Each nighttime while staying in Ismir, we came across a small restaurant and the doorman attempted to entice us to enter.  Each night we listened to his sales pitch and browsed at the display but decided to keep moving.  Then, on our second last night in Ismir, we relented.  We ate at the cafe.  That was a MASSIVE MISTAKE!

The meal was quite nice and the service above average.  As my wife and I finshed our dinner, we sat lazily in our chairs and consumed our drinks.  I noticed that a young American couple had ordered the same dish as I did,  adana kebap.  I wonder if they succumbed to the same fate as I did?

Anyway, we were looking around the cafe and noticed the very big wood-fired oven, much like a pizza oven.  The waiter came over to collect our dishes and my wife inquired about the oven.  He said that they used the oven in the mornings to cook all the meals and then they place the food in the refrigerators at the front of the display.  I thought nothing of it but my wife was certainly surprised.  In fact she raisedit  in conversation as we walked back to our hotel.  That’s not where it ended…

That night, I awoke at about 1am with a very sore headache and was perspiring profusely.  inside minutes I was freezing cold and shivering profusely.  Then it struck – the to be avoided at all costs -diarrhea!

We were planning to travel to one of the local attractions the next day but I was not anywhere well enough to go.  The guide was due to collect us at 8am and I asked my wife to go on alone.  I was so sick; there was no way I could travel.  So she left for the day and I lay there wallowing in self-pity.  Then an amazing thing happened.

Our hotel proprieter visited in the morning.  My wife had explained the situation and that I was ill and not to trouble about serving the room that day.  Anyway, he brought with him a small plate of green grapes and a big dish of yoghurt.  Anyone who has visited Turkey will know that the locals eat a big quantities of yoghurt!.  He explained thet the yoghurt would cure all my stomach pain.  I did not really feel like eating at all but made some effort and placed the dish next to my bed Edit this text once he had left~once he had gone~when he left.  Then I remembered something important…

I have been writing about probiotics and the merits of taking probiotic supplements for many years!  These ” healthy bacteria” are good for the stomach.  With two days of bus travel ahead of me, there was no way I wanted to be embarrased with a public incident!  So I consumed the yoghurt.

The next day I was on the mend and although still suffering a stomach upset, was able to resume my journey.  I had my fill of natutal probiotic supplement in the form of yoghurt again for breakfast and was strong enough to travel.

The lesson I have learned from this unpleasant experience in Turkey is that probiotics are a wonderful solution and I will never travel to a foreign country without a bottle of probiotics supplements in my bag.  You cannot predict how indespensible they may turn out to be!