I woke on 5th June feeling that I had a bad cold coming on. I decided to take it easy all day. Not really wanting to head to Laos with a cold, I did everything possible to give myself the best chance to recover. My main task of the day was to get my diary up to date. After an afternoon siesta, I was just thinking more about my upcoming adventures in Indochina, when I tuned into the BBC news, and heard that fighting has resumed in Cambodia – this isn’t particularly good news, but there was no mention that the capital is affected, and it will be over a week before I’m there, so hopefully the Khmer Rouge activity will be brought under control.
This brought it home to me that the my travels for the last few months have been very easy. Since leaving Peru for Bolivia, there has been no general threat of civil unrest anywhere, or any political issues to deal with. As a British passport holder I have been welcomed to each country without any need for visas (well, apart from Australia where everyone needs them).
In Indochina I’m aware that this will change – the 3 countries are culturally and politically cut off from the non-communist world, and have been since the Vietnam war. Once I cross the Mekong, travel is likely to be vastly more challenging than anything I have experienced so far this trip. Officials will likely view me with curiosity and distrust, and getting assistance – should things go wrong – could be quite hard…
This was put into perspective by discussions with the other travellers who are staying here – they are all impressed that I’m attempting to go to Indochina, and the the Irish couple seem to think I’m totally mad.
I spent 6th June letter writing, but near midday I wandered down to the port to take some photos of the jetty, fishing boats, and in the nearby streets.
Back in my room, I noticed that a sore just above my knee had not cleared up despite putting antiseptic cream on, and was showing bright red. When I noticed that a lymph node at my hip was painful, I wondered whether I should start antibiotics to attack the evident infection. But first I tried iodine from my dropper bottle on the sore itself, and though it stung like hell, as of the time of writing it seems to be working.
I still felt a little weak on 7th June, as a result of not yet having recovered from the cold. I stayed in and wrote a lot more letters, since sending from Indochina may not be reliable or even possible. With the letters, I sent an additional date and city for poste restante mail. This reflects a major decision I have gradually come to, while on this island.
I am officially abandoning my flight home via India. The ticket was useful to have with me, to encourage me to embark on this trip in the first place, but all that it is doing now is denying me the total freedom to decide where I want to go, and when. From Manila (assuming I reach there…) I will indeed fly north, and my next poste restante mail pickup will be on the doorstep of China, in the city of Hong Kong…