Travels with Boyd

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Cambodia. Another new country to visit with more unexpected adventures… some enjoyable and others not so much.

Friday, September 25

We arrived in Sihanoukville on the Odyssey on Friday and as soon as we could disembark, I piled into a five-passenger van for the long ride (over 8 hours) to Siem Reap. I was traveling with two couples from the ship, Kathy and Fred, and Monica and John.

The trip took most of the day. We reached Siem Reap around 7:00 that evening. One stretch of road as we neared our destination was under enough water that it was nearly up to the van’s axle. Nothing says “welcome to Cambodia” quite like wondering whether your van is about to become a boat.

My home for the next three nights was a quirky “resort” called the Casa de Capabera. I had some street food at a place nearby and had a 60 minute massage for $14 US to help with the backache from a day of bouncing across Cambodian roads. I got to bed shortly thereafter. The alarm would be going off early.

Saturday, September 26

Angkor Wat is perhaps the most famous tourist attraction in all of Cambodia. Maybe right up there with the Taj Mahal in India. It is even featured on the Cambodian flag. To see the sun rise over Angkor Wat means a very early start to the day. And knowing that my driver was arriving at 4:30 meant I would wake up every hour and look at the clock starting at about midnight.

The five of us were joined by a wonderful young lady from Nepal named Pratikra. She is a remote worker doing research while traveling the world. She had previously worked in the US and her English was excellent. Our guide Sem was fabulous.

We managed to avoid any significant rainfall, though it did sprinkle at times. The humidity was near 100% the entire time. We also went to Bayon Temple, Ta Prohm Temple and Banteay Kdai Temple. After the third of four tour stops, we headed for a much needed brunch break.

I was back to my hotel by noon and later had my first tuk-tuk ride (about $0.25 US) to go to the APOPO Visitor Center, where trained rats are used in land-mine detection work. It’s incredibly sad that a place like this exists in the first place, but the work that they do is so incredibly important. Can you even imagine having to choose between working land littered with mines and unexploded bombs or not being able to feed your family?

And finally that evening, Kathy and Fred and I went to Phare Circus where we ate well and enjoyed a great performance. It was about this time that I started coughing and noticed a bit of a sore throat and headache…

Sunday, September 27

I had nothing planned for Sunday until the evening. I decided to explore a bit and ended up doing something I rarely do… shopping. I walked past a clothing “outlet” (counterfeit name brands) and ended up with a “Lululemon” golf shirt for $5 US. Elsewhere, I got a new screen protector and lanyard for my phone after dropping it two days prior. I also got a haircut and beard trim for $6 US. The locals love to accept payment in US dollars but always want to give you your change in the local currency. The exchange rate for Cambodian riel is about 4000 riel to 1 US dollar.

It rained hard at times Sunday afternoon but let up as my tour guide arrived at my hotel to start the food tour. Along the way to the first restaurant, we picked up two more travelers: Liam from Canada and Masimiliano from Milan. Liam is a civil engineer and Masimiliano is a recently laid-off cyber-security expert who was living in Zurich. They proved to be excellent company.

I lost track of how many stops we made. And the food was terrific. I tried all sorts of Cambodian dishes, including several things that I would normally expect to see crawling away from the plate rather than sitting on it. Crickets? Sure. Mealworms? Why not. Grasshoppers? Absolutely. When in Cambodia…

It seemed like a good idea at the time.

Monday, September 28

At about 3:00 a.m. I was awakened by some rumbling sounds… coming from me. I made it to the bathroom. But just barely. And I’m getting on an airplane in a few short hours. UGH.

Mercifully, this turned out to be an isolated incident (or so I thought at the time) and I managed to get a few hours of sleep before heading to the airport to fly back to Sihanoukville – a much quicker and more comfortable way to accomplish the return trip.

The airport is just a few years old and beautiful. It is a ghost town. Good thing I arrived early… no lounge and I got through Security in less than a minute. The departure board showed only two flights going out that morning. I saw no arrivals.

By the time I got back to the ship just before noon, I felt like death… headache, sore throat, fatigue, fever, cough. I went straightaway to Medical where they suspected a case of pneumonia. UGH.

The chest X-Ray machine malfunctioned but the blood test showed some abnormally high numbers. After listening to my lungs and my description of my symptoms, the doctor decided to administer the first of three IV antibiotic treatments. Off to my room and bed rest for the remainder of the day.

Tuesday – September 29

About 2 a.m., I am again awakened to that familiar rumbling. This time, it is not an isolated trip. It took four or five trips to fully empty by intestines. And the water had been turned off, so I’m unable to flush. UGH. One small blessing was that everything was coming out the bottom – no nausea or vomiting.

When I returned to Medical for my next IV treatment, I mentioned the diarrhea to the nurse. Oops. The one diagnosis you want to avoid at all costs on a cruise ship is gastroenteritis. That diagnosis gets you placed in quarantine and sent back to your room. UGH.

Wednesday, September 30

It seemed like a good idea at the time.

By the time I woke up, I had gone almost 30 hours without another gastrointestinal episode and felt much better. My official release had not yet arrived, but I fully expected to receive it when I saw the doctor later this morning.

So I left the cabin and headed to the dining room for a much-needed cappuccino. This turned out not to be the approved procedure.

Room service arrived with breakfast, discovered that the patient had disappeared, and apparently set off the cruise-ship equivalent of an all-points bulletin. I made it as far as the cappuccino machine before a staff member intercepted me and politely ordered me back to my cabin.

Dammit! I didn’t even get to take a cappuccino back with me. About 30 minutes later, the doctor officially released me from quarantine. Finally, I got my cappuccino.