CAMBODIAN MEDICAL CARE
(KHMER TALES PART 6)
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1/15 We arrive in Ubon Ratchatani, Thailand from Don Khone, Laos. In some ways, it is like we have reentered civilization. Ubon, population 100,000, is the capital of its province and feels like a first world city. New Cars & pickups on the roads and many less bicycles. No chickens, water buffalo, goats. But, we do see someone riding an elephant down the street...
The only problem is we have a whole new language to learn. Luckily, Thai and Lao have a lot of similarities. We find a restaurant for dinner and the hostess seats us. When she realizes we don't read Thai and what a limited vocabulary we have, she indicates to wait a minute and runs off. Out comes a cook from the kitchen who explains the restaurant has no English menu. He tells us what they have and recommends a few dishes. We decide on a fish and basil dish, shrimp cakes and vegetables. The chef comes back after the food is served to make sure we like it and chats with us for a while. When he discovers we are from the US, he tells us he is sorry about the World Trade Center and that Bin Laden is a bad man. Then he asks for our e-mail address so he can correspond with us. 1/17 We decide to stop at Phnom Rung, which is a Khmer ruin, on the way to the Thai/Cambodia border. The ruins lie at the top of a dormant 1000 foot high volcano and take advantage of the slope of the mountain, just as at Wat Phou. However, as soon as we enter, the difference between Laos and Thailand becomes obvious: this site is fully restored and very well maintained (we will see a similar contrast with Cambodia). In fact, I think you'll have to wait until I discuss Angkor Wat for more details on Khmer ruins. 1/18 My last e-mail was sent from the Thai town of Aranya Prathet. From there, we took a tuk-tuk to the border and walked from one world into another. Somehow, our camera, bought in Luang Prabang to replace Lois' broken one gets stolen. At least we only paid $63 for it. Maybe it's a good thing I didn't buy that expensive digital one? I guess we got a little careless... Following the information from a great web-site (TalesofAsia.com) on things Cambodian and especially crossing the border and travelling overland from Thailand, we find a pick-up truck to take us to Sisophon. From there, we get a pick-up to Battambang. These pick-ups are the "buses" for this area. They stuff 4 people on the back seat, 3, including driver, on the front seat and about 15 into the bed. Not a very comfortable way to travel. For the first ride, we have outside "seats" with a great view and Khmer people trying to help us get situated. One lady grabs my leg and crams my foot in an open spot, moves a bag a little and I am set. Every time the truck stops to pick-up or drop-off people, a little reshuffling takes place. The road isn't too bad, but you are totally unprotected and there is a lot of red dust. The Khmer have scarves they wrap around their heads so that only their eyes are showing. We start working on our Khmer. It is definitely more difficult than Lao. They have many sounds and combination of sounds that simply do not exist in English. But, the people in the truck are happy to help us work on our accents... The driver stops at a "gas station" to fill up. It's a roadside place with a large number of 5 gallon containers of gasoline and a big funnel. As they start pouring the gas into the funnel, someone in the truck just by the gas tank decides it's a good time to light a cigarette! But, we get to Sisophon, alive, and there is a "bus" terminal with a platform that all the trucks pull up to. They use great big umbrellas to protect people in the bed of the pick-up from the strong sun while waiting to fill the truck. For the next leg, we get inside seats. I'm thinking, hey, this isn't too bad - until we hit the dirt "roads". Trust me, I am being kind in calling it a road. More like a series of craters and the driver deciding which crater to drive through. Maybe it was a road 50 years ago? As we do more of these rides, I feel bad for the Cambodians. Having no option but to travel like this, especially in the back of the pick-up (inside costs twice as much), is not very enjoyable. Our packs arrive covered in dust. So much, that it has worked its way through the zippers. When we get to Battambang, I am wondering, "why the hell did the guidebook recommend this place?". It's dirty, dusty and killer hot. No more wishing for warmer weather. The markets here are much dirtier than Laos with seemingly a quarter of the world's fly population. The people, however, are very friendly and out-going. The level of English is much higher than in Laos. We walk past a school and all the children rush to the window to talk with us. "Hello", "What's your name", "Are you married", "How do you like Cambodia", etc. Our first purchase is a English-Cambodian/Cambodian-English dictionary. Next, a $20 camera to replace the stolen $63 camera that replaced the broken $200 camera. Will our pictures be better or worse as the trip progresses? We'll have to wait and see. 1/21 Siem Reap. Sometimes people give you more information than you need to know. If you feel that way about a description of illness on the road, click here to skip to below the ****** Yesterday, I had some diarrhea and took immodium because we were traveling from Battambang to Siem Reap. Late last night, my system started working again and I was spending about half my time in the bathroom. It being after midnight and having only one bottle of water in the room, I started getting seriously dehydrated. By morning, I was in pretty bad shape. Lois got me water and oral rehydration packets. 4 liters of water later, I was still dehydrated, still having diarrhea and had a 103 degree temperature but wasn't sweating. Not good news. Took my bactrim, but it wasn't helping. This was the sickest I have been in the last 18 years of travelling. By 1:00PM, we decided it was time to experience Cambodian medical care. A taxi took us to a clinic, where as soon as I walked in, the doctor escorted me to a private room, sat down, talked with me for a minute and within 10 minutes of entering, I had an I.V. in my arm. The care was very attentive and friendly. The doctor even assured me that all supplies they used were sterile - not a big concern of mine, since they were all prepackaged. I started feeling better within 1 hour. I stayed there for 4 hours and got 4 liters of fluid and a variety of drugs. Total cost: $141 (which my insurance covered). The clinic was nice and very friendly, but certainly not clean by our standards. Nurses didn't wear gloves. When some blood of mine dripped on the floor, the nurse wiped it up using a kleenex with her bare hands. By 7:00PM, I was feeling worlds better. I have to say, Lois was wonderful throughout the entire experience. She took great care of me the whole time. It's a tremendous moral and psychological support when traveling and being overseas to have someone there with you when you are sick. I guess all of the dirty restaurants we saw in Battambang were a warning. I think we'll be a bit more careful here than in Laos. End of gruesome details. **************************************** 1/22 I am feeling fine and just relaxing in Siem Reap. It appears to be a much nicer town than Battambang. We'll probably stay here longer than anticipated to get some R & R. Tomorrow is Angkor Wat. Stay tuned.