Cambodia: Ta Prohm

Not far from Angkor Wat is the beautiful temple of Ta Prohm. Ta Prohm is famous for being the featured in the movie Tomb Raider. It's also where I tossed my cookies.

The unique thing about Ta Prohm is that it has been left in much the same condition in which it was found. Trees grow from the top of buildings and the jungle surrounding the temple makes it insanely photogenic.

It almost made me feel like an explorer, discovering something unseen for the first time. Except for the all the other tourists that were there of course.

Cambodia: Angkor Wat

We visited Cambodia in February during the Spring Festival. However, I've written very little about the trip. Unfortunately, I don't remember most of it. And what I do remember about those first few days, I sort of wish I could forget.

One of the spots I do clearly remember was the Temple of Angkor Wat. Angkor Wat is the largest religious monument in the world and classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Built by the Khmer King during the 12th century (113 BC), the site has served as a Hindu as well as Buddhist temple.

We awoke early and gathered ourselves for a sunrise view of the temple. We had hired a guide who helped us find our way through the vast darkness and waited for the first rays of light to appear.

Slowly, the outline of the temple became visible directly in front of us. As the sun rose, so did the giant towers of the temple.

Ankor Wat is nothing short of breathtaking. As someone who has toured a fair amount of temples and ruins, I can easily say this is the most impressive one I have visited. While walking around, I was awed by the size of the structure and by the simple fact that I was privileged enough to be seeing it.

In my opinion, Ankor Wat is best toured with a guide simply because the history surrounding this place is immense. Your inner nerd will thank you.

$20 USD will get you a single day pass to tour Ankor Wat as well as the surrounding temples in the Angkor Archeological Park. 

Roofied in Cambodia

As you are probably able to deduce from the title of this post, I was drugged in Siem Reap. But before you get too concerned for my well being, you should know that I know the person who did it.

It was my husband. 

Ok, maybe that doesn't make you feel any better. How about if I told you it was an accident? And that he was trying to treat my food poisoning?

Maybe I should back up a minute and try to explain this a little better.

Only a few short hours after arriving in Cambodia for Chinese New Year, we were partaking in a sunrise tour of Ankor Wat. The colors were vivid, the views incredible, and all seemed right in the world.

Except for my stomach. What started as a slow churning progressed to full nausea as we walked about. At our second temple, the smell of incense set me off and I desecrated the ancient temple grounds with the contents of my stomach.

Fast forward a few hours and my body was still attempting to eliminate the ill advised street noodles I had consumed the night before. With nothing left to purge, I was vomiting bile and quickly becoming severely dehydrated. 

As this wasn't my first bout of food poisoning, we knew that getting anti nausea drugs into my system would help immensely. My loving husband went to a local pharmacy and explained my condition. The pharmacist handed him packets of Ciprofloxacin (for infection) and Lorazepam (for nausea).

Lorazepam is a Benzodiazepine (benzo, for short), a class of drug commonly used as tranquilizers and sleeping pills. Benzos are used to sedate hospital patients but can also cause difficulty with concentration, dizziness and difficulty with walking. Oh and it can cause amnesia. You may be more familiar with other benzos like Valium and Rohypnol. In the U.S., Lorazepam is a controlled substance. But in Cambodia, my husband was able to purchase it for a mere $5.

So yeah, my husband sedated me for two days. I had trouble staying awake, was unaware of what was going on, and couldn't walk myself through the airport. In fact, I have no memory of the photo below being taken, or even visiting that temple. On the positive side, I can say that taking the Lorazepam did stop me from vomiting. So there's that.