothers have told me, not all nepali their kids like it, but many do. So the latter are used to it - and more importantly, their stomachs accept it.
All I can tell you is that I and and many of my expat friends cannot eat that hot chili powder stuff that's so often found in nepali homes or restaurants. So why get sick when it can be avoided?  I think one could live in Nepal for 20 years, hot and spicy  food remains hot and spicy! Personally, I can't swallow that kind of food, and if I force it down my throat, my intestines go into revulsion and turmoil, and have to run to the bathroom...I spare you the details. The time factor of trying in vain to get used to the stuff has nothing to do with it.
My point is that like nepalis, mexicans can eat really burn of the mouth well known hot "chili con carne", but not their non-mexican neighbors or visitors. Same kind of general phenomenon here.
After almost two decades in Nepal, I know my intestines could never adjust to pirro food. So what's the point of taking medicine for the sake of medicine? Can't force it down my throat, I know that. For other people in my category, avoidance of that kind of food is the best policy. It's one of the many reasons I preferred to eat at home most of the time. Each one of one has his thing! Diarrhea, no thanks.

jl1234

A bit disconcerting really, but the HT just reported that regrettable bad flooding in Hanumante has contaminated drinking water to the point of putting "Bhaktapur at risk of hepatitis E outbreak", or so that paper's headline of 08/06 states. We can only hope and pray that the situation in that area is kept under control and nothing comes of it. In meantime, using safe bottled drinking water, blue jugs and all, remain more vital than ever.

MadagascarNow

Many restaurants do not use bottled water for tea/coffee and seldom for cooking. If you are going to stay a few days at a guesthouse you can ask for a 'blue jar' to be delivered to your room. It will cost less than a dollar even if they decide to charge you a delivery charge.

Surprisingly, the 1-liter plastic water bottles are not inspected by the government and there is literally no regulation or warranty on them. The blue jar/5 gal. jar are inspected by the government. Be aware that you should still be check for taste and possible contamination if it doesn't taste right. I've never heard of a problem, but I've used my own filter system mostly.

Sometimes we forget how responsible we are for our own health in Nepal. Just this week when we went to Kathmandu I noticed the food had a salty taste, which can be just too much salt. Sometimes that salty taste is due to the bacteria, I think. I'd eaten at that restaurant many times so I went ahead and ate it. But about 2 hours later I began to fear the worst and we had a 1 1/2 hour car ride back to Changunarayan ahead of us. What to do?

We stopped a few times on the way back. Then I asked the driver to take us to a hospital to use the toilet. I had my Nepali companion get diarrhea meds at the hospital pharmacy. That way I could make sure it wasn't something horrible in my gut and if it was I'd be in the right place. I took a pill upon leaving and that was the end of it. That medication worked fast. That was the first scare in over 6 years.

dupuis2017

I don't live in Bhaktapur but I came down with hepatitis A in Ktm not so long ago. Had to stay in bed and rest for two whole months. Type E is serious.

bikramji

I live in countryside near there. Bhaktapur just said it stopped all ambulance services they'd been providing for last 17 years, due to lack of financial resources.

walran

When I gave up meat I got sick a lot less as in 1X every couple of years..  Just a thought.

bienfrancaise

That's right, one of the main reasons being that 99% of the meat out on display by shopkeepers in the capital of Kathmandu is not refrigerated, so one has to be extremely careful. Just the sight of that pork dripping in blood is enough to put me off. As for goat, I find it tough to chew and not to my taste.
Can't imagine that refrigeration of meat out country is any better - read probably a lot worse.

MadagascarNow

When we get chicken from the butcher I make sure it's freshly killed and then I buy it whole with it just cleaned but left whole. Then we wash it as soon as we get it home and cook it right away. Meat is always prepared separately. I don't think we've made anyone sick in over 4 years. I thought we got two people sick after the earthquake, but one of them came back and told me she was tested after she got back home and tested positive for cholera. They had been digging around in the rubble as volunteers. 

Yes, the meat is tough and pretty tasteless without adding all the spices. Even chicken is tough and stringy unless you marinate it. There doesn't seem to be any meat tenderizer in the supermarket here. You can find fairly decent mozzarella and yak cheese here so I don't really miss the meat.

Mulder12345

I dont eat any meat here except bacon once in a while or a can of fried chili fish. Eggs are my main source of protien.

walran

Hmm have been to Nepal for several months each year for a long time. I stopped getting sick when I became a vegetarian..

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