Unforgettable - Part 4

               So many things happened on this day that it can only be attributed to God and the power of prayer. I want to really thank everyone who was praying for us because God answered your prayers. My relative and his wife told us of a Western hospital in Beijing in which it is very easy to be admitted and hard to leave. This seemed to be the exact opposite of Chinese hospitals. It sounded great so far until we heard the catch: they charge Western prices. To give you an idea of the Chinese costs up to this point, we paid somewhere between 200-300 dollars for everything. The scans, blood work, overnight stay, medication, and IVs. The scoffing and rudeness came free apparently. We weren’t sure of what the prices would be at the Western hospital, but we were told that seeing the doctor would be between 100-200 dollars. It was sounding more and more like America, but we didn’t have much choice and booked an appointment.

                Upon arriving to the hospital, we met with the doctor where I actually got a chance to explain my symptoms. Previous to this, I was never able to really explain things fully because of constant interruptions of “Everything is perfectly fine.” “You are just tired from traveling.” and “You just aren’t used to Asian food.” I was also able to personally explain things because all of the doctors and staff spoke very good English. After explaining my symptoms, the doctor looked over my tests and concurred with the others that everything was fine (which I was pretty tired of hearing at this point). We then began telling her our story and how we needed to be admitted. Luckily, there was a bed available for me, and we started on the paperwork for admission.

               I should add here that at this point, I really think that my recovery would have been quicker in a hotel because I was able to eat slight bits and drink a little bit of water. I was only admitted for the visa issue.

               By the time the paperwork was done and everything finished. The doctor wrote a note and gave it to Hannah and my relatives. It was around 3:30PM, and the visa office closed at 5PM. They had to go from the hospital to the police station to register us. They then had to go to the visa office. For those of you familiar with the DMV, both the police and visa offices can be similar experiences not to mention the stop-and-go traffic you have to wade through to just get there. I knew there wasn’t going to be enough time. As they were leaving, I was praying for a miracle. (I obviously stayed in the hospital.) It turns out that they had very little traffic on their way and no lines at the police station. They arrived at the visa office 40 minutes late as they were closing the gates. However, after explaining the situation, they reopened for us. Apparently, what they told us before about being admitted wasn’t really true. The lady said that she couldn’t extend our visas and was trying to think of ways to get me out of the country. But, seeing as I still couldn’t stand or sit for more than 3 minutes, there didn’t seem to be much of a choice. After much persistence from my relatives (I’m told they were quite insisting) they relented and made an exception. For those who are acquainted with the wonders of bureaucracy, you can appreciate how rarely exceptions happen. The only catch was that they had to take our passports to process a new visa which would take 10 days. When I heard the news, I was overjoyed. 10 more days in China was a much better alternative than rotting in a jail.

               We decided to stay the night in the hospital just in case immigration decided to call and check on if I really was there. The next day, we picked up the bill and staggered a bit at the price. Luckily, I was persuaded to buy traveler’s insurance before leaving on our trip which SHOULD cover up to 100,000 US dollars in case of medical emergency. I’m pretty sure my situation will qualify, but we will have to wait to hear back from the claim.

               My relatives in China were so amazing to us. Not only did they go out of their ways to translate and take of us in the hospitals, but they also took us into their home to wait out the time until our passports came back. They fed us and kept us entertained with conversation. We are forever indebted to their hospitality and kindness.

               My recovery was slow (as I’m writing this I would say that I’m at about 98%). However, I made marked improvements most days. It is very easy to see progress when you’ve felt like you were knocking on death’s door. Apparently I got the wrong door though since all the tests came back “perfectly normal.” The dizziness faded one day, then the nausea another day, the hot flashes another etc. There were still difficult times of doubt and depression. I struggled with persisting symptoms as I had never had anything that lasted more than 48 hours before. The doctors had me on a diet of stuff my stomach doesn’t have to work to digest. This basically means no acidic foods, no spicy foods, and no oily foods. To put it simply, no taste. Plain oatmeal, boiled eggs, and bread became my diet for about 2 weeks. Every day, I was able to eat slightly more and gained more strength. When I felt well enough for a walk, Hannah and I walked a city block. (You can see from the picture that it was a unusually less-polluted day.) I promptly went back and had to take a 2-hour nap. Eventually, I my strength returned and I was able to be upright for the majority of the day.

               When our passports came back, we took a look at our visas. We were kind of hoping for a 10-year visa to China but were a bit surprised when our visa was good until the next day. That gave us the remainder of the day to book a flight out of China. After some stress and running around, we got a flight to Italy and from there to Bulgaria where Hannah’s parents picked us up and drove us to Macedonia. We were a bit scared leaving China though. Obviously, my whole situation was not normal immigration procedure. Even though we did everything legally, there were still holes that could have been questioned. For example, there was no record of us being in China between the 10^th and the 20^th. In America, that would warrant a “Please come with me sir” into a side room with where I would get to see some intimidating men questioning me. Again, maybe Hollywood has ruined my mind, but these were our thoughts. China isn’t always the most friendly of places to be in trouble. The lady at immigration took my passport and saw the 72-hour visa, then the other visa on a different page. After looking puzzled for what I’m sure felt longer than it actually was, she stamped it and waved me through.

               As we were flying out on the plane, Hannah and I had the feeling of the Americans escaping Iran in the movie Argo. We were joking that an announcement would come over the loudspeakers something like this. “You may now use Facebook and Google as we have officially cleared Chinese airspace.”

               And so ends the epic saga. It wasn’t what we intended, but it was by far a better story than the usual “I saw the Forbidden City” that everyone comes back with. Not many tourists get the full 4-hospital experience along with souvenir pictures of their internal organs. God taught us so much from the whole experience, and I can honestly say now that I’m glad it happened, but I hope it doesn’t happen again!

Unforgettable - Part 3

               As I slowly got out of the hospital bed to test my sea legs, I was feeling good. It had been the first time I had stood without nausea in about 2 days. I walked around a little, and then it hit me in a ginormous wave. To say that I was surprised would have been an understatement equal to saying that Hugh Jackman “might not have been the best pick” for the main singing role in Les Miserable. I quickly got back down on the bed and regretted every mental process that ever caused me to stand up. Lying back down made the feeling go away slightly, but only in the way that scoring one goal in a soccer game where the score is already 0-10 gives you a slightly better chance at winning. Soon after this, it was the doctors’ turn to come in and tell me that, once again, everything was fine and dandy with me. Cue a feeling of misery.

               They told me that I couldn’t stay the night there. If you remember from the previous post, I needed to be admitted somewhere or face the “or else” from the Chinese government. My mind immediately went to being super sick in a Chinese prison where they serve me worse-than-gloop for the remainder of my miserable days. I was begging my relative/translator to beg the doctors to let me stay in the hospital or at least give me more magic stomach IV medication. Apparently, they said they could only give me one magic dose per day. They then told me to get up and try walking around so they could see how “well” I was. I was prepared with a plastic bag for what I was sure to follow.

As I stood, the nausea came back more fiercely than before, but I wanted to show them just how sick I was. I staggered a few steps forward before another familiar sensation hit. As a child, I had many encounters with fainting. Seeing blood, overheating, you name it. I’ve probably fainted from it at one point in my past. I say this to let you know how familiar I am with the sensation. So, as I was staggering across the hospital floor and realized that my vision was quickly closing in, I made a quick decision. My options were to either really show those doctors how sick I was and probably end up with some broken teeth (I’m very grateful that I was a shorty as a child. The bigger they are…) Or, I could just get on the floor to avoid any further misery and pain. I chose the latter which in hindsight probably looked to them like a wasted driver trying to prove to the police how not drunk he/she is by walking a straight line in a zig-zag. I think (the details are a bit hazy when you’re about to pass out) that I fell to my knees and did a roll over backwards onto the ground. As I was lying face down on the infectious virus/liver diseased hospital floor, I expected doctors to come rushing to my aid. At least, that’s what happens in all the TV shows when the star patient collapses on the floor. Of course, I would have stopped them before they used the paddles. I’m not that much of a drama queen. However, much to my surprise after the few seconds it took for me to regain consciousness all of the doctors and nurses, my crack team, hadn’t even moved. They were smirking at me from behind their desks. At the time, I didn’t understand so much, but I guess after my “fall” they weren’t so convinced.

So, after having saved my teeth to sacrifice a chance at being admitted, I had but one choice: go back to my hotel. This meant braving another trip in a taxi through the stop-and-go traffic of Beijing, except this time, I was feeling about 10 times worse than my previous wonderful experience. However, realizing that my other option was a herd of scoffing doctors, I decided that a hotel might just be the best place to at least retain my dignity. God answered our prayers though. I laid in the back of the taxi and put my head on Hannah’s lap. She held my head to help stabilize it, and the amazing thing was that I felt much more comfortable in a jerky taxi cab than I did lying still in a hospital bed. After making it to the hotel, I half crawled into a cold shower to help with the nausea. Plus, I hadn’t showered for days at this point. I then crawled into bed for what I was sure would be another night of restlessness.

I can’t remember if I explained this symptom before or not, and I’m too lazy to go back and read my own writing, so I’ll just explain it now. No matter how tired I was, I was unable to sleep. I would fall into that state where your thoughts are mixing with your dreams. However, right at that point, I would feel a sensation in my stomach I can only explain by thinking about the dropping sensation you get on a roller coaster. If that weren’t bad enough to startle me awake, my heart would also start racing. It apparently didn’t want to be left out of the fun. The combo was enough to startle me awake every single time. (This is why they did a CT scan of my brain, but of course everything was normal which I was happy about. You don’t want something wrong with your brain after all.) After the 10-15 minutes it took me to calm down, the process would repeat ad nauseam (pun intended) throughout the night.

Here’s where God did another miracle. For about an hour, I was being startled awake, and Hannah had been noticing (or maybe I woke her). After running to the bathroom for a false alarm, Hannah prayed with me that I would be able to fall asleep. Instantly afterwards, I was out like a light. (I’ve been told that the phrase “sleeping like a baby” isn’t very accurate and would more describe my previous symptom.) I woke up the next day having slept a bit, but after no sleep it was the most amazing thing. I wanted to cry when I looked at the clock and realized that I was able to sleep for 5 hours. During the whole ordeal, I (being the scientifically educated young man that I am) knew that the immune system does not function properly after not sleeping for a couple days, and I was worried that it would just spiral me down further and further. I’m sure it contributed, but this was part of why I wanted to cry when realizing I had finally slept. I might be on the road to recovery! There were still challenges to take care of though. For example, we still needed to be admitted to a hospital to get our visas extended, and it had to be done that day before 5PM when the office closed. I could put down a little bit of food, but not enough to keep up my strength. In the face of seemingly unbeatable odds, we had only one place to turn. We prayed.

Unforgettable - Part 2

               Let me preface this post with a few statements. 1) I attribute everything “lucky” or “fortunate” that happened to be nothing less than God’s care. The way that He provided for Hannah and I in China is nothing short of miraculous despite the difficult situations we found ourselves in. 2) Both Hannah and I learned so much through this experience, and God has really brought us closer to Him and closer together as a result. 3) At the end of the day, I am thankful for everything that transpired. Now, enjoy part 2 of the story.

Upon waking, I realized that going to the Great Wall was probably not the best idea for me. I was feeling better than the previous day, but I didn’t want to overdo it and ever have that feeling again. So after encouraging Hannah that she could go without me because, “What’s the worst that could happen?” she left me to try my best at eating, drinking, and sleeping. If I could rate on a scale of 1-10 how miserably I failed at all 3, it would be somewhere between Alan Rickman reading a scary story with the intent of putting children to sleep and Christopher Lee singing soprano. (If you don’t know these people, please take a moment to listen to their voices, and then this will no doubt be much more humorous.) Thankfully, Mom (to whom I am forever and eternally grateful) gave me the contact of my Aunt’s husband’s brother (otherwise known as a distant relation) and convince me to call him. I really wasn’t going to at first. After all, what can you do with a diagnosis of “Nothing’s wrong with you. Go see a doctor in your home country.” Of course though, mother is always right (read with as much sarcasm as you wish), so I called him anyway.

               I am so glad that I did. Not to spoil anything in this story, but if I hadn’t I might be rotting in a Chinese prison right now without my computer or wifi. And then how would you read this? He came right over, and traveled about an hour to do it. He took me back to the hospital I was at where he began reasoning with them in Chinese. Finally, someone to get through to them about how I’m actually feeling. It had about as much effect as my attempts the day before did: I believe the New Testament refers to it as “kicking against the goads.” Lucky for me, he had a contact in a different hospital that was very modern and could/would run tests on me. It’s not about what you know, it’s about who you know. This phrase could be modified in China to read, “Why did you even mention what you know?” Because of his contact, I was able to get in to the hospital quickly and seen by a doctor before even being registered. After ruling out scary things like malaria and dengue fever, they ran a panel of blood tests and did CT scans. Of course, they all came back with “Everything is perfectly normal.” The previous diagnosis of “Go see a doctor in your home country” never came though because “Why did you even mention what you know.” I am forever indebted to my relative in Beijing.

               They put me in a private room for the whole day and night while giving me lots of IV fluids to help my body fight whatever was destroying it. At this point, I had 3 doctors on my case. I felt a bit like a patient in the TV series “House” except my doctor wasn’t super rude and ended up not solving the case with a miraculous diagnosis and a magic pill to make me all better. Their best guess was that I had contracted some strange/undocumented/possibly new Southeast Asian virus and that I just had to wait it out. Normally, I would have been fine with this diagnosis. Americans don’t usually go to see doctors unless they are independently wealthy, have great health insurance, or are more than sure they are dying. Since the tests indicated I wasn’t going to die in the next 24 hours, I was fine with leaving. They just wanted to do a few more tests on me first though, just to be sure.

As I was being formally admitted into the hospital (I had spent the night in the emergency room) I felt my legs going numb. I was sitting in a wheelchair and thought it was a classic case of “I’ve been sitting on my butt too long and need to shift.” Shifting didn’t help though. The tingling spread to my arms as well and my vision started to blur and blacken. Having extensive experience as a child in the art of passing out, I realized what was happening and slid off the wheelchair onto the ground where the tingling quickly stopped and I regained full consciousness. At this point, Hannah and I were really scared. Apparently, my team of doctors were too. I was told later that they all proceeded to sanitize themselves as they sent me back to my private room to await instructions. Doctors being scared about what you might have is a little less comforting than waking up from your plastic surgery hearing, “Well, this is not my best work.” 

If that wasn’t bad enough, let me take you on this interlude to explain more of the visa concerns we had on top of my health. Our visas into China were a special 72-hour transit visa. This means that if you stay more than 72 hours, the infamous “or else” that plagues your mind with thoughts of the worst thing imaginable might come true. However, in order to get an extension on the visa, I had to be admitted to a hospital. At this point, I was only in the emergency room which apparently didn’t count as being admitted. The doctor’s note of “This guy is not well enough to travel” just didn’t cut it. I, however, was never admitted as you can find out by continuing to read.

               Apparently more doctors were being added to my case, and it started to feel a bit less like a TV show and more like something serious. Their best guess was that I had some form of hepatitis, and I fit most of the symptoms with the exception of jaundice. My eyes were a healthy white. However, jaundice is not always present, so they sent me to a hospital specializing in the liver and infectious viruses. I was going to get to ride in an ambulance! However, when the ambulance did finally show up, I realized that it was nothing more than a minivan with the seats taken out. It ended up being one of the worst car rides of my life. Being already prone to car sickness, the thought didn’t sit well with me to be in a hospital bed that wasn’t locked into the floor in a hot “ambulance” in stop-and-go Beijing traffic. (Not all countries have the respect for law enforcement and healthcare that America does.) But what could I do? I had just passed out from a sitting position and was in no mood to try it again.

               Well, I made it to the liver hospital alive. They did their own battery of tests including a CT scan of my abdomen and pelvis, a CT scan of my brain, a chest x-ray, an ultrasound, and several blood tests. Of course, everything came back “Everything is normal.” However, there was one thing that was off. My total bilirubin was about double what it should be, but it was considered by the doctors and discarded for not being responsible for my symptoms. So, their diagnosis was, “You don’t have hepatitis, so why are you here?” At this point, I could have told them any number of reasons like intense stomach pain, intense nausea, passing out from a sitting position, etc. But, having not eaten or drank anything for 48 hours, I didn’t really have the energy. After finally consenting to give me some IV fluids and stomach medication, they let me alone for a bit. When the doctor came in to check on me, it was clear that he didn’t believe me. He told me to eat food and see what happened. My last attempt had left me racked with so much pain and nausea that it just wasn’t worth it. Unbeknownst to me, I was on magic IV stomach meds. I took a few pinches of bread determined to show this doctor how wrong he was. After having no immediate reaction, he said, “If you don’t throw up in the next 30 minutes, try some more.” I didn’t throw up, and I was getting slightly hungry. Could he have been right? I then proceeded to eat the more Chinese prescribed “gloop” that they eat when they’re sick. After eating a can over the course of 2 hours, I thought I was done with the worst of it. Then the IV stopped. And so does part 2 of the grand China adventure.               

Unforgettable - Part 1

               Since most of you know that our stay in China was unexpectedly prolonged, I’ve chosen to write about it in parts. In an attempt to whet your appetite, I’ll give you the “Hollywood preview” version of what’s to come. (Please read this in your head as the late Don Fontaine, the famous voice actor who did all of the previews before movies):

               In a world where the unexpected becomes expected; where husband and wife travel to the far reaches of the East in search of answers. Answers to questions like, “I wonder how good the healthcare is here.” “If I stare at a hospital ceiling long enough, will it make everything better?” And finally, “How can everything be so right, but so wrong?” [Insert in your mind, if you will, dramatic close ups of Hannah looking off into the distance, doctors in a huddle as the camera pans closer, and me eating a pile of disgusting food.] Expect the unexpected and un-expect the expected on the Lee’s grand adventure to the far East. Unforgettable – Nat King Cole has nothing on this.

               One of the most horrible and memorable parts of this trip was the midnight plane flight from Malaysia to China, or as I like to call it, the worst 6 hours of my existence to date. As Hannah and I were waiting for the plane, I felt myself getting more and more nauseous. (Hindsight being 20/20, I realized that drinking a Starbucks coffee AND a hot chocolate earlier that day was probably not the best thing for an already upset stomach. But hey, it makes for an interesting story. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be reading this right now, so stop judging me and just enjoy.) In Singapore, I had been able to conquer the nausea by walking around, but that turned out to be just about as useful as an excuse for a dumb decision. My body rejected it as soon as it saw the idea forming in my head. Once on the plane, I spent about an hour in my seat while half-watching an in-flight movie. Then commenced the 5 hours of pacing the plane and dry heaving into the plane bathrooms. (I also tried to steal an empty seat in economy plus, but I was soon found out and kicked back.)

               After making it off the plane, I would have kissed the ground if I didn’t think it would make me even more sick. As we were going through immigration, I had a few moments where I was sure that the cookies I hadn’t eaten were about to be tossed. However, I did my best to control the urge to pull out my plastic bag and dry heave because (as Hannah reminded me) there’s a chance that they won’t let us in the country if I’m sick. As much as I love quarantine, I would still prefer a hotel room. There were some unexpected delays in the immigration process as we waded through the bureaucracy cesspool, but we eventually made it out and into a taxi to our hotel. Having not slept for over a day at this point, I welcomed the sleep/escape from nausea I enjoyed on the cab ride to the hotel. Once we arrived, Hannah and I agreed that we would sleep first. Hopefully, I would feel much better and be well enough to go about my day and get some food down me. 3 hours later, I woke up feeling even worse than when I went to sleep, and I realized that it was time to give the hospitals in Beijing a try.

               Apparently (and please read that with all the sarcasm you can muster) we were lucky because our hotel was next to “one of the best hospitals in Beijing. And they speak English.” Awesome! (See previous reading instructions.) We got there and realized that the English part was probably true for one of the patients who happened to live and study in America. Not so true for the staff and doctors. After being shown what felt like 40 different places to go, we finally made it to the international ward where I was seen by a doctor. I had to write down most of my symptoms because her listening skills were not quite up to snuff (which I’m sure she wouldn’t condone being a doctor). Thankfully (to be read with no sarcasm) she gave me some IV fluids because I hadn’t drank anything in a long while. I also had my first ultrasound, and it was a boy! But, I guess that news is 27 years old now. After the thoughtful diagnosis of “Nothing is wrong with you. Go see a doctor in your home country.” We went back to the hotel and tried to sleep.

               As I was drifting off, I had the vain hope that everything would be better in the morning. After all, how long can a sickness last? Vacations are all about the memories you make, and I was ready to make some by touring the Great Wall. Within 24 hours, I’d be back to my normal self. And here’s where part 2 comes in.

Rules

               I think the most appreciated thing about Singapore was the drinking fountains. It has been a long time since I have seen drinking fountains in a country, and given my stomach’s current predicament, I have come to appreciate that whereas cleanliness isn’t necessarily next to godliness, it is next to good health and lack of nausea.

               After arriving to our hotel around 2 PM, we set out to explore the city. We figured we would try to walk to the downtown section because Googlemaps estimated about an hour of walking. Google was wrong. To be fair, it probably didn’t know that everything was under construction which caused us to be caught in a rat maze on our way to the cheese at the end of the path. We could see the buildings, but it took us a while to get there.

               The next day, we decided that taking a dollar subway ride might be time better spent. We first went to Cloud Forest and Flower Dome. Both were pretty cool, and I definitely got several opportunities to “get my flower on” as I was taking pictures of just about every kind of flower imaginable. Brace yourselves for the Facebook pics. They also had a section of the building dedicated to global warming and information about it. I guess they power the whole place via “green” methods. It was a bit ironic seeing as you can kind of see oily residue in the water around Singapore. For those of you who don’t know, Singapore makes most of its money on the shipping industry. I heard that about 200% of their GDP is obtained through exports. This is only possible because they pay for the imports so that they can export them. If you look at Singapore on a map, you will see why it is in an advantageous position for the shipping industry.

               Singapore does have some amazing architecture. It honestly reminded me of being in Chicago. Of course, this version of Chicago is really hot and has palm trees everywhere, but then again, palm trees next to the Sears Tower (or I guess Willis Tower now) wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world. You could enjoy a coconut as you take in the view of the city. Anyway, it was really great to see both the interior and exteriors of these buildings. For being such a small country, they are quite wealthy and have chosen to display it in some cool ways.

               Another thing you probably didn’t know about Singapore are its strict laws. On the back of the immigration slip we had to fill out on the plane it read, “WARNING DEATH FOR DRUG TRAFFICKERS UNDER SINGAPORE LAW.” It definitely makes you do a double-take and wonder if in fact you are carrying any drugs. Even gum is banned from the country because they want to keep their streets and subways clean. Thankfully, it’s only a thousand dollar fine for chewing gum. Eating or drinking anything on the subway is a 500 dollar fine. This is the country that was founded by an OCD father of 4 who came home every night to find the house a “pig sty.” People follow the rules: no jaywalking, follow the signs, and no crying. OK, the last one might have been just me, but I wouldn’t be too surprised if I saw a sign listing the possible fines for crying. Sniffling might only be half the price.

               We did make another trip to the doctor while here. Unfortunately, I haven’t been feeling that well. I have had a persisting lack of appetite, and whenever I do feel hungry and eat, it is followed very closely by a strong feeling of nausea. Since we are only here for a day, the doctor said that she couldn’t really do anything about a diagnosis, but she did give me some pills to treat the symptoms. I have anti-nausea pills, anti-acids for the heartburn from burping, and pain killers for the stomach cramps. Hopefully, they’ll work and I’ll be back on my two feet that I used to walk a total of 63,000 steps during the 2 day stay in Singapore.

A Taste of Paradise?

               It has definitely been nice to be in one place for 8 days especially considering our health. Thankfully, Hannah got over cholera in a couple of days, and we were able to begin taking boat tours around to the different islands. Unfortunately for me, once Hannah got better, I seemed to get something else. The only symptoms I can describe are a persisting feeling of slight nausea especially in the morning. Since I know I’m not pregnant, I’m going to say it’s not morning sickness and more likely something different in the food that I’ve been eating. Sometimes your mind says yes but your body just says no.

               We did 3 main tours while in Krabi. First, was the elephant trekking through the “jungle” (which ended up being a few trees on the outskirts of the actual jungle). We picked the worst time to go. It was the only 2 hours of the day that it was raining, but on the bright side, you don’t really have to worry about mosquitoes when in a downpour. It was pretty cool sitting on an elephant and feeling its hairier-than-expected skin, but overall, I was not that impressed.

               Our next tour was of the Phi Phi Islands. The natural beauty on these islands was really quite astounding. Everywhere you looked, there were giant cliffs jutting out of the ocean, and where there were no cliffs, there were beautiful beaches with jungle surrounding the rest of the islands. This was the day that my symptoms really hit me hard. If I had one piece of advice to give, it would be to not take a speed boat ride while feeling nauseous. They don’t mix well. Thankfully though, I was able to keep all of my proverbial cookies inside of me for the duration of the trip, and once I jumped in the water, I felt much better. It had been a long while since I tasted salt water, and I’m not eager to go jumping in the ocean again. I’m surprised that Hannah and I were both able to snorkel. In the past, snorkeling and I got along about as well as tourists and the local food. It’s fine when you’re in the light stuff, but once you get into deep waters you scramble for the nearest exit. Maybe it’s because the water felt so good after the boat ride, but I actually enjoyed snorkeling. I was able to suppress the feeling that a shark was lurking just out of the range of my vision, and thankfully I didn’t end up seeing anything too scary. The coral wasn’t very colorful, but there were lots of fish swimming around. I tried my best to get pictures with my underwater phone pouch, but they didn’t turn out so great.

               Our third and final trip was by far the best. We went kayaking through a mangrove forest and into/through some caves. All along the river, there were solitary mountains with sheer 180 degree cliffs going straight down into the water. I believe the water was brackish (half salt half fresh) because it was affected by the tide, but was still far enough away from the ocean to have all sort of trees and vegetation growing. Our guide was fantastic. As Hannah and I were getting into the kayak, she warned us, “Don’t go too far from me. You don’t wanna get swallowed by an alligator. Hahaha!” At which point, I had no idea if she was joking or serious. Either way, I made a mental note to stick close. At one point in the journey, she pointed out an alligator and told everyone to stay away. However, we found out later from another German couple that she was actually joking and had only pointed out a caterpillar. It worked on me though as I was staying as far away as I could. I still have no idea if alligators are in that area, but it wouldn’t surprise me too much as the conditions seem perfect for them. The only thing they lack are a major food source, but I’m sure that tourist with a side of kayak goes down easy. The best part of the trip was when we went through a cave into a lagoon. All sides of the lagoon were surrounded by cliffs covered in trees. The palm trees (or some other tree with frondish leaves) were so huge! It felt like we were in a Jurassic Park movie or something. And the cave to get into the area was very narrow. There was more than one time that Hannah and I had to lay flat in the boat in order to avoid the ceiling and stalactites hanging from it. Later on in the day, we got off the kayaks and went to an elephant sanctuary where they also had some tropical birds and buffalo. From there we set out for some rock pools where I took a dip in the fresh (hopefully clean) water.

               On the other days we had here, we mostly just wandered around the area looking at the beaches and different shops/restaurants. On our last day, we found a trail next to a cliff, and we decided to follow it. It ended up skirting the edge of the cliff to reveal a beautiful beach on the other side. This beach was exactly like what you would imagine if someone said the words “tropical beach” or “paradise.” Other than a resort, there were nothing but palm trees, sand, and cliffs.

               The food was amazing in Krabi! (Although, I have no idea if that’s what’s causing my current symptoms.) It probably wasn’t worth it, but my mood is dictated by the present. If I were eating now, I might have a different opinion. Overall, it was an amazing place with lots to see and do. I would definitely recommend it to anyone who enjoys hot weather and beautiful scenery. Just make sure that you boil your own water, don’t eat street food, and don’t trust that smoothies are made with clean ice.

               I’m writing this as we’re waiting for our plane. One thing unique about the Krabi airport is the birds. I can’t say that I’ve ever seen birds flying around in an airport, but it is more entertaining than watching paint peel. Our next stop is Singapore where we will be for 2 days. After that, we’ll go to Beijing for another 2 days and then off to Rome!