It’s common courtesy when visiting foreign countries to become enriched in their culture by ways of cuisine, lifestyle, and, if you’re over the legal age, the certain nightlife that they offer.
Hangovers, however, are universal — the aches and pains all speak the same language.
Each country has its own popular “hangover cure” that the locals know about. We don’t encourage excessive drinking, but next time you find yourself in need of a cure outside of the U.S., think about these for a change:
Ancient Rome: Thousands of paintings and stories come courtesy of the Romans, who loved to watch gladiators and party. With all the wine they consumed, hangovers must have been common, and one of the weirdest remedies Gizmodo reports was deep-frying an entire canary bird and topping it with salt and pepper.
Germany: We all love scarfing down eggs and bacon the morning after a night out, but Germany takes this to a whole new level with katerfrühstück (or, “hangover breakfast”). This is a breakfast with pickled herring covered in onion and gherkin (a variety of cucumber).
Vietnam: Urban legend or a weird village concoction that the locals are only aware of, the practice of grinding pure rhino horn into water and then into a cup and drinking it is thought to cure just about anything that ails you.
Mongolia: Can’t stomach ground rhino horn? Then don’t get a hangover in this central Asian country, unless you want to sip on tomato juice complete with two pickled sheep eyes staring back at you.