Anne Tilmont

** SCROLL BELOW FOR MY ARCHIVE (& check out the cat/turtle ;-)**

Some unexpected survival tips & tricks in the tropics.

 Ok here we go, some samples of what I learnt all these years:

= Problems wit ‘tropical rash’? That’s the swollen and reddish irritation of the skin thru a combination of heat, moisture and transpiration and friction, often between the legs. Two tips:  I love to carry along light synthetic lycra pants, those one uses on a  bicycle – des ‘cyclistes’ in French. Really helps, and… some Maizena (corn flower) on the skin, better than talc.

Walking in shorts but afraid of leeches (yuk) in humid forests and parks? Smear some soap on your legs in the morning, they hate that (double yuk)

On the plane DRINK A LOT – most of the negative side effects come in fact from pure dehydration: the air in a skyhigh plane is rather artificial and really dry. Some cream on a dry skin is also welcome.  Alcohol also deshydrates, so I just take a glas for myself to relax; no booze binge.

Stretch as often as you can, better for circulation.

If you ever suffer from dehydration – that’s a really serious condition that even works on the cellular level: take some salt, mineral rich fruit juices or the powder drink given to dehydrated babies, to compensate the lost minerals thru perspiration.

PLUS

Black active coal (Norit in Europe) from the pharmacist. Little pills of a black powder that beautifully absorbs toxins in the intestines. You’ll have a black mouth and black poo - but who cares? Safer than a lot of anti-diarrea stuff that just block the toxins in your body instead of letting your body eliminating it naturally.

Also pits of papaya (or extracts like papayasan difficult to get now) as powerful allies against infection by worms etc.

Lime, lots of lime, or lemon. Cheap (or take some leftovers from the hotel buffet ;-), put it in all drinks, spray it over all food… yummy and a powerful disinfectant.

Never forget: if u have diarrhea… all your drugs flush out, also the pill! And so Baby Warriors may come along the way.

Furthermore…

Never never never leave home without some most important things:

take some underwear, pills, camera,  in your hand luggage. A photocopy of your passport may also be handy.

Suitcases DO get lost. And its NOT funny.

Once I arrived in Sri Lanka with my 4 Y old daughter Isis. Suitcase lost - sent somewhere to Indonesia instead of Colombo – took a WEEK to come back.

Lots of time consuming bureaucracy. We ended up with Gulf Air’s standard ‘emergency pack’

Containing each:

No underwear, no normal socks, hardly anything basic.

A toothbrush (that’s allright)

A lot of perfume and after shave - supposedly these are the bare necessities in the Gulf area

A white T-shirt each, XL and a razor (for a 4 y old ;-)

A pair of giant grey woollen socks (at 34 °C… Nice…)

The toilet bag was lovely though… ;-)

Light sleeper? Check out the traditional Boules Quies: these earplugs are old fashioned little balls of natural wax, available at the chemist etc. Not to be compared to all those plastic gadgets. The wax takes your body temperature, is easily moulded into the ear. In hotels there is always too much noise (fan, R/C, the elevator next door, some cheering disco-goers, a greek marriage or a myriad of croaking Thai frogs in an inner courtyard (real story, really resonating). Just pop in your Boules and... snore away happily ;-)

THAT's it FOLKS, see ya in Malaysia!! Anne