We have had a funny couple of days with every person we walk past asking why Dre’s foot is swollen / why he was only wearing one jandal (when it was so swollen that his jandal wouldn’t even fit on) or how he is feeling. We have received advice from everyone and it has been intriguing how almost every local we have talked to has also been bitten by one of the Sumatran Giant’s and each has the ‘best’ cure that if Dre had used the swelling and pain would be gone by now. So, the definitive list on how to cure a bite from a Sumatran Giant Centipede is this:
– kill the centipede and crush it innards and smear over your wound
– rub ‘special oil’ on the wound every hour
– walk around constantly to massage your foot
– get a knife and cut out the poison (sounds particularly appealing)
– wrap leaves (of unknown kind?) around the wound
– get plaque off your teeth and mix it with raw chewed peanuts and smear on the wound (also appealing!)
– enbalm the centipede in oil and spread on wound
– get water spinach and add salt to taste, then make into a powder, and put on wound
– rub lime or lemon juice into the wound
– tie string around limb so the poison doesn’t spread, and then squeeze poison out
– soak wound in salt water
– and of course, the doctor’s recommendation “you need an injection, otherwise you will always be in pain”
So there you have it, should you ever find yourself in need, the Batak people of Lake Toba can cure your centipede bite faster than you would otherwise be able to.