Hi friends! So, some time has passed since my last post. Lemme see… what happened? Oh yeah, I got really sick.
Jen and I both ended up getting sick a couple of days after we got to Luang Prabang. My assumption is that some water from the evil Mekong got in our mouths during the aforementioned boat ride from hell and the parasites started going to work on our bodies. Anyway, it hit me first and then Jen 24 hours later. We spent the following few days sweating profusely in our rock hard beds, fighting stomach ailments, fever, headache, and body aches. Good times. Finally, at the advice of my mother (of course), we started taking antibiotics. Fortunately, because of my particular drug allergies, I’d brought my own antibiotics from home. However, for Jen, we found some amoxicillin at the local “pharmacy” (a.k.a. a soda/chips/shampoo shop that also had supposedly prescription drugs behind the counter in little packets).
After we started feeling better, we headed out to see the waterfalls that the region is famous for. We went to Kuang Si waterfalls, where we also saw a moon bear sanctuary, played with some puppies, and got misted and wet from the surprisingly cool water. (It was actually too cold to swim in, which is distinct because it’s so hot here.) Unfortunately, we never did get to see the Pak Ou buddah caves. Our trip out there got called off at the point the road was washed out from all the rain and mud.
All in all, Luang Prabang was very cute and pretty and also pretty torturous for us. Remember, if you go, skip the speedboat!
On Tuesday, we finally caught our flight back to Bangkok for Jen to return home to California and me to work on getting my visa to Vietnam (long story). By then, Jen’s drugs had stopped working and the poor thing was a hot mess. She did get to visit the Boots pharmacy in the Bangkok airport, however, and they gave her new antibiotics that apparently started working some time mid-flight.
Now, I’m in Bangkok and have had the time to do some of the stuff I didn’t get to do the first time around. Yesterday, I went and worshipped at the city’s modern temples – the ultra sleek high-rise shopping malls. Very cool. Then, this morning, I got up early and took a tour out to the famous floating market. Kind of a snooze because it’s not used much for actual trading anymore, but still interesting. Tonight, I may go see an authentic Thai boxing match as a last hurrah for my time here in Thailand.
Tomorrow, I fly to Hanoi. I’m not sure how long I’ll actually stay in Vietnam, as my list of to-dos back home is ever growing and I’m realizing that I’m not going to have enough time to see the country properly anyway, so I will definitely have to come back! Any takers?
