Summer Travels - Part IV

I promise I am almost over with this novel! It has been a long time in coming to finish our Southeast Asia tour. We last left off in Siem Reap. We arrived at our hotel late at night, and the next day I was in bad shape. I was feeling really sick and had to use the bathroom every second. I decided I needed to go to the doctor. Some tips if you are sick in Asia: 

1. You can go to an International hospital, but it will cost you more. In Siem Riep there is a great hospital that is run in conjunction with the group of Bangkok Hospitals called Royal Angkor International Hospital. It will bill international insurance if you need it. If you have good insurance, this route is easiest.

2. I knew I needed a test and knew what my diagnosis might be. So I decided to go to the local hospital. I have learned that most laboratories are across the street from the local hospital in Asia. Usually, there are multiple labs near the local hospitals as well as pharmacies. Usually, someone there will be able to speak English and you can order the test yourself.

3.  Once you know your test results you know what kind of antibiotics you need and you can go to the pharmacy and buy them.

4. If they think you need to go to a hospital, they will direct you. In my case they wanted me to go and get an IV to hydrate me. 

I went to the lab and was diagnosed. They referred me to a local doctor's office and I was given an IV and antibiotics. It helped to be rehydrated and get some antibiotics in me. My husband and kids were able to  explore that city a bit while I sat in a lovely room with some needles in my arms. Thankfully, I was able to start feeling well enough to head back to the hotel. Also, a good picture was taken in the hospital and is to follow. 

After we got my sickness under control, we were able to make our trip to the ruins at Angkor Wat. We decided to hire a taxi and have him drive us around since we had lost a day due to my sickness. The area that encompasses the old temples are actually quite vast. If you want to visit Angkor Wat, you definitely need to have some kind of transportation to see as many temples as you can. We went to the biggest temple first, Angkor Wat. It is the most renovated and we decided to get a tour guide to show us around. 

After we went through the big temple, we took the car on a trip through the rest of the smaller temples. I personally liked the older, less restored temples with all the trees growing through them and all the different kinds of vegetation and nature that mingled with ruined stones. We were able to spend the day there exploring.  

The next day we headed to the Thai border via the land route. We personally had a very easy and uneventful crossing at the border. After you arrive on the Thai side there are many taxi's waiting to take you anywhere. For us it was cheaper to take the taxi back to Bangkok. We settled in our hotel in Bangkok and had a great couple last days there, including an IKEA trip! We always enjoy our time in Thailand and we feel so thankful we were able to make the trip!

If you followed along the whole way, way to go! As you might notice in the picture above, our flight was quite delayed. No worries though, we made it back and I became fully well and am able to write this post now. Until next time!