Now, with me, I don't have much luck. There's always something that has to happen to me. Nothing is ever precisely perfect, there's always a quirk to it. Philippines? Stomach problems. Poland? Damaged back. Marriage proposal? Steaming goose poop. Cambodia? The plight of poo strikes again. I've had the traveler’s runs plenty of times, especially in Asian countries. But I've never experienced anything like this before. Maybe it was the water, the food, or mosquitoes. One night, I thought it was because of dengue fever and I was so worried. Thankfully, my fever had broke, so I ruled that out. But I'm going almost two weeks with stomach issues. Only time will tell.
At the airport, we were greeted by Mr. Lek, our tuk tuk driver for the next few days. We fit all our stuff and ourselves into this tuk tuk, I was so surprised! We pointed out the vacas and dogs on the sides of the road. It was ridiculously hot and humid but I was so happy!
We napped for a bit, cause I needed to rest, and then went out to Pub Street for dinner. This area of the city was all about food and night markets. There was entertainment in a few of the restaurants, neon lights, and lots of tourists. Such a fun atmosphere! We ate some Khmer food, I got lok lak. It's similar to lomo saltado. Equally delicious! Emre loved finding the gekkos on the ceiling.
The main reason we were here is to visit the temples, and I wanted to see them all! We paid for 3 days, about $60 for a 3 day ticket. We went around noon and started with Angkor Wat. It was so beautiful! I marveled at all the little details that went into beautifying the temple. Not going to lie, it was ridiculously hot! I don't think I've ever sweat so much in my life! The sun was beaming and I was soaked! After spending an hour or so, we hopped into the tuk tuk and went by more ruins. We skipped Bayon for another day to see Ta Prohm, where Tomb Raider was shot. Ruins being taken over by jungle, it's pretty great! Before we went in, we realized we forgot our tickets in the tuk tuk. So Alastair hopped onto the back of a police motorcycle to find Mr. Lek. Emre thought he was going to jail and cried. Such a tender heart!
That night, Emre was feeling pretty sick. Fever and all, it was rough. Instead of waking up early for the sunrise, I slept in with emre. Alastair did wake up early for a morning temple run. He ran throughout Angkor Wat and then ran all around the other temples. It was one of the best runs he had ever done!
We took it easy that afternoon and went to Blue Pumpkin for lunch to eat some noodles and lounge. It's a pretty sweet setup. We went home to nap before going out again to see some temples. When I woke up from my nap, I felt absolutely horrible. I had a fever, felt dizzy, and ached. I didn't know what was wrong with me. I thought it was the start of dengue fever. I was so vigilant with putting on repellent, but the mossies really got me good! We didn't stay long cause I was feeling terrible. We just grabbed a few snacks and went home to chill.
Thankfully, prayers were answered because my fever broke that night! It wasn't all pleasant. The night was horrible. I woke up many times, making trips to the bathroom. One time, I was sitting on the pot and I saw a devil mouse running towards me and then darting away. I could hear it scurrying around for a few hours. Yuck!
But I was feeling so much better and I was so happy to end our third and final day on a high! We went to Bayon and I think that was my favorite. Mainly because Emre was so confident in his abilities to venture on his own. He was so brave, climbing around and navigating around. We just ended up chatting while following Emre around. He got a little too fast for us and we almost lost him!
We stopped to see a few more ruins until we noticed emre's bite on his leg was getting pretty big. So we finished our tour and went to the hospital to get it checked. They gave him antibiotics and that was quite the struggle. Emre hates medicine. Absolutely. Hates. Medicine. It's the worst thing in the world for him, even if it tastes decent. He just hates it. I think it's all in his head, but it's so difficult to give him anything. I honestly think he would rather get a shot, just get it over with. But he will not take medicine.
We went out to lunch at a cafe and ate some delicious spring rolls and strawberry gelato. After all the yummy food and stomach problems, you sometimes just need some fruity gelato to give the stomach a break.
We napped and then went to this place called boxville. Alastair would always want to go every time we passed it. It's these containers turned into restaurants. We ate more Khmer food and then had Emre play. There were this train of cars that went on a track and he sat on the first one and drove it around. I seriously think he believed he was actually driving. He was so focused and would turn the wheel on every turn. It was so cute! He then played on one of those bouncy houses with a slide. He was so sweaty that he took off his shirt, went to slide down, and just stuck to the plastic. So funny!
We ended the night by chilling on our bed. Emre wanted to play a game where we would close our eyes and then draw something in our head. He first “drew” a t rex and then a carnotaurus. And the last one, he drew something and had Alastair guess. Alastair didn't know what it was and emre responded, “circle.” I lost it! I was laughing so hard! He was first drawing these complex things in his mind and punked Alastair with a circle. So funny!
The next morning, we packed our bags and headed to the airport. Cambodia was all I dreamed off and more! The temples were beautiful and I'm so glad I fulfilled by dreams with Alastair and Emre! Now, I have to figure out a new dream. Antarctica? Yep, that's the one! 6 out of 7 continents; I have to go!
