That time I napped on a temple…
It was about 8am but it felt later because we’d been up since dawn. We got up at 4:30 that morning to see one of the most spectacular sights in the world: sunrise at the temple Angkor Wat in Siem Reap, Cambodia. It was truly one of the most breath-taking, jaw dropping scenes I’d ever laid eyes on. The ancient temple was lit from behind with the fiery golds and reds of the early morning sun, giving it an other-worldly glow that can’t be described in words. But now it was hours later, and lets just say I wasn’t doing too hot, all puns intended.
The day before, we had rolled in to Siem Reap around 6pm. We had been on a bus for six hours to get there from Phnom Penh, and since I can get motion sickness pretty easily, I gave no thought to the queasiness I felt as we checked in to the hotel. But instead of subsiding, it stuck around, so much so that I couldn’t eat anything for dinner. Around 11pm, I got sick. After that purge, I started to finally feel better. I chalked it up to food poisoning and went to bed. The alarm at 4:30am stung, but because I felt ok, and perhaps because of the excitement of the day ahead, I pushed through and headed out to Angkor Wat.
The first few hours went great, and I even managed to get our to-go breakfast from the hotel down. But around 8am, things deteriorated. I felt dizzy and weak, and the rapidly increasing temperature of the temple park wasn’t helping. My blood sugar was cranking up towards 300, even though I’d bolused more than enough for breakfast. Something wasn’t right, that’s for sure. I told Jacob I couldn’t go on, and that if he could just walk me back to the front of the temple, I could let him finish touring. When he came back to collect me, we could have our tuk-tuk (Cambodian taxi-think motorcycle with a large covered wagon type item attached to the back, with bench seats) take me back to the hotel.
Jacob walked me out front, and parked me in the shade on a low part of the main wall in front of Angkor Wat. Sunglasses on, purse clutched in my lap, I rested my face in my hands…and promptly fell asleep. Yep. I feel asleep literally ON the largest religious building in the world. It’s one of the most revered places in the universe, and I was napping on it. Several large tour groups passed through, joining me on the wall to rest their feet, but I didn’t budge. I drifted in and out for an hour while Jacob finished touring. And by the time he came to get me, I felt miraculously better! Maybe there’s some special healing powers to napping on temples? No, that wasn’t the case, because feeling better only lasted until about 4pm that day, when I started to feel like crud again.
On top if dealing with the evil GI issue, I made a serious d-management error. Because I had been feeling so horrible during the 8-9am hour, I forgot to take my morning dose of Lantus. I didn’t remember this until that night though, after spending the entire day in the upper 300s, despite a few rage boluses. Not. Helping.
By 9pm that night, here’s where I was: toured all day in 100 degree weather, half the amount of long acting insulin on board I should have, going on very little food, and four hours of sleep. Is anyone surprised that I didn’t feel better? If there was ever a time that I was kicking myself for having kept going when I didn’t feel well, this was it. I was rewarded for my stupidity with another round of vomiting, high blood sugars until about 1am, and then feeling too crappy to go tour the next day at Angkor. The funny thing is, if it had been a friend of mine with the same issue, I would have insisted she go home to rest up so she could feel better for the next day. But did I take my own advice? Of course not.
Even though I travel with my own personal PA, my fiancĂ©e Jacob, and even though I was pretty sure my issues were food and too-much-sun-related, I have to say its a scary feeling being sick in a third world country. The thoughts of “what if something is really wrong and I have to go to the hospital” do run through your mind. Dealing with just being sick is enough when you’re traveling like it his, but to manage diabetes on top of it is just plain exhausting. I’m happy to say I’m feeling better today, thanks to a full day off and lots of sleep and Gatorade, but it was touch and go for a little bit there.
Note to self: take your own advice. Napping on a temple doesn’t fix everything. Although that was a damn good nap…
Did you enjoy this post? Why not leave a comment below and continue the conversation, or subscribe to my feed and get articles like this delivered automatically to your feed reader.
Stay well !!Much Love, MOM & David
Sorry to hear of your misadventure, but glad a day of R&R put things right. Here’s an appropriate quote from the movie, “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel” : “Everything will be all right in the end … if it’s not all right then it’s not the end.”