Travel Sickness

At some point in every trip you're likely to get sick.

You'll eat the wrong thing, party too hard, or sit next to the wrong person on a bus.

I'm going through this at the moment. It's nothing major – it's not malaria or rabies – but for the last couple of days I've been hanging very close to my hostel in case, well you know.

It's an easy thing to happen. You get a bit run-down from trying to push yourself to do much, then you eat something dodgey and then the exacerbate it by not taking care of yourself properly when it happens.

The result? A couple of days of not really being able to do anything, which when you're travelling is torture. I've basically missed out on seeing Lima because I've had no energy and felt like death. In a normal situation I would have just stayed longer, but I've recently beenworking to a timetable for the first time, so I have to move on whether I like it or not.

I shouldn't complain too much as I've been really lucky in the past with travel sickness. I also got all of my shots and have all of the medication so the major problems wont occur. I do however have some friends that are suckers for bad luck when travelling, including things I've never heard of.

It can be really serious too. Every year there are travellers who head to exotic locations and pick up equally exotic bugs. The thing is, its not just the exotic bugs that can do it. Eating the wrong thing has brought many a tourist undone. Things can go from uncomfortable to life threatening if you're in a strange place and don't know how to get help.

While spending much of my days catching up with TV and reading is not the way I'd like to spend my time with less than 70 days left in my trip, I think its good for me to rest before the craziness of the next four weeks kicks in.

Also, with a 21 hour bus ride to Cusco ahead of me, I'm hoping the rest has worked.

(You'll notice there are no photos in this weeks blog - best for everyone)