Bathroom visits
 

With all the messages of people having intestinal distress while in China, how do you manage on a bus trip. I generally travel independently and can find facilities when necessary. Do the tour buses have rest rooms available or does one just have to suffer and hope they can make it to the next stop? I'm leaving this week, do I need to buy a box of Depends?<BR>

As for Bathrooms on tour buses, it just depends on the bus you are on as it does in the States. Some tour busses do have bathroooms and some don't. You'd have to ask each bus you are planning to use if they offer such facilities. Msyzka

Just returned from tour of China. I was worried before I went but the food was good and our group had very little problems. Just watch what you eat and it will not be as bad as all the literature makes it out to be...at least that is how we found it. Great trip!

In reply to intestinal disorders. My husband travels often on business to China and I go along sometimes. WE are very careful what we eat. We brush our teeth in bottled water and only drink bottled water. We do not eat salad that could have been washed in something other than bottled water, we don't use ice cubes etc. Just be a bit cautious in what you are eating and you should be fine. We play it extra safe and even in the five star hotels, we don't eat it unles we know it has been cooked or it can be peeled. Neither one of us had ever been sick. Good luck, have fun. Myszka

All the facts listed here are super..and true. I also want to say it is totally possible to spend 26 days in China and find only sit down facilities. You have to look, you have to cut back a bit on the coffee/tea in the morning but I managed to do it. Many public toilets have at least one handicap stall..you can find it by looking for the longer line waiting for it. :):) Our tour buses did not have bathrooms on them..I was w/ an up scale Pacific Delight..but like I say I was fine! I did get sick in Egypt.....but did just fine in China. Oh.....watch the bok choy....it can be a little too much help sometimes!!! :) You will love China..it is amazing!

I must agree with Leeanna. We just returned from a 19 day Pacific Delight tour. One person out of 24 had some stomach problems. If you are on a tour, drink only bottled water, no ice in restarants outside the hotels you are staying. We ate everything served to us in the hotels and at the scheduled lunch and dinner stops, food was delicious and no problems. <BR>If traveling independently, it's a whole nother thing.<BR>Enjoy, a first time trip to China is an eye opener in lots of ways. Have fun.

We were in China three weeks back in May. I was sick two weeks. AVOID ALL DAIRY PRODUCTS.

Yes, all good advise. I went in May and did get sick even though I brushed my teeth with bottled water and also drank it. My sister did not brush her teeth with it and she had no problem. All of us are different! I think we ate basically the same food. I did eat tomatoes that had not been peeled and also lettuce I think. I was sick on board the ship we were on. Be sure to pack Immodium or Pepto just in case. I never at any street food. The conditions did not look to clean for my liking. I did have a coconut in Bangkok. They are ice cold and they just whack the top off and insert a straw for you to drink.Mmmmmmmm good! About restrooms, I don't remember our busses having them. Also, carry along plenty of Kleenex packs and hand sanitizer. Those are the two most used and appreciated things I carried.

Suzy,<BR>Bring along immodium AD and you will be fine should the &quot;trots&quot; get you. We just returned from a 22 day tour and I am pretty sure just about everyone on our tour of 25 had their day of 'rumblings'. Our buses DID NOT have restrooms but stops were frequent but you could always tell WHO needed to get off first. They are at the front of the bus with BIG EYES waiting for the door to open! On one day, no joking, I wish I had had a Depend! It would have given me that little bit of security. Tour companies make every effort to keep their FOREIGN travelers well by carefully selecting where we eat each meal. We accustomed ourselves to drinking room temperature Pepsi or Coke, whatever was served at each meal. We avoided ANYTHING fresh...never drank tap water nor brushed our teeth with it. We even kept our mouths shut in the shower. Those sneaky little intestinal bacterial try very hard to get into our systems and our systems are just not able to handle those dang parasites. We took all precautions recommended, including DPT, polio, Hepetitis, and brought along a drug store of mostly cold prevention meds but we did bring Cipro but never needed it. We had the unique experience of visiting a hospital in Guilin. They were very proud of their facilities but I sure would not have wanted to be a patient. <BR><BR>Have a wonderful time. The Chinese are most hospitable and try to fill all your expectations. Most public places we were taken on tour provided western toilet accommodations but sometimes it was only the 'squat' hole in the ground. We always brought extra kleenex or TP from the hotel for our needs throughout the day.<BR><BR>Suzy, you are in for the best experience of your life. Enjoy every minute....<BR>Maureen