Health in Peru

As always, I check the CDC and other web sites before international travel. I obtained the recommended immunizations (Hep A, Hep B, typhoid), and I avoided drinking the local water when I was there.

Well, I wasn't quite perfect. One evening I returned to my room and found the maid had turned down my blankets, put the chocolates on my pillow, and filled my ice bucket. Without thinking, I filled a goblet with ice and poured my bottled water over the ice. That turned out to be a mistake. Thankfully, not a very bad one. My stomach was queasy for about an hour, then settled back down to normal.

The second mistake was thinking the filtered water at the office should be OK. It was not. Again, I was lucky, only about an hour of an upset stomach. After that, I returned to being 100% conscientious about drinking only bottled water or fresh pineapple juice.