Blasted Bummer of a Bug

At first I told myself it was the heat, though I knew that wasn't likely as I had 3.5 days to acclimate. Then I thought perhaps it was a touch of carsickness - we were certainly doing a lot of bobbing and weaving through traffic. Or could it have been my yogurt at breakfast? I asked for a bathroom break, and was met with an Asian toilet - a hole in the floor lined with tile, and next to it a trough of water with a bucket for flushing. I tinkled a bit, and decided to take my chances hobbling down to the stagnant stream to see if I was going to be sick. Um, yup.

By the time we arrived at our guesthouse in Kep an hour later, I knew something was very wrong. The remainder of my breakfast came up. Sadly, when nothing was left, my body didn't get the memo, and kept insisting I embrace the thankfully Western toilet.

James was gentle with me and kind. I joked that given our limited time together we were in an accelerated relationship...fast forwarding to that ~3 month mark when one of you is sick in front of the other.

The fan-only room (read: no AC) was unfortunate, and I laid in a weak lump on the horribly thin springy mattress for a few hours, hoping the sick would pass. Not wanting to miss out completely, I agreed to attempt venturing down to the water for sunset. The guesthouse manager offered up his moto for free, to save us an unsafe bike ride home in the dark, especially as I wasn't feeling well.

James had been honing his moto skills throughout Thailand, and I thought I'd do as the local ladies do and ride side-saddle on the back. We buzzed around town; the fresh air was nice, but no match for whatever bug had a hold of me. We quickly returned home and I slumped onto porcelain again and again.

By then we were both praying that whatever it was I had, to let it be of the 24 hour variety. I wasn't going to last much longer not being able to keep any food down.

After one helluvan uncomfortably hot, humid, and somewhat delirious night, the morning brought a bit of normalcy back to my body. I cautiously ate breakfast, and definitely felt more myself.

We decided to moto up to the Kep National Park (KNP) for some light exploring, then hop a minibus to our next stop, Sihanoukville.

On our way up the hill, we came to a seemingly empty temple complex. It was encouraged to visit, James assured me, as all Buddhist temples are for the public. There were a few residents after all, and an elderly woman beckoned me inside. She was about 4 feet tall and had the warmest toothless smile I'd ever seen. She took my hand and shuffled me to the shrine. James and I sat for a moment, and he dutifully lit the incense and gave an offering of a few cents. He whispered he'd done this hundreds of times before all throughout Thailand.

After a few minutes, our tiny hostess padded over to a bench and indicated I should sit beside her. She began rooting through a box of leaves and jars, and handed me a very hard reddish disc, about the size of a nickel. It was a dried something or other and she indicated I should eat it. I noticed her stained lips and gums and got a bit nervous. I was about 6 weeks into a year and a half of Invisalign (clear plastic molds over my teeth that act as "invisible" braces, slowly moving my teeth with new trays every 2 weeks. But eating with them in is a no-no, especially anything that may stain them). I nibbled at the teeniest bit of it, and James chomped on in... it was very hard, very bitter, but had a mildly numbing effect - almost like kava from the South Pacific. Then, the woman started spreading a white paste onto a big green leaf. She put one or two of the red discs in the leaf and wrapped it up, stuffing it into a narrow mortar, and used a pestle to grind it all up. She plopped the mash out into her hand and put the whole wad in her mouth. She was sure to show us each step. "Oh please don't offer the same concoction to me," I thought. She started gumming down on it all like a camel with cud.

A few children and their mother had come to see what all the fuss was about. I took the opportunity for a cultural exchange and dug out a few sweettarts. Oh the little girl was SO NOT HAPPY with the initial sour taste. Poor thing had a tear in her eye and desperately wanted to spit it out. Her older brother didn't bother to savor it - he just chomped down right away and found the sweet. His big grin reassured the little one, and she gave it a crunch. A good laugh was had by all.

The old woman finished her treat and spat out the now finished wad of who-knows-what. We decided it was time to go. Walking out, James said, "now that is something that has never happened to me before in all of my temple visits. I don't think they do that for any random tourist that happens on by. They must have really liked you."

We rode further up the hill and then parked the bike near a walking trail. I was very weak from a day of sick, and the heat and humidity was intensifying. We agreed on a shorter but steeper climb to the summit. Normally in very good shape, it was frustrating to be out of breath and have to move so slowly...my muscles feeling like jelly. James took off ahead of me. On one hand I was glad he didn't wait around for me for his own sake, on the other I felt a bit...... alone.

View from the top of Kep National Park

The view from the top was mildly rewarding, but we were both tired and ready to cool off and get some lunch. I was especially hungry. Again he charged ahead on the path. I wondered what would've happened if I'd fallen.

Spicy Crab Fingers in Kep

We moto-ed back down to town and headed for the famed crab market. James is a strict vegetarian, but indulged my taking the opportunity to try world-famous Kep crab. Yuuummmmmmm.

Back at the guesthouse, we packed up and chatted more with the positively delightful staff. They had been sooooo concerned when I was ill, and quite happy and talkative now that I was better. A tuk-tuk came to fetch us and it was off in a minibus to Sihanoukville, THE Cambodian beach destination.