We
arrived at Krabi from Bangkok by way of bus. this bus wreaked to high hell, so
much so that Alex couldn't sleep, consequently nor I ( i was recruited
for entertainment purposes). it's amazing what kind of bodily outrages
people can commit in the most unseeming of places.
Krabi, a climbing mecca of sorts, is located a few kilometers frmo the pier. There's always a catch. We found the cheapest means of transprotation and made our way by back of a truck
to the pier, just in time for the last boat to the island. the boat
ride lasted a few hours, some of which was fairly standard harbor
viewing, but the last leg of which was beautiful blue coastal waters
punctuated by the occasional green-hooded mountain-top, peaking out of
its quilt of waves. as we pulled into the harbor, we snapped a few
shots and had bandit-like smiles on our faces as if we had just robbed
a bank and were crossing state lines.
we were accosted by
numerous sellers of things immediately upon setting foot on the pier.
we dodged and denied and made our way down the planks to the town
which, conveniently, began immediately - no extra jeeps, taxis or tuk
tuk's necessary. we spoke with a few travel places, procured a map and
headed to the beach front. we explored a cheap place first, but Alex
wanted to be by the beach so we ventured further on. finding
everything to be quite expensive, we gave in and rented a beach
bungalow for a week for about 12 dollars a night.
the main beach of the island, in fact the
entire development, is located on an isthmus that connects 2 mountain
peaks. the peaks curve in to create a bowl shaped, nearly enclosed
bay. it seems that the infrastructure and beach makes up the relic of
a volcano caldera. we climbed up one peak for some spectacular views
and photos. we also boated around to another island, the island that
was used in movie "the beach" with DiCaprio - we read and
watched said book and movie while here.
the sand is not as soft
as one would like and the bay water way too warm. it was a bit dirty
as well with no real waves. sun bathing was the primary use during the
day and beach parties by night, every night. the town was really a
British getaway, somewhat like paradise island although not nearly as
built up, but definitely as drunk. tons of vacationers and college
students out to get drunk and hook up. great if you like that sort of
thing. we settled into a routine of eating at a local place - we
quickly realized that, not only did it have the best food, but it was
also the cheapest. so far, best fried rice of the trip.
things
to do: there was some snorkeling around, which we did a little of, but
nothing too great. on our boat trip to the "beach" island we visited a
few others as well, the last of which we were nearly left behind. we
kayaked to shore and took a walk down the beach, perhaps a little
longer than wold be wise but certainly not longer than the time
allotted. when we returned to find our kayak gone we grew worried.
looking out to sea, about 200 yards off shore, our boat was turning to
leave as it unmoored. i tried to swim out a bit and wave my arms and
shout. al
waved and shouted and recruited some locals to help us from the safety
of the sand. we
were spotted, luckily. someone stole my sunglasses that my dad gave me
the loss of which annoyed. the boatmen denied. they obviously lied.
i cried and died a little
inside. someone also may have accidentally swapped sandals with me
because, i realized back on shore, my feet were too big for them. oh
well.
scary incident: we went for a walk into the locals part of
town, found a soccer court and kicked the ball around. we took some
photos. we saw some snails and lizards. then we spied a troop of
monkeys. they were with their young feeding in between some local
houses. we saw the babies first with their mothers, but soon became
dangerously aware of a patrolling male. he looked mean. he showed me
his teeth and moved toward me aggressively, i quickened my pace and
looked ahead, not wanting to make eye contact and provoke him. he
turned back and we were seemingly in the clear until he suddenly about-faced
and made the same motions at alex. alex
stared him down, an act that which must
have really aggravated the guy because he took off at us, bearing the
long sharp teeth that evolution saw fit to extract from us. "Run! Al
Run!" i
yelled, as i motioned forward and high stepped it out of there. "ans!"
a pitiful scared voice called after me, "ans!". I looked back: the
monkey had
chosen to lunge for al, scaring the shit out of her so much so that she
turned randomly to run and collided, after 2 steps, into a tree. i ran
back aggressively and the monkey backed off. it seemed to have been
satisfied with scaring the wits out of al and once she fell, it lost
interest. Al had a good cry then, after we were safe and things were
put into perspective, she and I had a hardy laugh. scary business, but,
in retrospect, it was one of the funniest things that happened.
Mosquitoes: The night after the island-hopping boat ride I fell
ill. The next morning, i could hardly move; i was achy and feverish,
somewhat delirious as I lay contemplating the fever-induced hysteria
evidenced in my dreams the night before. I managed to get some food,
but i was miserable, so I left al
and went back to the squalid smelling bungalow where a weak fan barely
pushed stale hot air through the mosquito netting. I had a high fever.
higher than i've
had in a long time, perhaps only once ever. It felt around 104F. After
taking the medicine that Al thankfully procured, i felt much better, my
fever reduced to an only simmering 102. Later, it increased again and
showed no signs of weakening, even after more pills. I decided to
visit the island hospital. Al walked with me the 1.2 km and, soon
after arriving, I was examined and given a preliminary diagnosis:
Dengue.
the doctor examined me and gave me the preliminary run through of
the disease and what I could expect. He sent me to lie down in the
patient section so the nurses could care for me in the immediate before
we discussed our options. he left to eat pizza. it smelled better than
it probably tasted, but the smell reminded me of my lack of appetite
and in me awoke an intense nausea. I barely held down the medicines
provided and standing was a risk. With an IV in my arm the doctor
returned to discuss my options, at which point the nausea had
temporarily abated. I could stay here over night or go back to the
bungalow. I elected to stay to be on the safe side. Dengue sounded
bad. It is a virus contracted through mosquito bites with an incubation
period of 3-14 days. It is passed by the Aedes
mosquito that bites during the day - the bastards. Once the fever
begins, it is important to be monitored closely from day 2 to day 7,
after which the fever breaks and the white blood cell count begins to
return to normal. In addition to a drop in white blood cells (the
most dangerous aspect of the fever, distinguishing it from malaria) the
symptoms include: fever, severe headaches, joint and muscle aches,
rash, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, lack of appetite and more. Info here. The diagnosis depends on blood tests, so it's not always easy to confirm.
Secondly, we spoke of moving me to hospitals on the mainland where
they were supposed to be better equipped to handle dengue cases.
looking back, i think the doctor was just lazy or didn't want to waste
his resources on me. in addition, i think he was connected to the
private hospital in Phuket, since
he lauded that one and denigrated the public option. Needless to say,
when the doctor says go to the private hospital you go. when he
suggests you jump through hoops with marmalade on your head wearing a
tutu, you do it.
The next morning, i was well enough to travel. A nurse accompanied me and Alex on a boat to Phuket
where an ambulance picked me up. I had never ridden in an ambulance so
it was somewhat exciting despite the circumstances. i think it was a
bit overkill, but it was allegedly free so i consented to it. At the
hospital, i was placed in quarantine for over an hour where a doctor
dressed in outbreak gear examined me to check for swine flu. Finally i
was brought to my room
that resembled that of a really nice hotel. IN fact, the hospital was
basically a glorified hotel for the recently sliced and diced, for
plastic surgery patients. The hospital served mainly westerns at a
fraction of the price of their own countries. It was well known for
sex alterations. Because of this I feared the wrong diagnosis by a
lazy nurse. No worry, Alex was their to fight for my interest and yell
at everyone, keep them on their toes and keep chance in my favor. She
also brought me somewhat edible food as the hospital food was atrocious
when they listened, and full of fish when they didn't. It didn't
matter too much since i couldn't eat, but i ought to have edible food
if I'm paying a lot for it. Despite being a fraction of the cost of
western hospitals, it was 6 times more expensive than the public
option. 2 days of private hospital was enough for me when i saw the
bill. I paid and requested a transfer to the public one. They
transferred me for free.
I cant laud the service and care i received at the public hospital
enough. Maybe they were excited to show off for a westerner - the
public relations manager visited me daily after all. Nevertheless, at
a fraction of the cost of the private institution, i was cared for with
much more concern by nicer staff who spoke better English. The room
was not nearly as nice, but it was clean enough, private and
air-conditioned. The tv only had one movie channel and a few less English-speaking channels. It's ok.
i occupied myself with playing scrabble against myself and watching
every movie that there was to see. I spent 6 days in the public
hospital and 2.5 in the private. The bill for those 6 days did not
exceed the cost of one day at the private. At the hospital, my state
remained the same, mild fever, low platelets, little to no appetite, IV
in arm, fatigued when standing, but otherwise lucid and not in too much
pain.
After the 7-10 days of fever, dengue sufferers recover slowly but steadily for a month. We rested in a resort at Patong Beach, Phuket, passing the time watching more movies and reading on the beach. By the end of the week I was well enough to travel and we left for Koh Phangan.
Thanks to Al for taking good care of me and to my parents for calling every day, sometimes twice.
