JUST SAY NO TO AVOCADO!

Stylista has been a bit waylaid from her diary dalliances by an unfortunately predictable bout of "traveller's sickness" (to try and express it as elegantly as possible). Those of you who've been there, will know that the reality is far from elegant! Its amazing how after a month of being in rude health the ten commandments of dietary equilibrium fly out of the window faster than you can say Palak Paneer!! Since I arrived in India I decided that it was prudent to stick to a vegetarian diet (with the exception of the delectable Shanthi in Goa where the food was so exceptional I thought it would be safe to indulge.) In Hampi, emboldened by the faultless culinary experience in Goa, I broke one of the most fundamental commandments, 'THOU SHALL NOT EAT SALAD.'), merrily chomping away on an avocado salad which would have been more accurately described in the menu as Harpinger of intestinal doom! After a day and night of an avocado dance of death being staged in my stomach, I thought I was over the worst, but a few days later (conveniently on the day of a 24 hour journey to Rajasthan) the dastardly beasts once again started their deathly dance with re-newed ferocity. An 11 hour overnight train journey in sleeper class on your own ain't pretty at the best of times, but this was certainly one of the worst nights of my life! Screwed up in agony on my tiny top bunk, in a berth of 6, feeling claustrophobic and perturbed by the dust and the grime, my fellow train travellers were completely oblivious to my yelps and tears. The medical services sign at Bangalore airport shone at me like a bright beacon of hope. An amazing walk in service for the bargain price of £1.50. The care I got was really fantastic, and a couple of shots of morphine later, armed with a big bag of antibiotics I was just about OK to catch my flight to Jaipur. A clear cut case of stomach parasites according to the doctor. Man those b*rstards were virulent! So just remember folks, JUST SAY NO TO INDIAN AVOCADO!