Top 5 Tips - How to navigate Bali with an anaphylactic peanut allergy

Hi everyone!

I have decided to write a short article which outlines the tips and tricks I used when travelling around Bali (October 2018) with an anaphylactic peanut allergy. Please note that nothing in this blog post is sponsored, it comprises my own recommendations and what I found worked best for me.

I was diagnosed with anaphylaxis as a baby and have been lucky/neurotic enough to never have had an anaphylactic episode. However, like most people with nut allergies, travel is always a concern especially when its to Asian countries where English is not the primary language.

As you’d likely be aware, Indonesian cuisine does utilise a lot of peanuts - whether they’re sprinkled over savoury dishes, used in sauces or cooked in peanut oil.

However you shouldn't let this stop you from traveling, as there are numerous things you can do to avoid allergens even in these locations!

So, here are the top 5 things I would recommend to help avoid nuts/peanuts in Bali based off my own recent experience;

1. Use “SelectWisely” Translation Cards for Food Allergies These Select Wisely translation cards have been an absolute travel necessity for me when I’m heading overseas. I have used them in China, Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Europe and now also in Bali - and they are probably the single best thing I can recommend to anyone traveling with an allergy/intolerance/medical condition.

SelectWisely cover over 35 types of cards offered in more than 60 languages.

Basically, you order the relevant card online (they are the size of a credit card so easily fit in your wallet). Therefore in this case the “Peanut Allergy” card (linked here: https://www.selectwisely.com/catalog/Peanut_Allergies).

Each card has English instructions on one side, with the same instructions in the foreign language on the other.

The instructions say “I have a life-threatening peanut allergy to peanut and peanut oil. If I eat this food or any food that has been cooked with it or touched it, I will need immediate medical attention. Does this food contain peanuts or peanut oil?”.

The card also has a big picture of a peanut with a huge line through it :)

Peanut Allergy Select Wisely Card

You then present the Indonesian side of the card to the waiter / chef at restaurants. It is also really important that you ask the waiter to show the card to the chef.

I also carry their “Travel Emergency Card” (pictured below):

Travel Emergency Select Wisely Card

2. Find restaurants that have special menus that cater for dietary requirements:

There are actually a surprising number of cafes and restaurants in Bali that cater for allergies and intolerances.

For many reasons, my favourite was definitely Mamasan Restaurant in Seminyak. This restaurant was fantastic as it allowed me to eat South-East Asian cuisine safely (which was an awesome break from the burgers and other western food I’d been needing to eat in order to avoid the nuts).

Mamasan had a “Nut Free Menu”, and the staff and Chef spoke immaculate English. Even the nut free menu was huge, so you would easily be able to eat here for multiple nights over the course of your holiday.

I would always still inform your waiter that you have a peanut allergy, and still double check with them about whether the specific dishes you order have peanuts OR are cooked in peanut oil. Often waiters don't consider the peanut oil factor, so bringing this up is always necessary if you're unsure (e.g I couldn’t get the spring rolls from the nut free menu because they were still cooked in peanut oil, so its not completely fail safe).

The staff were great with all of this and readily checked our order with the chef, letting us know what was / wasn’t okay to eat.

And the food was amazing - it was probably our best meal for the whole week we were in Bali.

Link to Mamasan website: https://mamasanbali.com/

This was the only nut-free restaurant I personally went to, but other restaurants that cater for allergies include Poppies Restaurant (4.5/5 Tripadvisor) in Kuta, and Dusk Blue Cafe (4.5/5 Tripadvisor) in Sanur - just to name a couple.

3. Find a travel insurer that covers peanut allergies

Finding a travel insurer that covers peanut allergies is actually really difficult.

But after a lot of research I found Travel Insurance Direct (TID), which does cover food allergies.

TID “automatically cover allergies, provided you follow advice in accordance with your medical practitioner (such as to carry EpiPens, antihistamines/other preventative medication at all times) and, at the date you buy your policy, you: have no other known or underlying respiratory conditions or diseases (for example, Asthma); and have not required treatment from a medical practitioner for your allergies in the last six months.”

Here is a link to their website: https://www.travelinsurancedirect.com.au/

4. Get a local sim card so you can always make local calls without fuss and know emergency numbers before you leave. It is very important that at least one person in your travelling group has a local sim card. This ensures that if you ever need to make an emergency call, you can do so without wifi connection or data roaming.

I bought a $35 sim card from a Telkomsel kiosk at Bali airport, which included a couple of GBs of 4G data as well as cellular connection. This provider worked really well while I was over there - the connection was quick and covered every area we went to.

Knowing the local emergency contact numbers before you leave is also a good idea (remember to use the country and area codes):

Main emergency: 112 (like 000) Ambulance: 118 Search & Rescue: 111, 115, 151 Police: 110

BIMC Hospital Nusa Dua is often recommended as the hospital of choice for tourists needing medical attention - it is the first hospital in Indonesia with accreditation from the Australian Council on Healthcare Standard International (ACHSI).

BIMC say that at most times it will be faster to get a cab and drive to the nearest hospital that calling an ambulance. 5. How to best communicate that you have an allergy

My boyfriend actually discovered this trick. We found that saying “allergy, peanut” was much more easily understood than “I have a peanut allergy”. I’m not exactly sure why this is the case - possibly its to do with Indonesian sentence structure.