It had to finally happen to me. I had been hearing stories of getting food poisoning or some type of sickness while traveling ever since I had begun this journey. I felt lucky that I hadn’t gotten sick thus far and thought it was because I had an iron stomach…. but the night before my big day of travel from Pai to Chiang Mai to Bangkok to Cambodia, disaster occurred. While getting dinner, I looked at my friend that I was traveling with for the day and said “I think I’m going to be sick.” Next thing I knew I was running outside and completely emptying my stomach’s contents into a gutter.

Unfortunately, this proceeded to continue the entire night, and I knew that I had to head to the airport at five in the morning. It was one of those moments where I truly felt that I was not strong enough. I was going to miss both of my flights because I couldn’t even walk, much less get to the airport, fly to Southern Thailand, switch to another airport, and fly to Cambodia. But I did it. And it was one of the hardest things that I have done thus far. When you are sick while traveling alone, you truly realize how alone you are. No one cares that you’re sick; no one is there to pat you on the back and bring you liquids. While standing in the first airport, I felt myself beginning to wobble with my heavy backpacks on me, and as spots appeared before my eyes I had to tell myself “You can’t faint Isabella. If you faint no one will be able to take care of you. You have to make it to that plane.” I made it. And somehow made it to my next connection as well, thanks to the kindness of stewardesses on both flights who, when seeing my obvious distress, let me take up entire rows to myself.

My week in Cambodia forced me to accept that sometimes there are things outside of your control that keep you from doing what you want to do, and you just have to make the most of it. My first attempt to go to the famous Angkor Wat and adjacent temples ended in me having to return because while pedaling a bicycle in the heat the ground began swimming before my eyes. I spent four days lying in bed unable to keep anything down, knowing that I was missing out not only on the famous temples, but also going to the Angkor Center for Conservation and Biodiversity I so wanted to visit. It toughened me up though, and I made some cat friends in the hostel who kept me company throughout the days, curling up next to me or lying on my stomach as if they could sense I needed some sort of care.

Not too long before I nearly fainted

One of the local cats who would sleep on my bed with me while I was sick

On my last day there, I finally felt well enough to visit the temples. And what an experience it was. Structures so ancient, but also from such varying times and cultures—the older temples were Hindu while the newer ones were Buddhist. Angkor Wat impressed with its massiveness, but truly my favorite complex was Ta Prohm. Famous for being used in the first Tomb Raider film, this temple was not maintained like the others, and instead was allowed to be reclaimed by nature. It is incredible to see how despite our efforts to create incredible permanent structures, nature was there first, and nature can take it back. Massive vines grow across the stones, ripping them apart. Trees erupt out of walls with their roots creeping along and covering the stone floors. It felt like another world; like something post-apocalyptic where you can see what the earth looks like after the humans have left.

Angkor Wat

Ta Prohm

Ta Prohm

Ta Prohm

Despite all the struggles leading up to that day, I felt it was worth it. I would have liked to explore more of Cambodia, but I was essentially restricted to the temples and the town of Siem Reap due to my illness. Still, it was fascinating to compare to the other countries in Asia I had been in thus far. The people were louder and the streets dustier than in Thailand. Unlike the more car-like tuk-tuks in Nepal and Thailand, the tuk-tuks in Cambodia were little carts attached to motorcycles. A mix of street cats and street dogs. These are a small few of the observations I could make when able to leave my hostel bed. And with that I said goodbye to Asia, and began my journey to Australia.