(Day 25)
I woke up at about 5:00 am to the sound of some strange animal eating inside the bungalow that Dalton and I were sharing. The smacking, crunching, and falling of food made me feel extremely uneasy. We already knew that there was some animal living with us somewhere inside the bungalow, but we weren't sure where or what it was; notwithstanding, it hadn't bothered me, until now when I could hear it chomping and chewing. I think it was the mere fact that I didn't know what kind of animal it was that bothered me. To this day (which is a week or so later), it remains a mystery.
We met the guys at the ferry point and began our journey to our next country: Cambodia.
Getting across the border wasn't real bad, but Cambodia definitely had a less professional feel than did Thailand or Laos. There were shacks instead of official-looking government buildings. United States Dollars instead of official currency.
Cambodia is much hotter than the other places we've been to so far (except Bangkok, of course). Red dirt permeates every nook and cranny here. It, as Arrio so aptly put it, feels like what I've imagined Africa looking like. But, what makes Cambodia beautiful, in my opinion, is the people.
At the border, we had some official (or so he appeared to be) come up to us and tell us that we needed to get our temperatures and vitals checked so we had a health certification in order to enter the country. He had us fill out a questionnaire, pointed a laser at our necks (which supposedly calculated our temperatures), and charged us $1 each. It was a complete scam, and we were a bunch of suckers who fell for it. In retrospect, I'm not sure who we could have been so naive.
From the border we traveled in a tightly packed mini-bus (a van) to Stung Treng, and then we immediately switched to another mini-bus and headed for Ban Lung which is a base city for travelers who want to do some jungle-trekking in North Eastern Cambodia. On our way to Ban Lung, Arrio and Sam had a great religious discussion with two Muslim women from Switzerland and Egypt. I desperately wanted to participate in the conversation, but because I was sitting awkwardly in the next bench seat up, crammed between a bunch of people, I could not. I could, however, listen, which is what I did. These two Islamic women seemed ferociously interested in Mormonism. I think they were surprised to see some of the common perspectives our religions share. I felt religious envy to hear some of their beliefs and practices and admired their dedication and convictions. I love religion.
We found a beautiful guesthouse right next to a lake once we arrived in Ban Lung. It was $4 a night per person, but is by far one of the nicest ones we've stayed in so far.
We went out to the market, ate some fresh fruit and sugar cane, and then found a restaurant to eat at. Dalton, Sam, and I got hamburgers. They weren't bad.
And then we got hit. I started feeling incredibly sick and soon thereafter, I began puking my guts out. It was terrible. Dalton and Blake got hit also. For a while, Dalton and I were playing musical chairs with the toilet. I'd get out and he'd take my place, and then vice-versa. We were tag teaming that sucker. It felt like an episode of Game of Thrones. It was terrible! There is nothing worse than vomiting due to food poisoning. I'm sure the sounds resonated throughout the hallways of our guesthouse. I was so grateful that we were in a nice place with private bathrooms during this terrible time. I thought back at all of the other guesthouses that we stayed at with the shared bathrooms and the nasty floors. I think we picked a good spot to get sick.
The next three days were full of sickness and recovery.
No comments:
Post a Comment