Finally we had to leave the beach and go into town so that we could get our Vietnamese Visas. Not wanting to spend another $15.00 and experience the rocky road, Nicole arranged for us to be taken by her motorcycle driver for only $5.00. We were assured that there would be no problem with both of us fitting on the motorcycle, and instead of going down rock road, we'd go over the hill at the end of our dirt road. It would be much faster. We've seen families of 5 on one motorcycle, so we didn't worry.
Driver - Ok, I know.
G- Phyl, I'll get in the middle and you can get on the back. I know you don't want to ride with your breasts pressed against this dude.
P- There's only one set of foot rests for the back. Where will you put your feet?
G- I'll just hold them out. Why did we wear our flip flops instead of our Keens? We're idiots.
P- Yeah, that was not the wisest decision. Put your feet on top of mine.
G- It's ok. My once soft feet have heels so hard they could scrape the asphalt right off the road.
P- We're not wearing helmets, so if we crash, your feet will be the least of your problems. I'm more worried about becoming road kill.
It was a hot day and didn't take long for us to start sweating, our bodies pressed together like stackable lawn chairs.
G- I've never been pressed up against so many strangers in my whole life. And men at that!
P- Not just pressed against them, but with your legs wrapped around them.
G- I'm trying to keep my legs out to the sides, but it's making my groin hurt. As luck would have it, this guy is the first smelly person I've encountered in Cambodia. They're always bathing, and he's the only one with B.O.!! Plus, my lower back is killing me.
P- I'm sorry you're stuck in the middle. I can smell him too. We'll switch on the way back.
G- Ah! Look. A field of cows. Breath deeply. I never knew I would be so happy to smell cow poop, but it smells better than B.O.
P- I was just thinking the same thing.
We did have to get off the motorcycle and walk to the top of the steep hill before getting back on and riding the rest of the way into town. He delivered us to the Vietnamese Consulate and we got our visas in only 10 minutes. Then we stopped at the bank and the grocery and were back on our beach chairs by noon.
During the 2nd week of our stay, fellow beach bums began dropping like flies with a stomach virus. The first few thought they had food poisoning, but it soon became apparent that it was a virus. Vic and Tom had it before they left, then Phyl got it. She seemed fine all day until we went to dinner at Sunshine Cafe.
Back at the shack she spent a very horrible night, up every couple of hours expelling all bodily contents in both directions. The last thing that either of us wanted was to be sick in botulism bathroom!
That night I went to sleep with terrible heartburn, even though I had only eaten fried rice, and woke up several times during the night with the bird bowels. It adds that extra little bit of fun when you're running for the toilet and have to stop and search the bathroom for roaches before entering. Fortunately, after our first 2 nights, we never saw another roach again, but we were still on guard.
Thankfully, the vomiting & diarrhea lasted only 12 hours, but the virus lasted approximately 1 week with lingering symptoms of mild nausea and heartburn after eating. We stopped eating after 5:00 pm to prevent the nightime heartburn, and didn't even drink beer for 2 days. We thought for sure that death was near, when beer turned our stomachs. For 2 weeks after, we would meet other travelers suffering from the same virus. It was nothing nice.
