Bad Water! and other Nepal Warning Or Danger Tips

When you get a bottle of bad water while on a hike or a climb, you'll know it. This can be very dangerous while trekking, because you're out in the middle of nowhere and you're thirsty as all (so it's easy to convince yourself that drinking just half a bottle - even if it's contaminated - won't really hurt you). It happened to me and I could taste the difference immediately - I didn't drink more than three swallows before throwing out that water. Thankfully that wasn't enough to get me sick, and I made it to the next village where I bought a replacement bottle. What probably happened with the "bad" one, is they refilled a plastic bottle with regular tap water and then re-sealed the plastic (this can be done by heating a needle and melting the plastic back together along the seams.) There's a distinct difference in taste between authentic bottled water and the fake bottled water, and the only real way to discern it for yourself is to trust your taste buds. If you have even the slightest doubt, toss the bottle. It's not worth the amoebas and stomach problems that are an inevitable fallout.

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