Travel in health

Aisling and I dropped into our local Tropical Medical Bureau this morning to get our jabs. By pure chance the doctor who administered our jabs was born in Iran. He left the country in 1983 and is less than complementary about the theocratic regime. I mentioned the meddling done by America to protect its oil interests (in particular, the CIA coup against Prime Minister Mossadeq - more on that later) but our doc insisted that Iranians can't blame foreign influence for the state of the country - he reckons they've brought the current system upon themselves. I didn't even feel the needle go in.

The guide book indicated that we need inoculations for diphtheria, tetanus, measles, mumps, rubella, polio and hepatitis B, but we only needed a typhoid jab (which cost €36.00, plus the €40 consultation fee.) Our doc also prescribed two courses of the antibiotic Flagyl in case we get a dose of some bacterial infection. Hope we won't need it.

Other than that, the usual rules apply; don't drink the tap-water, peel fruit, only eat cooked food, don't eat salads or food that's been cooked and left to cool. Second nature to old India hands like Asho and me.