…describes our day pretty well: we woke up late, had a queasy/painful ride down the AH1 from Phan Rang to Phan Thiet, passed out for four hours, went to get my persistent travellers’ diarrhea checked out, ate some uneventful food, and lurched back into bed.

What is there to say? We managed through the 150km drive with copious amounts of Revive, a local sports drink that claims to be chock full of both vitamins and electrolytes. At the hospital, they determine that I have a fever of 38.5 degrees Celsius, put me on an IV paracetamol drip to take it down, and prescribe a slew of drugs:

  • Levofloxacin: a broad-spectrum antibiotic with fun possible side effects, the most notable (and likely) of which is muscular weakness/cramping/pain
  • Paracetamol: a painkiller, to be taken in the event that the pain part above rears its ugly head;
  • Hydrite: a mix of sodium chloride, potassium chloride, and dextrose to be dissolved in water for effective rehydration;
  • Bacivit: a probiotic culture of some lactobacillus strain;
  • Smecta: which you might remember from the last time I laid helpless in bed for most of the day.

Wooo, fun times. Anyways, it doesn’t appear to be anything serious, and the levofloxacin should knock the remaining bits out over the next three days, so there’s some good news. Meanwhile, Valkyrie’s knee wound is healing slowly but steadily. We’ve been keeping it clean and covered as much as possible. (Apparently you’re supposed to keep open wounds covered; letting them “air out” actually slows the healing process, for which optimal conditions are warm and moist.)

What next? I guess we struggle through our respective ailments, make our way to Saigon, return the motorbike, and head out for Cambodia. Here’s hoping all goes well with that, since both of us are already in pretty low spirits from the last few days.