Diarrhea on the Mekong Delta



My trip to #Vietnam with @Contiki was unreal. It was one of my few trips I went on alone and it was well worth it. Vietnam was magical to me - from all angles including spiritual.  I can't put it into words but i'll try. The people in my group were phenomenal. Although we were only together for a few weeks, I have made friends for life including these two brothers from South Africa who treated me like their own family. 



The country in the south was sweltering hot, but I loved it as it felt cleansing.  This picture has an interesting story.   While floating down the Mekong Delta, deep, we stopped off at the river bank and walked further into the jungle. We arrived at this straw hut/building where they showed us how they make rice paper, snake whiskey, and more.  In this picture they were showing us how they make rice crispies (not for the company, but as a snack).  Really cool to watch.  The fun begins here.  


While watching this fascinating process, I noticed water dripping down my face and my arms. Although it was humid as hell, there was a bit too much sweat rolling off of me.  Next thing you know, I felt the urge to go to the toilet. Fortunately, there was a toilet nearby shielded by a see through bamboo door. Unfortunately, it wasn’t very private.  So picture this: me, in the Mekong Delta, sweating bullets, trying to sit on this toilet wedged against the wall of some bamboo room while outside everyone was watching a presentation on how to make tea and rice crispies. While I thought it would be a small ordeal, what ensued while I sat on that toilet cannot be described in words.  


I had diarrhea.  And not the simple kind.  But the kind in which you wonder where all of this stuff is coming from.  I even wondered if my intestines were coming out.  It seemed never ending.  Almost like some sort of comedy movie.  Kind of like a clown car in which clowns keep coming out of it to no end - except these weren't clowns.  I had to flush multiple times and to this day am thankful the flushing power of the toilet was so strong considering we probably weren’t even near any normal sewage or plumbing lines.  I was very thankful I had brought along with me about 20 wet wipes as they came in handy.  I massacred that place.  


Afterwards, I calmly walked out and rejoined my group, pretending like the rice crispies presentation was fun.  In reality however, I was already wondering what would happen next, considering the boat we were about to board for the next two hours had no bathroom…..

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