Traveler stirs controversy by bringing bottles of Ganges water back from India
Traveler stirs controversy by bringing bottles of Ganges water back from India
2026-04-24
A man who traveled to India recently posted a video of himself bringing back two bottles of water from the Ganges River. But the sight of the murky water, already starting to grow algae, drew condemnation from commenters, who accused him of bringing potentially disease-ridden pathogens back to Taiwan. In a response video, the man apologized and promised to bring the water back to the Ganges.
- Algae’s started growing in my Ganges water.
When visiting the Ganges River in India, this traveler filled two plastic bottles with water to bring back with him. Little did he know he was about to start a firestorm.
- Ganges water, I’m bringing you to see a plane.
Just seeing these bottles of turbid water is enough to make your skin crawl. Even though the Ganges is a sacred river, it’s also a place where locals wash their clothes, prepare food, and conduct funeral rites. Commenters on the man’s post called on customs or the CDC to intervene.
Hsiang Hsiang
Traveler
Last month, I went to India with some friends and filmed travel videos. I heard the locals will bring water from the Ganges back with them for worship, so I thought I’d bring some back to Taiwan to share with my friends. I never thought it would be shared around to all of Taiwan. I’m so sorry! It’s been in Taiwan for a month now and nothing has leaked. Not a drop.
Hsiang Hsiang promised to return the water. An Indian friend also told him that people believe the Ganges holds the souls of the dead, so taking water without permission disrupts their rest. The Ganges has often become a topic of conversation. Once, a Chinese influencer drank a glass of water straight from the river while filming himself. But could bringing two bottles back really cause pollution or spread infectious disease?
Huang Yu-cheng
Pediatric infectious disease specialist
If you left a bottle of water from a Taiwanese river sitting for a month, there would definitely be some bacteria in it as well. Drug-resistant bacteria don’t necessarily multiply quickly unless they’re under pressure from antibiotics. So unless those bottles of river water have been fed antibiotics every day, it won’t breed particularly resilient bacteria.
The doctor said that unless it’s cultured intentionally, there isn’t much danger posed by the bottles of river water. But from the look of them, it’s no wonder people are concerned.
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#Ganges #India #river #riverwater #publichealth #bacteria #souvenir #holywater #influencer #pollution
可入關? "混濁恆河水"男子帶回台網友撻伐:移入病菌
2026-04-24
一名男子前往印度旅遊，將兩瓶「恆河水」帶回台灣，還po出影片分享，只見瓶裡越來越混濁還生出不明物體，網友紛紛撻伐譴責他帶病菌回台灣，造成汙染甚至散播傳染病，對此男子也再發影片，把恆河水帶回印度。
- 我的恆河水裡面長出水藻了
台灣男子來到印度恆河，用兩個瓶子裝了恆河水帶回台灣，引發軒然大波。
- 恆河水我來帶你看飛機
只見兩瓶混濁的恆河水，長出不明物體，令人頭皮發麻，儘管恆河被視為聖河，但也是當地人清洗衣物、處理食物及辦理後事的河川，爭議舉動吸引大批網友留言，呼籲海關或疾管署來關切。
[[帶恆河水男子翔翔]]
“上個月跟朋友來印度拍旅遊影片，然後我聽當地人說，他們會把恆河水帶回去供奉，想說帶回去跟台灣朋友分享，沒想到卻跟全台灣人分享了，對不起，總共在台灣放了一個月，完全沒有溢出，一滴都沒有”
原po允諾將恆河水帶回印度，也指出印度友人跟他說，印度人相信恆河存在亡者靈魂，因此擅自裝走河水，會讓亡者無法好好安息。只是恆河水話題向來不少，就有中國網紅直接在鏡頭前開喝一大口，這回台灣人帶兩瓶水回台灣，真的會造成汙染甚至傳染病蔓延嗎？
[[林口長庚兒童感染科顧問醫師 黃玉成]]
“台灣的河流一罐水放了一個月，裡面一定(也)有一些細菌存在嘛，通常(細菌)有抗藥性，不見得繁殖是快的，除非在有抗生素的壓力之下，所以你的那一罐裡面，除非每天去餵養抗生素，才會篩選出特別的細菌出來”
醫師認為除非刻意培養，否則兩瓶恆河水造成的威脅很有限，但再看看兩瓶恆河水，實在讓人不敢恭維。
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