Have a Ball... But Be Careful, Friend

... A travel health advisory for Goa

Goa is one of the most popular tourist destination in the world. Most Goans who visit India will visit their families in Goa and stay in the villages, which are still, clean, peaceful and beautiful places to be in. The following advice is more relevant to the Goan visitor who is returning home for a holiday. And, of course, the tourist.

Most Goans will be travelling via Bombay. The first sight of this city is an unnerving and a shocking experience. Expect it to be extremely crowded, dirty and polluted. The Sahar International Airport could have been cleaner. The domestic airport in Bombay is better than the international one. The road connecting the international and domestic airports is a total eyesore. It will help to be mentally prepared for the absolute filth, abject poverty and pollution of Bombay.

Visitors to Goa should try and avoid a stopover in Bombay or perhaps bypass this city by booking a direct flight to Goa. If you have to stay in Bombay, it is wise to find five-star accommodation even though some of these hotels are pricey and yet, inadequate. Remember, Goa is only an hour away from Bombay by air.

Goa is fast catching up with many other Indian cities, as far as disorganisation and filth is concerned. But this state of chaos is mainly in the cities and towns. The villages are, as yet, unsullied.

The diseases seen presently in Goa are malaria, tuberculosis, typhoid, infectious hepatitis, amoebiasis, Salmonella infections (other than typhoid), travellers' diarrohea and sexually transmitted diseases including AIDS and hepatitis B. The striking rate, in Goa, for cholera is low and for dengue fever, uncertain at the moment.

If you take heed of the following preventive measures you will have an excellent holiday in Goa. It is important to remember that one's absence from a particular area for a reasonable amount of time reduces the level of the antibodies necessary to fight the infection endemic to that region. Hence, the folks at home may be able to tolerate a little exposure to infection but the same may be disastrous for the visitor.

Tips

• Food: Do not eat ANY uncooked salads, green and coconut chutneys, bhel puri, pani puri. Avoid mayonnaise and dishes that contain mayonnaise like cole slaw and fish mayonnaise. If you are truly keen on fish mayonnaise, carry your own bottle of Mayo to Goa.
  Fresh green coriander, that exotic and delightful herb, is best used in cooking and not for garnishing. Despite all the extolled virtues of potassium permanganate in killing the germs on raw vegetables, it is safer to peel tomatoes and cucumbers before consumption.
• One should be careful about the meat, fish and eggs one consumes in Goa. It should be adequately cooked and fresh. The hands and kitchen implements, which come into contact with them, when raw, are important sources of salmonella infection. Remember to wash hands, knives and the cutting board with hot water and soap before touching any other food.
• Drink: Avoid unboiled water, lassi, yoghurt and milk shakes or roadside limboo-soda (lime juice and club soda). Always carry and drink bottled water or Pepsi,7 UP, Coca Cola, or Fanta while travelling. At eateries and restaurants, if you must drink water, ask for actually boiling water. Remember that ice is made from water and as such, is a potential source of infection.
• Watch how food and drink is stored, served and whether it has been contaminated by flies or human hands. Over the years, Goa has seen a degeneration in the customary cleanliness and it is germ-infected hands that appear to contaminate food!! Insist on being served by tongs, spoon or fork, and refuse food served by hand.
• Malaria and dengue: Mosquito nets at night and insect repellents are important methods of avoiding mosquito bites. This is of paramount importance in certain areas of Panjim, Margao, Vasco and Mapuca. Be sure to commence malaria prophylaxis before you leave for Goa. Contact a physician in your present locale, to prescribe the necessary medication. The medication should be continued even after your return from India.
  There is no known method of avoiding dengue fever at the moment, save avoiding mosquito bites. It is good idea to shut all windows just before dusk. This is the time the mosquitoes are most likely to enter the house. A tulsi plant, in the vicinity, is a good mosquito repellent measure.
• Poisonous snakes and scorpions: If you are staying in a rocky area there could be snakes and poisonous scorpions to deal with. The problem is acute in the hot summer months and less in the cooler months. Children, however, have the knack of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. They will need constant monitoring particularly in rocky, grassy or wooded areas. If one is walking somewhere at night in dark areas, wear shoes rather than sandals, full-length jeans and carry a flashlight, just in case the odd viper is in your path!
• Rabies: This disease is sporadically found among stray and wild dogs in Goa. It is a good idea, to stay clear of any unfamiliar dogs.
  

• Swimming: Some of the beaches of Goa are polluted while others, like Betul, Baga and Calangute, have deceptively placid waters with strong undercurrents . Even if you are a good swimmer, swim with care.
• Avoid promiscuous behaviour: Remember the same deadly sexually transmitted diseases -- including AIDS and hepatitis B -- found elsewhere in the world, are also found in Goa.
• Avoid highways at night: Often the drivers going south on highways are drunk in the evening and drive very badly. The roads in Goa are not particularly suited for two-wheelers. Long journeys on two-wheelers are not advisable. Drunken behaviour, recently, is not restricted to the locals and care should be taken not to get involved in an argument with an inebriated driver.
• Illicit drugs: Heroin, hashish and other drugs are peddled on the beaches and in the villages of Goa. As a rule, Goans are not involved in the use of drugs. Avoid drugs!!
• Health care: There several well- trained general physicians and medical specialists in Goa practising in towns and cities. Medical care in the villages is still very basic.
• Innoculation: Assuming that through childhood one has completed follow up protection against tetanus and hepatitis B, visitors doctors generally do not require further innoculation when journeying to Goa. The anti-typhoid and cholera vaccines available presently in India are painful. Apparently the latest is that a new oral vaccine (Vivotif Berna Vaccine) is available in the US, for typhoid prevention, to be taken, I believe, once every alternate day, for four doses. Anti-hepatitis precautions have already been listed above.
• Paedophilia: Of late, Goa has received some, albeit unwelcome attention relating to this abhorrent crime against children. If you are a paedophile, please do not practice it in Goa or on Goans.

A big list! ...But remember that these are the same precautions you would take anywhere in the world and especially when you visit the tropics.

Goa is one of the most beautiful places in the world. There are several magnificent churches, temples, waterfalls, beaches, mosques and historical places of interest. However, the part of Goa you will enjoy the most is its people, food and music. No place on earth can truly duplicate the experience of Goa. Not now. Not ever.

Have a safe flight, a good trip and do let us know, how your trip was.