Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

If I told you that the last 48 hours were the worst I’ve had in a very long time, it would be a pretty severe understatement. The past 48 hours have pretty much been hell, and have tested me both physically and emotionally.

In my last blog post I mentioned that I had been sick. I tried to downplay how sick I was to not make a big fuss over it, and to not cause worry. But right now I’ll start from the beginning. It is currently 10pm on the night of June 13th, I’ll start at around 1pm on June 11th. 

Two days ago, June 11th, we flew from Siem Reap, Cambodia, to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. It was an exciting time because in Ho Chi Minh City we were picking up a new batch of people for our Contiki tour. Half of the tour finished their travels in Cambodia and we said goodbye to them in Siem Reap. Another half of the tour were to be joining us in Ho Chi Minh City just for the Vietnam portion. We went out with all the newbies for dinner later that day to get to know everyone. This is when it all began.

I ordered some sort of noodle dish, and a side of shrimp and crab spring rolls. Immediately after eating I became very sick. I will try to spare you the gross details, but I was violently sick all night, continuing to the morning.

Early that morning (June 12th) the whole Contiki tour was leaving for the Mekong Delta, an area in the south of Vietnam. I was way too sick to travel, so I made the very sad decision to say goodbye to the tour group and stay behind in Ho Chi Minh City alone to recover.  I was really disappointed and sad to be missing out, as the whole group would be cruising down the Delta on a traditional boat, and seeing fruit farms and floating markets. They would also see the Viet Cong’s tunnels in Cu Chi, which are 250kms of tunnels that the Vietnamese resistance fighters dug by hand during the Vietnam War. But not only were they going to see some amazing sights, they were also going to have lots of time with the new additions to our tour group, to get to know them, and form friendships. I really felt like I was missing out on a lot, both socially and historically.

Back in Ho Chi Minh City, I spent that whole day (June 12) stuck in my hotel room, too sick to leave. I was averaging about 20-30 minutes of break time in-between bathroom visits. I couldn’t eat or drink anything because my body would reject it almost immediately. I was completely alone in my hotel room, in a foreign country. I have never been this alone while being sick, I’ve always had a friend, or parent, or significant other around to support me in some way, either by keeping me company, or bringing me food/drink, or just by holding my hand and telling me I’ll get through it. I spent 36 hours in my hotel room, violently ill, growing weaker and weaker by the hour.

By the following morning (today, June 13th) I was so weak that it was hard to stand or walk. I was still alone, so I stumbled my way down to the hotel lobby, where the very kind receptionist ladies managed to get me into a taxi and to the hospital.

When I arrived, they immediately put me into a hospital bed, and put an Intravenous (IV) drip line into my arm. I spent the next 7 hours in the hospital bed receiving my IV drip line, and drinking numerous foul tasting liquids they fed me. It took all day, but they managed to nourish me back to health. Well… not fully back to health, but enough so that I could stand and sit without feeling nauseous, and I could finally keep down some food.

The hospital staff were amazing. I had a nice bed, with a privacy curtain around my area. I had two amazing nurses who checked in on me every 20 minutes, and a very kind doctor who checked in on me every hour. After making sure I ate some semi-solid food, they let me return to my hotel in the late afternoon.

About half an hour after I returned to my hotel the Contiki group returned from the Mekong Delta. I was really excited to finally have some company again in my room, as my roommate Sydne would be coming back to join me. It was really difficult being so alone for so long, especially while going through hell with my body. I wanted to hear all about the Mekong Delta, and I especially wanted to hear all about the new additions to our Contiki group! Since I missed out on meeting everyone, I was excited to hear from Sydne how everyone was, who was dating who, and other such gossip. I needed some distractions from what I was going through, and I wanted to live vicariously through her experiences since I missed out on so much.

Unfortunately I only had the pleasure of Sydne’s company for about 5 minutes before she decided I was too sick to be her roommate. She freaked out when she found out I had been in the hospital while they were away, and didn’t want me to pass on my sickness to her. So, after asking me to have my insurance pay for her to stay in a separate room (which wasn’t possible because I only have insurance for medical expenses), she left and arranged herself a new room for the night. I offered to split the cost with her of her room since she was very unhappy when I told her my insurance wouldn’t cover the cost of her private room. She came back to retrieve her belongings from my room and I haven’t seen or heard from her since.

Now that it’s the night (10pm on June 13th) I’m feeling a bit better physically. My energy levels are way higher than they were this morning and I just ate a few bites of bread that my body hasn’t yet rejected! But emotionally I’m not feeling the greatest. Not only did I miss out on an amazing experience in the Mekong Delta with all the new additions to our group, I was stuck alone in my hotel room severely sick. I was also upset when my only source of company (my roommate) returned and she didn’t want to be anywhere near me. I haven’t heard from Kate or anyone else on the tour either. So basically it has been a very lonely and difficult 2 days.

Even though the past 2 days were extremely difficult, I survived, and I think I’ve come out stronger in the end. I am grateful that I had a lot of support from my family and friends at home through skype and email. Thank you for being so amazing and supportive, I love you guys and miss you very much!

Tomorrow we are flying to Nha Trang, Vietnam, to spend two days relaxing by the beach! Hopefully I will be fully recovered in order to take part in all of the exciting beach activities that are planned! I’ve got 1.5 weeks left of my Contiki tour before I will be re-united with Madeleine and we will begin our backpacking trip down to Bali, Singapore and the Thai islands before I return home on August 2nd! I have lots to look forward to :)