Heat Exhaustion Is NOT Fun

To say that I felt bad the morning we left to go see Bantrey Srei would be a slight understatement.  The 32 km tuk-tuk ride is not what you need to do with an upset tummy; nor is the Cambodian roadside a fun place to vomit.  But I can mark those things off my bucket list.   

By the time we got to the parking lot of Bantrey Srei, I was not really able to function in the heat or have the ability to walk through the complex. Though they had a first aid section, because I didn't really fancy vomiting in public for the 5th time, it was closed and the only doctor in town was down the street at the field hospital. 

 So back into the tuk-tuk, for a brief ride to the hospital....

To say that this is a hospital is really reaching.  It is more like a porch with a few private (and very dirty) rooms. The doctor and nurse did not speak English, French, or German and our tuk-tuk driver didn't understand the English medical terms to translate for us.  

I was allowed to lay down on a wooden plank bed, given a lovely pink flowery pillow, and two pills.  We have no idea what the pills were. One I swallowed and the other I chewed.  I then was left to sleep.  I know I had a fever because it broke and I was freezing-- a feat in 100ºF heat.  I think I was hallucinating, but they really might have been examining other kids in the room with me.  I am not sure.  

At one point, Will left to retrieve Jen, who was back at the temple.  Upon their return, they started taking photos.   I guess I had been there, in and out of sleep, for two hours.  And I guess that I looked really pathetic.  I should be thankful that they weren't immediately posted to facebook.  I'll save them the time, and blog about my humiliation, instead. 

 

Having run out of water and still quite hot and dizzy, Will had to go across the street to the vendor to buy ice.  He placed a cold cloth on my forehead, ice on my head and wrists. I was able to make it out of the hot box of a room and onto a garden lounge chair on the porch. Then I had to lay down again. 

And in case you are wondering about the blue basket-- that is the scale for babies. As you can see, the facility has the most up-to-date medical equipment.

After another few minutes (10? 15? who knows), I was able to get into the tuk-tuk for the 32 km ride back to the hotel, back to bed.  Will and Jen found Gatorade and Goldfish crackers and by the evening I was holding everything down and felt much better.  By the next day, I was a thousand times better and ready to go back out templing.   And I can mark "visit to Cambodian Field Hospital" off my list of things to do in life.