[MYANMAR] Diarrhea in Myanmar - Afterthought

We have never been that grateful for living in Penang. The state of mind came after we have suffered from diarrhea on the 4th day in Myanmar till the day till the end of the trip, plus another 3 days in Penang (a whopping 7 days of diarrhea in total!)

We felt Penang is really a clean place, with clean air, clean and hygienic food. Do not get us wrong, we are not discrediting Myanmar, we really enjoyed our trip to Myanmar - the food was delicious and the people were friendly. I recalled how helpful the locals were in Mandalay, pointing us the direction despite having language barriers, and how patient the drivers giving ways to us cycling around on the avenue in the city. Put the blame on us, luck just were not with us thus we had food poisoning.

Getting sick in a foreign land with a government whom spent 0.3-0.5% of their budget was not a pleasant experience. Forget about paying a visit to the doctors there, not only we will be landed with an astronomical bill but very unlikely we will be return to the normal state any sooner after visiting the doctors.

Travelling from pharmacy to pharmacy to search for charcoal tablets often landed us with a head shaking, not sure whether they do not understand us or do not have charcoal tablet available. We were really grateful for having access to Wifi, then messaged our medical doctor friend in Malaysia to get some urgent advice. It was an uttermost thankful we wished to extend to our doctor friend (you know who you are, thank you again!)

Apart from that, we were really helpless over there on the choices of food as most of the food here were greasy, or there was a questionable degree on the hygiene in the food served in hawker or restaurants. Looking at the menu from restaurant to restaurant in Chinatown for a bowl of porridge was to no avail despite Mr. Google told me there was a stall selling porridge there.

The moment when we landed in KLIA2, the feelings were indescribable. The joyous, with the dehydrated weak body and the feeling knowing we were safe was beyond words. Yes, we still survived today, 7 days after back from Myanmar.

Will this deter us from going to a 3rd world country, or perhaps a nation with poorer sanitation conditions again? We do not think so. Often we heard people surrounding us share an experience and we acknowledged it, but have you ever thought how different it would be if you were the one experiencing it? And how the experience going to change your mind, your soul, and the perception on how you manage your daily chores?

Rejection is never a solution, it means running away from problems. However, there are time we need to reject too. Thus, the travelling dairy is opened again, where to head next.. Timor Leste, Fiji or Papua New Guinea perhaps? Haha.. only if finance allows..

Nonetheless, the sunrise and sunset view over Shwe San Daw and Buleti Pagoda respectively in Bagan worth the entire trip. This was our first times witnessing the dawn and the dusk on the same day. Sometimes back in hometown, we tend to give ourselves excuse - not to waking up early to enjoy the sunrise, lazy to go out to look for sunset etc. We should, change our lifestyle and make ourselves enjoy everyday, just like how we do during the vacation. Time is precious, ya.

And these were what we looked for upon touching down in KLIA2. Some local delicacies aka Nasi Lemak and a lighter meal - Porridge. Never once in our life we were that happy to locate a porridge!

Well, cheers to all courageous travelers out there!

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