Click on a label to read posts from that part of the world.
Five tips for visiting developing countries
The brilliant economist Tyler Cowen, who was recently interviewed by Gadling, and Chris Blattman, a blogger and global development researcher, recently offered some bits of advice for anyone planning to visit a developing country. Here, in no particular order, are five of their best tips:1. Eat the street food. Though some travelers worry that street vendors don't maintain the health standards of your typical restaurant (whatever those are), street food is usually some of the freshest and cleanest around. Just use common sense and eat where the locals eat.
2. Ask people about the best local restaurants, writes Blattman. "In many places, the most authentic restaurant meal is lunch, mainly for workers. People will eat at home for dinner, where the best food is always found. If someone invites you home for dinner, go! "
3. Do not get drunk or patronize prostitutes. Engaging in either is asking for trouble, especially if you're unfamiliar with your surroundings. Tyler says, "If you want to do it, save it for a more familiar environment." Note that drinking with locals is often a great way to learn about them and their country. But there's a fine line...
4. Dress like everyone else, even if you still stick out. Blattman's advice: "If locals wear long pants/skirts, tuck in their shirts, and spurn sneakers, then think about doing the same (especially if you're working)." I'm looking at you, Andrew Zimmern!
5. Be careful with your health, but don't get carried away. Get the required shots well before you go and ask your doctor what you need to watch out for, but don't be intimidated by all the death and disease that supposedly lurks behind every corner of your destination. Listening to the nurse describe the various dangers involved in visiting Ecuador, the novelist Benjamin Kunkel once wrote, she "made it seem amazing that anyone who went there didn't pitch off a cliff in a bus while reeling from dengue fever and nibbling at some piece of hepatitis-soaked fruit as a scorpion crawled up his shorts."
Check out more tips for development researchers from Chris Blattman and some general travel tips from Tyler Cowen.
Filed under: Food and Drink, Budget Travel, Travel Health
Reader Comments (Page 2 of 2)
Daverco Jun 8th 2008 12:28AM
Jeez Gayle. You must be an engineer. I work with lots of sanctimonious idiots like you who think they are smart but have no clue (I work as one too). Look up the chef. Zimmern is correct. It was also pathetic of the original poster to apologize when he was correct in the first place. Have some cojones.
Eat the street food and drink with the locals. Use your common sense, take reasonable precautions and you will be fine. If you avoid the street food and don't drink with the locals you are a tourist and not a traveler.
gayle Hi Jun 7th 2008 10:42PM
... ignore that... my brain died
ss Jun 7th 2008 11:07PM
I have gone to many other contries and find that the street vendor food is the best and what the locals eat the most. The vendors also tend to be very careful about the preparation, cooking, and handling of the food because their own rep is on the line, not some franchise name whose worker just wants to be paid. Dont drink foriegn water, the most common culprit of stomach terrors--Stick with bottled anywhere you travel because natural bacterias differ from region to region and only locals tend to be accustomed to them
gdwilliams Jun 7th 2008 11:32PM
Went to Mexico City with a sports team on a train around 76. Only people who did NOT get Montezuma's were the ones that ate food from street vendor's and in the local restraunts for the locals. The rest of the team outside of the 3 of us that went local were sick to varying degrees. Ate from carts in the RR station in La Ciudad and had a favoite restraunt with goat stretched out on sticks over an in door fire cooked before your eyes. Once the locals got over the shock of us joining them they were great. It was however long ago.
Brenda (aka) FIRE Jun 7th 2008 11:41PM
I dont even like eating out in the USA let alone go somewhere else and eat inless I catch it grow it or slaughter it myself. I feel its a problem even here people just dont respect the fact that they can make others sick they dont use precaution. As far as traveling I think Ill pass. Enough right here to go see and enjoy.
fredrick Jun 8th 2008 12:00AM
I eat street food in developing countries and have for years. I get sick too.
However my anecdotal comments are no more helpful than Tyler's dangerous recommendations. One person's experience should not be the basis for any broad conclusions.
The fact is that you can get sick from food anywhere (think about E-Coli and Salmonella in the USA) but you are more likely to get sick from food in developing countries where food handling is casual and basic sanitation is often lacking. It is not just street food which can be risky; even restaurants may have these problems back in the kitchen where you can't see them.
So use your head, including your eyes (does it look clean around the area? How are the dishes washed?) your nose (does it smell fresh?) and your brain (if you don't know how long that tub of curry has been standing on the roadside stand it should occur to you that maybe it is not safe).
When in doubt, pass it by and go to the next place.
Don't be casual about symptoms which show up later; people have died from complications arising out of food poisoning.
Catherine Jun 8th 2008 12:07AM
Even in Europe, where you think they are the most like us-well, not necessarily! We have eaten in restaurants where I don't think they wiped the tables in weeks. Food from many different customers was still on tables. We ate at a restaurant in Dublin that had one restroom for both sexes. The sign on the door: "Sorry-no running water". Made me think the worst.
conny Jun 8th 2008 1:17AM
i'm from Ecuador and i've never had dengue, cholera or any other disease like those, I've eaten things that you'd think are dangerous and I'm all right. I've been to the UNITED STATES and i've gotten sick because of all the artificial canned food, i got bitten by the biggest mosquitoes I've ever seen in my entire life in the whole world, I've seen the weirdest bugs that seemed from the outer space, I would never eat at a restaurant knowing that some psycho could try to put a tooth in my soup, etc, etc, etc, I know all those things because i've been there and it have happened to me, but still that won't stop me from going back because it's about being clever and precautious of what you eat, where you spend the night, who you are with etc.
luis albarans Jun 8th 2008 1:23AM
I have a home in mexico, and my advice to you is only eat from the street vendors if you have suicidal tendencies. Let me give you a hint, if they dont sell the food today, they dont throw it away, you ll see it again tomorrow. See if you can find the refrigerator where the food is stored all day, next to their cart, that should be your first clue. I do agree with the advice on prostitutes, i once ate some bad pussy, and got kind of sick after i sobered up and realized what i had done lol.
bobh Jun 8th 2008 1:24AM
Keep your mouth shut & your ears open. A former boss said that to me. When I travel I try that for the first day or so. Getting into the local feel of things is what makes strange places fun for me.
Rose Jun 8th 2008 1:49AM
I have traveled extensively worldwide and never drink unbottled water or anything washed in "local water". I prefer to eat at street vendors where I can SEE what is being cooked and the cleanliness. Many a time I have gone to the kitchen to SEE what is going on and count the mice and roaches. BTW the sickess I have ever been from bad food was Boise, Idaho - after returning from six weeks on remote islands in SE Asia. Remember bottled water and WATCH the cook.
Al Jun 8th 2008 2:23AM
Worst article ever.
joseph guignon Jun 8th 2008 5:06AM
I agree with the last comment about eating what the locals eat. The street vendors want to keep a good reputation and they are careful in most cases. I can't agree more about not drinking foreign waters too! Bottled water is the very safest. (That's if you can find it in some third world countries).