Nightmare in Phuket

I took this sunset pic on Karon beach last night. So beautiful it made me feel sad to be by myself. This is the kind of scenery you're supposed to make out to. Little did I know that things would take a sudden turn for the worst. . .

Made it Phuket all right the day before. Since two flights had just landed, it was a piece of cake to get a cheap minivan ride to Karon beach for 180 THB (6$) instead of a cab ride that would have set me back 700 THB. I'm staying at a cool and funky guesthouse called Casa Brazil. Check out their website and book here if ever you are in the area.

Well, I thought that Chiang Mai was a bit too touristy for my taste, eh? Phuket is a hundred times worse. It's a good thing I decided not to stay in party central Patong, for it's even worst there. But Karon and Kata beaches (I'm smack down between the two of them) cater to Scandinavian tourists for the most part, and it feels extremely weird to see menus offering Swedish food, etc. That's package tourism for you. . .;-)

Didn't do much the first night, but had an early start yesterday. It looked like it was going to be a glorious day, and I walked the length of both Karon and Kata beaches before lunch. Later in the afternoon, I went back to Karon beach and was able to bum a chair and an umbrella for free for nearly two hours. Took quite a few dips in the Andaman Sea, which felt like heaven given the heat. Came back to the guesthouse to shower up and went out for dinner. Since I missed the sunset of night before (it's quite early; around 6:30 to 6:45PM), I made my way back to the beach to capture the sun going down.

Wandered around the various street vendor stalls afterward, before heading back to Case Brazil. I was listening to my IPod when I stared to have strong cramps. I've been lucky enough to have Thia food agreeing with my stomach since the beginning of my trip, but I knew that something was wrong. My head started spinning, my extremities were going numb, and it began to get a little scary. As a matter of course, diarrhea hit me but didn't make me feel any better.

After going like 5 times in the span of 10-15 minutes, I knew it was probably a smomach infection. But stomach infections are not supposed to make you pass out, and I was beginning to have black outs. Went down to the front desk to ask if there was a clinic nearby, but of course everything was closed on a Friday night.

I guess I wasn't a very pretty sight, because immediately the guy at the front desk said that they had to rush me to Patong Hospital. He didn't even call me a cab, he took me there in his own car. Getting to Patong was a veritable hell, what with it being a busy Friday night and party people were everywhere. Of course, we had to drive along the club- and bar-filled streets to get to the hospital. It probably didn't take that long, but it felt like an eternity for me. I was having difficulty breathing, and I was blacking in and out of consciousness. I guess that it was a stomach infection but mixed with my seafood allergies. There was likely something in my food, or it was cooked alongside seafood, or something like that. The long and the short of it is that I was feeling like hell.

I had trouble walking out of the car and remaining upright, and I knew that this was going to be a long night. Had to go to the toilet twice before the doctor could see me the first time. No sonner had I handed the lady my passport than I started puking. Which, in itself, is crazy because I never puke. I mean, at my age and I partied pretty hard during my college and university years, I blew chunks all of two times in my life. The third time made up for lost opportunities, let me tell you. I'll spare you the details, but I did manage to fill up half of a plastic grocery bag. It was so gross, you have no idea.

At that point, they had no choice but to plug me to a machine that pumped liquid inside me for a few hours because I was now totally dehydrated. Passed out for a while and woke feeling groggy and basically like shit. Imagine your worst hangover times ten.

I now have 5 medications to take for about a week. Must stay out of the sun for a couple of days (hello, this is southern Thailand!), no spicy food (hence no Thai food), no soft drinks, no booze, and a lot of rest. In a nutshell, the complete opposite of what someone booking a few nights on various Thai islands is supposed to do.

Still, all in all, I'm doing okay. I was extremely weak this morning and couldn't even finish breakfast. I was allowed to leave the hospital around 2:00AM, and didn't get much sleep. I wanted to climb to the Kata lookout today, but that was out of the question. So I just read Carrie Vaughn's Kitty Raises Hell and took it easy. I'm pissed to be paying good money to be here in Phuket and not enjoying it, yet I'm taking the ferry to Ko Phi Phi tomorrow and I'd rather feel better when I get there. Both Ko Phi Phi and Ko Lanta have more to offer than Phuket, in any event.

You always get travel insurance in case something like this occurs. Last night was in all likelihood one of the worse nights of my life. At least it happened somewhere where I could get medical attention in English.

Here's to hoping that my next report will be more positive. . .=)