Thursday 9th December 2004
The Stomach Upset
The share taxi is waiting to gather more passengers before it can depart. I have paid $8, which seems steep as it is, but I just know I am going to have to relive the discomfort that I endured in the taxi from Pailin to Battambang. I have already had to sprint to the lavatory about 6 times between 5.30 and 7am I have taken two Imodium capsules, I have a splitting headache and I feel like I am going to die! I am just praying that we get going soon and arrive at my destination before the Imodium wears off. Please, please, please hurry up!
The taxi ride was hell. Eight people squeezed in like sardines, except when you have diarrhoea and you are squeezed into a old beat up car being bruised and battered by every bump that you can feel ten times as hard, what with the headache (the road was worse than the first terrible taxi ride incidentally) it makes being squeezed in like a sardine look like a more comfortable option. The taxi stopped two or three times along the four-hour journey and every time it stopped everybody got out to take refreshment and I stayed in the taxi trying to find a position that would soothe my pain a little and lying across the seat in a complete daze.
On arrival at The Mountain Guesthouse I fell out of the taxi, my backpack followed me and the very kind staff, who were waiting outside pretty much, carried me, this dehydrated, pathetic shell of a man, into the nearest room on the ground floor. I lay on the bed wanting the world to end and one of the staff came in with some mineral water and some sachets of hydrating medicine, made me up a drink and told me that he could take me to the doctor if I needed and that he would be in reception on hand at any time if I needed anything. He also told me not to worry about checking in until I felt up to it. I was very grateful for their delicate treatment of me. I must have looked really, really sick. This was about midday and I slept through until midday the next day with a few breaks to dash to the squat toilet. On one visit to the toilet in the dead of night, after all sorts of noises and smells had emanated from my backside, I heard a sound above me and looked up. On the ceiling was a gecko, voicing his displeasure I imagine!
