3 day trek

The 3 day trek was everything I hoped it would be. We met at 7:15 in the morning for breakfast before heading out. Tee was our guide and there were 6 of us on the trip: Bhern and Bianca from Germany, Pekka from Finland, Thomas from Austria, Jesse and me. Started the first day with a ride in the back of a pickup for 3 hours to the starting point for the trek. Made one stop at a market to get fresh fruits/veggies. The actual trekking was challenging and beautiful. The first night we reached a village of Karen tribes people after a 4 hour walk - the last hour was uphill in the sun, pretty rough! When we reached the village we met the shaman and his wife and learned a bit more about Karen culture. The village boys were playing soccer on a cement court and the guys joined in, good times!

The first night we slept in the hut of one of Tee's best friends. We sat in the kitchen room of the hut while dinner was cooked - there were over 15 of us in a small room with the fire going and people smoking tobacco. They also cooked a mouse over the fire...I did not try it but some others did. Our dinner was delicious green curry and rice. We also shared some of their local rice whisky. After dinner we played with the local children who loved to take pictures with our digital cameras, sing songs (jingle bells was their favorite) and the little girls french braided our hair. I got a radical side braid that wrapped around my whole head.

Slept on the bamboo floor in a sleeping bag = not the most comfortable spot ever.... the 4am rooster wake up was unbelievable! There were at least 2 roosters who sat under the house (about 5 feet max from our heads) and cock-a-doodle-doo-ed every 10 minutes for the remainder of the morning. Rough!

I woke the second day to find the village children watching us sleep and waiting for us to wake up and play with them. I was the first up so we hung out and they took some pictures with my camera. Our walk was shorter and flat the second day - ending at a bamboo hut on the river. 6 trekkers and 10 guides slept in the hut. They cooked amazing stir fry and killed 2 chicken by wrapping their necks around each other...intense! We played a massive game of Uno with all of the Karen guys. Then another night sleeping on the bamboo floor.

Day three was the coolest trekking - crossing a river back and forth. We saw Gibbon in the trees! They are like monkeys...but not called monkeys according to Tee. They live in groups of 3 and moved so fast through the trees. Awesome. Made it to a limestone bat cave & walked through in the water, bamboo torches lighting the way. At the end of the cave there was a spot in the river where a few men went fishing, literally diving under rocks and catching fish by hand. Amazing.

Made it to the village and had another yummy lunch of noodles wrapped in banana leaves with bamboo chop sticks carved by hand at the camp.

An amazing experience - made great new friends and learned so much.

Weird things I did not eat: mouse, little bird

Weird things I did eat: chicken balls, chicken feet, ants + ant eggs

Chiang Mai

I am feeling SO much better!! Relieved and glad the sickness is behind me. Jesse and I flew from Saigon to Chiang Mai a few days ago. It is really nice to be in a smaller city after hectic HCMC and Phnom Penh.

Today we took a cooking class which was hilarious. The instructor spoke in a mono-tone voice the whole time & was pretty funny. First we went to the market to pick up fresh ingredients. Then we cooked! I made Green Curry, Stir-fried Chicken with Basil, Pad Thai Noodles, Hot & Sour Prawn soup and Spicy Glass Noodle Salad. We also ate everything we made so now I am stuffed! Took some of the glass noodle salad to eat for dinner b/c I could not finish it.

Tomorrow we are heading out on a 3 day/2 night trek. We will be staying with a hill tribe family for the first night & camping the second night. I am very excited - the guide we are using seems really legit, a true eco-trek instead of a touristy experience. The guide's name is Tee but I keep calling him Pee by accident. And the company he works for is Pooh! haha

progress is good

Saw a doctor this morning and the progress is good!
She said I am OK to travel, which is awesome.

Had my 3rd x-rays which looked a lot better than the others. Still not 100% clear but the doctor said that is to be expected. A radiologist will look at the x-rays tonight and write up the official report - I am heading back tomorrow morning to pick up the report and then should be free to travel.

The next question is - where to?
Jesse just got back from the beach about 10 minutes ago so we are going to discuss over dinner.
Not much time left now - might have to cut out Laos or some of Thailand.

chillin in style

I have been doing some serious relaxation the past few days.
Breakfast, pool, maybe a little nap, dinner, sleep. That's about all, I really hope my lung is appreciating the time I am putting in to this healing!

I spoke on the phone today with International SOS.
The clinic is Cambodia was pretty bare bones - but I think the one here is legit. First of all they charge twice as much to see a doctor.... you get what you pay for, right? I hope so. Also they have agreed that I should come in earlier than the idiot doctor in Phnom Penh recommended.

So I have an appointment to go in on Monday morning. Hopefully at that time I will get a third set of x-rays that come back all clear.

I can't believe that this illness is sucking so much of my precious travel time! I will have to make a decision on where to go next...no way I can fit in everything I hoped to and fly out of Bali on March 28th. And how did it become March already?!

rags to riches

Today I made the move from Cambodia to Vietnam. The flight was awesome, just about 30 minutes. I wanted to share some pics of my accommodations in Phnom Penh (including the pillow with my name all over it) for comparison to my new digs in Ho Chi Minh City. Also threw in a pic of a moto plus pigs in a basket that I saw on the way to the airport. Poor piggies!

I have to give a shot out to my personal hero(s) Willy-Bob who found this new hotel for me. I love you guys thanks for taking care of me from so far away!

Just reunited with Jesse and it felt so goooood. She is off to meet some friends on the town...I am in for the night being mellow. I told her my dad grounded me at the Hotel Magestic and I was not upset one bit. Happy to be here and have a fresh place to stay for my recovery.

pneumonia in cambodia?

DISCLAIMER: This is a ridiculously long story. Do not feel the need to read it - but I figured that is what blogs are for right? I can't keep telling the same story over and over... so if you are interested read on. If not, no big whoop.

It all started when I stepped off the bus in Phnom Penh...I went to grab my bag from the bus and it was covered in fishy smelling water. I mean like soaked through the whole left shoulder strap plus side of bag. Gross. Got into a tuk tuk and felt something inside my skirt - went to grab it and discovered some sort of large insect or spider...and I squeezed it and it was juicy and I dropped it onto the street. Double gross. On the way to the guesthouse our driver took a corner and my bag flew into the filthy street - with fish liquid soaked in to help absorb it all. Now I was cranky. And beginning to feel a little feverish.

Suffered through lunch of what had to be Toombstone pizza while dipping my bandanna in my water glass and pressing it against my forehead. Made it through the day with help of ibuprofen - even somehow managed to walk around the killing fields for an hour. Once we returned to the hostel it was all over for me. Full blown fever. Bed-ridden for the night, promising to go to the International SOS clinic in the morning.

Into the clinic I went, pathetic and freezing on a hot and humid day. They took some blood and let me lie in a bed while they ran the tests. The nurse had to turn off the AC in the observation room which had 3 beds separated by curtains. Results!? All negative. Which was nice because it ruled out malaria, but also sucked because it gave me no answers. The recommendation: take 2 tylenol every 4 hours and come back on Monday. Thanks!

Saturday was another day of pain. Mostly bedridden, sweating yet freezing. But there were moments when I was feeling well enough to go in public and get a bottle of water. By this point my cough was starting up.

Sunday I was feeling pretty good when I woke up! Alright! Even made it to observe a traditional dance class at the Cambodian Living Arts school. Amazing. Then went out and attempted to eat lunch and even bought a ticket to Vietnam for Monday! Thought things were moving in the right direction. We attended a play that night "Break the Silence" which was an intense collection of true post Khmer Rouge survivor stories...I was having serious coughing fits during the show. Seriously almost had to remove myself from the audience. But toughed it out and then went right to bed.

Monday Jesse jumped on the bus at 8am - see you in Vietnam! I had to check in at the clinic one last time to get another blood test and make sure I was all clear from scary sicknesses. Then they also threw the chest x-ray at me. Which showed a problem, the center 1/3 of my right lung was white while the rest healthy lungs looked black. That meant infection, which meant pneumonia. I thought pneumonia was something that old people get, or at least people get in the winter time. But apparently I am capable of contracting it in South East Asia. Sweet. Treatment started with the most painful IV insertion I have ever experienced. Have you ever had an IV put on the inside of your wrist? This lady did not know what she was doing and it still feels odd two days later (and yes I am touching it as I write this to confirm).
Since I intended to fly to Vietnam I literally had my bags with me at the clinic. AND had forgotten about my nice tuk tuk driver, January, who was waiting outside for over 5 hours! Luckily he was still there and still smiling and helped me get back to check in once again to the Okay Guesthouse. He sealed the deal as my personal tuk tuk man.

Tuesday went back for my second IV treatment at SOS. Way better nurse this time, top of the hand and I don't even have a bruise from it. Did not see any doctors on this visit. January took me home to the Okay House and I stayed horizontal watching movie upon movie in the privacy of my own special room. Did I mention the pillows have my name written all over them? Literally - they say ROBIN ROBIN ROBIN all over them. How weird is that?

Wednesday = today! I went to get my follow up x-ray & final IV treatment. Feeling much better on the fever side but cough still pretty strong. I felt optimistic though. Wrong! There was not much improvement in the x-ray. I was crushed. The the doctor told me that I will either have to stay in Phnom Penh for another WEEK or get "evacuated" to Bangkok for a week where they have better resources to deal with my illness. I could think about it and return to the clinic in the afternoon to make final plans. Both options sucked but (after a little freak out) I reasoned with myself and decided on Bangkok. Just trying to focus on my health here.

I returned to the clinic around 2pm to meet with Dr Nelson and figure out the plan of attack. He had to go check with some colleagues to figure out insurance etc while I made my list titled: Evacuation to Bangkok. He returned and sat down across from me and tried to sound official. Officially? He is an idiot. The other doctors all agreed that I CAN go on to Vietnam. I just need to check in at another SOS clinic (in Saigon or Hanoi) on March 4th for another x-ray. At this point I became pissed off. Then he told me that I should leave and come back again at 5:30 to pick up my reports. I told him I would wait and literally made him show me his schedule for the afternoon to see where he could fit this "report" in - which, incidentally, is maybe two paragraphs long. So in the end he was apologizing in front of the whole waiting room while handing me my x-rays and I was telling him he is an idiot and should always double check with other physicians before recommending an evacuation.

So! I am really really leaving Cambodia tomorrow and heading to Vietnam. So excited for a change. Traveling with a backpack and a do-not-bend folder of x-rays should be interesting. But I am very happy to do it.

Thanks to everyone who has been concerned for my well being! I am seriously fine and just taking it easy this week so I can get the all clear on my next x-ray.

Cambodia - Angkor Wat, Seam National Park

A few pics from Cambodia.
The people here are great - so friendly and easy to laugh. Which is amazing considering the recent history. Everyone rides a bike - you will even see 2-3 children on 1 bike in their school uniforms. So cute! And motorbike mania as well... with the whole family on board.

Jesse and I took the "scam bus" across the boarder from Bangkok - madness! We paid for a bus all the way to Siem Reap but ended up taking a $10 cab from the boarder...questionable operation they have going there.
We met Dana Gestal at the hotel in Siem Reap - worked out perfectly, we arrived 10 minutes before she did. Nice.

Angkor Wat was amazing! Such a huge & impressive project - massive. We visited a bunch of different temples - Ta Prohm was one of the coolest (I guess Toomb Raider was filmed there but I have not seen it)
The modern monk was there in full robes + cell phone.

3 nights in Siem Reap & then we ventured to the beaches (2 bus rides where they play ridiculous movies & music videos). Sad to see so much trash on the beaches, we did not even go in the water near our guesthouse. We did take a day trip to Ream National Park which was nice, but still trash washed up on the beach.

Went to the killing fields which was horrible, intense and eye opening. Crazy how recently the genocide took place and there are still bones and clothes in the mass graves.

Dana Gestal left us to head back to Hong Kong - great to have her for a week!

Loading pics is a bit painful here - seems to be the case across the board.