In Reply to: Bali belly posted by bigpete on Saturday, 15. October 2005 at 13:14 Bali Time:
tourist places, as it's all government controlled. The one place where ice has really bothered me is when you buy drinks etc off the beach sellers and in remote places. The ice slurry that they use is very icky. I always take a little bottle of 'Aquim', an alcohol based hand cleaner with me, and tend to use that to clean the top of it with that. I used to allways take it with me, and washed our hands before meals,etc etc, but on the last few visits have become far more casual about that.
Never drink local water. Don't brush your teeth with it. In an emergency I have even brushed my teeth with Diet Coke ( not nice!). When you have a shower, keep your mouth closed.
If you do have the trots, keep in mind that it's probably just a change in diet, charchoal tablets work, called 'Norrit', but a word of warning, they turn everything BLACK< which can be a bit of a shock! If you become iller, and have serious diarrohea, then from personal experience I can recommend a local tablet, called 'enterstop'. It works in a similar way to Immodiun, but is far less harsh.
On a lighter note, tell your wife not to worry so much. We travelled many times, and ate in many many dodgy places, before one of us got sick, and I survived, and got over it. Some people freak out so much about the possibility they stress themselves out totally, not a good attitude for your holiday! Have a lovely time.