Basics - The Rough Guide to Southeast Asia on a Budget - page 33

TROPICAL FRUITS OF SOUTHEAST ASIA
You'll find fruit offered everywhere - neatly sliced in glass boxes on hawker carts, blended into
delicious shakes at night-market stalls, and served as dessert in restaurants. Here are some of
the region's less familiar fruits:
Custard apple (soursop) Knobbly, grey-
green skin hiding creamy, almond-coloured
blancmange-like flesh and many seeds.
Durian The most prized, and expensive, fruit,
with a greeny-yellow, spiky exterior. Inside, it
divides into segments of thick, yellow-white
flesh that give off a disgustingly strong stink
that's been compared to a mixture of mature
cheese and caramel.
Guava Green, textured skin and sweet, crisp
flesh that can be pink or white and is
studded with tiny edible seeds.
Jackfruit Large, pear-shaped fruit with a
thick, bobbly, greeny-yellow shell protecting
sweet, yellow flesh. Green, unripe jackfruit is
sometimes cooked as a vegetable in curries.
Mangosteen The size of a small apple, with
smooth, purple skin and a fleshy inside that
divides into succulent, white segments that
are sweet though slightly acidic.

Papaya (paw-paw) Similar in size and
shape to a large melon, with smooth, green
skin and yellowy-orange flesh.
Pomelo Looks rather like a grapefruit,
though it is slightly drier and sweeter and
has less flavour. Often used in salads.
Rambutan The bright-red soft, spiny
exterior has a white, opaque fruit of delicate
flavour, similar to a lychee.
Salak (snakefruit) Teardrop-shaped, the
salak has a brown, scaly skin like a snake's,
and a bitter taste.
Sapodilla (sapota) Small, brown,
rough-skinned ovals that look a bit like kiwi
fruit and conceal a grainy, yellowish pulp
that tastes almost honey-sweet.
Starfruit (carambola) A waxy, pale-green
fruit with a fluted, almost star-like shape. It
resembles a watery, crunchy apple. The
yellower the fruit, the sweeter its flesh.

and utensils. The amount of money you pay for a
meal is no guarantee of its safety; in fact, food in
top hotels has often been hanging around longer
than food cooked at busy roadside stalls. Use your
common sense - eat in places that look clean,
avoid reheated food and be wary of shellfish.

“Medical care and emergencies” in the “Basics”
section of each country covered. If you have a
serious accident or illness, you may need to be
evacuated home or to Singapore, so it's vital to
arrange health insurance before you leave home.
When planning your trip, visit a doctor at least
two months before you leave, to allow time to
complete any recommended courses of vaccina-
tions or anti-malarial tablets. For up-to-the-minute
information , call the travellers' health phone lines
or visit a travel clinic. In the UK, pick up the Depart-
ment of Health's free publication, Health Advice for
Travellers , available at the post o ce. The content of
the booklet, which contains immunization advice, is
also available at W dh.gov.uk. There are also several
helpful websites (see p.39).

Health
The vast majority of travellers to
Southeast Asia suffer nothing more than
an upset stomach, so long as they observe
basic precautions about food and water
hygiene (see p.35), and research pre-trip
vaccination and malaria prophylactic
requirements.
The standard of local healthcare varies across
the region, with Laos and Myanmar having the
least advanced systems (it is best to get across the
border and go to a Thai hospital) and Singapore
boasting world-class medical care. If you have a
minor ailment, it's usually best to head for a
pharmacy - most have a decent idea of how to
treat common ailments and can provide many
medicines without prescription. Otherwise, ask for
the nearest doctor or hospital. Details of major
hospitals are given throughout each chapter and
there's an overview of local healthcare under

General precautions

Bacteria thrive in the tropics, and the best way to
combat them is to keep up standards of personal
hygiene. Frequent bathing is essential and hands
should be washed before eating, especially in
countries where cutlery is not traditionally used.
Cuts or scratches can become infected very easily
and should be thoroughly cleaned, disinfected and
bandaged to keep dirt out.
Ask locally before swimming in freshwater lakes
and rivers, including the Mekong River, as tiny