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Travel Health Diaries

Getting Loose in Laos, Mouthed by a Monkey & Turning green at Green Field.

Here I was taking all the precautions having had a TMVC consultation with our own Dr John McDade with the following advise, don't drink the water, eat the dog or get bitten by it or a monkey.  My reply was don't be silly I have travelled to South East Asia three times & never had a day of trouble.

Boy Oh Boy do I eat my words now, I think most travellers will understand this B.T.D.T.G.T.R. but if not it translates to Been there, Done that Got the runs.  This was the first of the unfortunate things that happened, not sure what I got but after loads of pills & potions as recommended, great for the weight lose but not so good for the constitution, it seems to be under control So that was Laos our second stop off & only 7 days into our 6 week travel plans.  

Headed to Siem Reap Cambodia.  Off to the 'Floating Villiage', alias ATRO  (Another tourist rip off), this country is very poor but the government has their fingers everywhere, like poison ivy. There are SO many bikes, cars & trucks, & NO road rules or so it seems.  I think half the times we sat there with our eyes shut hoping we would get where we were going in one piece.   This is where I came across & very nasty little monkey which attacked me as I was getting onto a boat(or as I saw it some old bits of wood held together by some paint).  Luckily I was able to shake the little creature off my arm beforeit's teeth actually broke the skin at this point  I vividly remember Dr John saying if you get bitten you have 2 days to get to civilisation.  So out came the creams & lotions which the locals thought was rather weird.

Then week 3 we headed to Vietnam & as any good traveller would know you MUST have a copy of Lonely Planet for whatever country you are travelling too.   So with our copy well read along with the Trip advisor reviews (must have been their family that wrote them) we decided to stay at one of the recommended hotel in Ho Ani, 'Green Fields', more than the outside walls were green but at least that was paint & not mould, & the smell, even Tiger balm could not stop the purulent smell.  This would be the worst place I have ever had to sleep in in all my life even camping in holey tents in the middle of Zimbabwe was not this bad.  But we did survive & got to tell the tale.  We are in our last 2 weeks of our trip & have had & hope to have some great adventures before we land back in Oz.

Just to finish off the most important book to take with you is the little  TMVC book 'A Health Guide for International Travellers'.  Take it with you if you need any type of medical assistance as the language barrier can usually be overcome with it as most medical people are familiar with the ailment & drug product names.

 

Safe travels,

 

Patti Callister

Health For Industry
Quality Coordinator
Occupational Health Nurse
BRISBANE Clinic