M*A*S*H

(Okay, yes, I know this show is in the wrong setting, and that it is probably rude to bring up war, but I like the show, and the title worked for me.)

Sarah was still not feeling well this morning. I convinced her to go down to breakfast, and at least have some soup. While there, the staff of the hotel came over to make sure everything was okay, and Sarah said she was feeling sick. They asked if we wanted to have them call a doctor to the room or a taxi to take her to the hospital, and she decided that it was time to do so. We decided to take a taxi there, and one of the five hotel staff who was there disappeared. Before we even finished planning, our tour guide showed up. There was hardly time to stand up before she had a taxi there, and we were off to the hospital. It wasn't until we were almost done at the hospital that I realized that I hadn't paid the taxi driver. It turns out our tour guide got that as well.

 Unfortunately, we are in a country that has Socialized medicine, so everything was a lot worse than in the US. We walked into the emergency room, and they immediately put us in an examination room. There was one other family in the room with us. A nurse came right over, and before she finished getting all of our information down, a doctor was there for the examination. They took blood and about 40 minutes later pronounced that it was nothing serious. There were no viruses in her blood, but she was low in some nutrients, probably from not eating in the last couple of days. They prescribed some vitamin C and some pills, and we were left to pay our bill as uninsured foreigners. The total came to 150,000 dong for the examination, and another 27,000 dong for the medicine. Having no more money, we left the hospital and had to hitchhike back to the--wait. 150,000 dong is only $15! The entire visit with medicine and blood draw cost only about $18.50. Damn socialized medicine. I'm sure glad that we don't have to put up with low prices and no waiting for emergency room service in the US.

We got back to our room and shortly after David and Anita came back from today's tour. There was more talk about returning early, so our ultimate route today is up in the air. We may be continuing on to Siam Reap, or we may be flying home.

UPDATE

The decision was made to move on to Siam Reap. We took the long drive to the airport, and then had a 5 hour wait before our plane took off. This seemed like a waste of time, and I think it would have been better if we had used it doing something for our last day in Vietnam. I wonder if our guide was ready to get rid of us because of all the trouble we were. I suppose I wouldn't blame her.

Waterfront property in Vietnam.

The rest stop where we stopped for our eight-course lunch.

Police randomly point at cars to pull them over. It has nothing to do with speeding, but with how much money you look like you have. To get under way again, you need to pay a bribe. They were everywhere today.

Good evening, Vietnam! Flying out of Ho Chi Minh City.

We arrived in Siam Reap, and because David was in a wheelchair, we flew through customs. Unfortunately, when we got to the hotel, we found that we were on the third floor, and there is no elevator. For tonight, we are staying here, but I believe that we are looking for a different hotel since David is not able to make it up and down the stairs easily.

My first impression of Siam Reap is much more modern and touristy than anywhere we visited in Vietnam. It seems we are back to a tipping culture as well. The person who showed us to our room--as if we couldn't find it ourselves--all but held his hand out for a tip. We didn't have any money outside of dongs left from Vietnam, so had to stand there embarrassed, and wait him out. I did manage to find a dollar for the person who brought the luggage up.