Staying Cool When Traveling in Asia – My Tips

Feeling hot, hot, hot!

If you’re travelling to Asia, be prepared for huge extremes in weather conditions. If you’re travelling in summer however, you need to think about heat. Yes, you probably think that’s a given, it’s summer, it’s hot, but believe me, an Asian heat wave, in fact just heat in general, can feel like you’re melting from head to toe.

There are health concerns you need to think about with heat. You might wonder what the hell I’m talking about, because it’s hot and you’ll get a nice tan, so where’s the worry? Well, the worry is heat exhaustion, dehydration etc. In fact, in some extreme cases problems like these can cause death.

Your tan isn’t going to look so perky then, is it?

All this being said, air conditioning isn’t always the answer, mainly due to cost, or lack of availability. If you are in a hotel where you are given this for free, take it! In fact, snatch their hands off. If however, you’re not so lucky, then you need to get inventive.

Here’s how …

1) A fan. Sounds simple, and yes it is. Close all the doors, turn it up as high as possible, and blast it in your direction. Don’t sit in front of it for too long as it’s possibly going to cause you a headache at worse, and a rather bad hair do at best, but it will cool you down when you think it’s not possible to get any hotter.

2) Another take on the fan – get wet. Drench yourself in the shower and then go and stand in front of it. The result will be the coolest and most blissful feeling you will ever experience when you’ve been baking for much of the day.

3) This one might be controversial, so there are a few precautions you need to take with this, and a bit of consideration needed, but if you do need to go outside, wear a wet t-shirt, splash some water on the neck of your shirt, or wear a wet cotton summer scarf. Girls, don’t wear white, and for heaven’s sake wear something underneath it, but a dark coloured top should do the trick. Having said this, if you’re heading into a particularly religious or rural area, do be respectful. Another option is to carry a small spray container full of water so you can spritz your face as required to cool down.

4) Seek out air conditioning. This idea is little like my constant hunt for wifi, but basically find any public areas that have air conditioning and make an excuse to go there. If it’s a coffee shop, great; if it’s a cinema, even better. Use it.

5) Make use of your hotel pool – be sure to wear adequate sun-cream and a hat, drink plenty of water, but get in that pool and cool the hell down.

6) Make like the Spanish … in Asia. Siestas aren’t for the lazy, in fact they were invented because these people know what they’re talking about! Sleeping during the hottest hours of the day means you’re not subject to heat exhaustion or health problems from the sun, you become more rested, and you can enjoy the rest of your day. Quick, simple, and highly effective.

7) Request a room on the lower floors. Heat rises, we learn this at school, so the lower you are, the cooler you should be – in theory, of course.

8) Do your research – when choosing a hotel, the simple answer is to book one that has air conditioning included. Send a few emails beforehand if you have to, but knowing you have the facilities will cut down on ever needing to use any of these helpful suggestions.

9) In hot climates you should be drinking 2-3 litres of water a day to replace losses from sweating. Coffee doesn’t count as it’s a diuretic. Carry a water bottle on you at all times.

10) Wear a hat if you are out in the blazing sun for hours. It will protect your face from sunburn and also reduce the chance of heat stroke. I’ve had heat stroke twice on past holidays and I would wish it on anyone – the most hideous headache and vomiting confining me to bed and making the rest of the day a right-off!

Being hot and bothered = feeling grumpy and irritable. Nobody wants that on a holiday.

photo credit: camerakarrie via photopin CC.