Day 7 was going to be the culinary peak of my Bolivian adventure. Which I worked really hard to still do while also being COMPLETELY POISONED by this country. For anyone who knows me, you know that I am o.b.s.e.s.s.e.d. with food. After this trip not only am I afraid of food, I want to cry because I feel so betrayed.

So before I go into the great food I tried, let me give you a run down of necessary actions.

1. Bottled water only… preferably from your home country. I ONLY drank bottled water but by the end of my trip I was so paranoid that even the Bolivian bottled water did something horrible to me.
2. Brush your teeth with bottled water. Another given. I did this, and it didn’t help.
3. Coca-Cola after meals. Someone gave me this tip and it worked wonders in that I only felt sick 20% of the time instead of 80% of the time. Didn’t prevent sickness, just symptoms. First coke I’ve had in 16 YEARS! I gave up sugary sodas when I was 12. So this was a BIG DEAL for me.
4. You will probably run out of Imodium and Pepto. Bring triple what you think you need. TMI? Not really. I can’t tell you the amount of casual conversations I had with other travelers laughing about our illnesses.
5. Oxygen may help. I got over my altitude sickness on day 2 but some people tried to convince me my stomach wasn’t getting used to it. So I got a free bottle of oxygen from the hotel and confined myself to bed. Symptoms were reduced 50% and actual sickness was reduced 60%.
6. Bring snacks from your home country. Once I started starving myself, I allowed Gatorade and about 3 ritz crackers or combos. Allowed me to function as myself for awhile.
7. Chug water or go to the hospital. Know your signs of dehydration. I was right at the verge of going to the hospital, so happy I didn’t!

Great! Now that you won’t die a horrible Oregon Trail death, let me tell you about the pretty amazing poison Bolivia has to offer.

Ali Pachu. #1 on TripAdvisor, very affordable. I had a 5 course tasting menu for $36! Be warned, this place is VEGAN. First ever vegan restaurant, and I was incredibly impressed. One of the dishes had me wanting to lick the plate, it had such a wow factor. It was Yucca with something that tasted like cheese mixed with a savory sauce and mushrooms. Alright vegan food… I see you. I gave you a shot.

Gustu. #1 restaurant in Bolivia and somewhere on the list of Top 50 Restaurants in Latin America. Chef came from Noma in Denmark and trained a bunch of locals to be culinary geniuses. Wish I felt good enough to enjoy this, nixed the drink pairing in favor of chamomile tea. Chose the 5 course tasting menu and it was AWESOME. I literally had to force myself to eat, but it was worth it!

Highlight for me was the rabbit and 24 hour slow cooked lamb. There was also something called “sweaty fish” that didn’t sound so fun with my illness but was actually quite amazing. Loved having a view of the chefs working in the kitchen, and they did a great job taking care of me when I was feeling ill. Next time I would love to try to full tasting menu, it looked great!

FYI Gustu isn’t walking distance from downtown, and my cab there cost like 25-30 Bolivianos. Allow some time!

Although Bolivia isn’t known for its food (buyer beware!), I appreciate the steps they are taking to get on the radar of foodies everywhere.