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Tuesday, January 5, 2016

Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos

The Forest Temple in Siem Reap, Cambodia
I recently came back from my winter holidays in Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos. It was great, and I had loads of fun.
I went to Saigon (Ho Chi Minh), in Vietnam first, and it was amazing. There were so many motorbikes, and apparently, there are 100 motorbikes to every car. I even got to ride one, in a night city tour! After three nights I left Saigon and went to Siem Reap, Cambodia. There were lots of beautiful temples, but the downside was that it was really hot and really humid, which was a bummer, because we were walking and using tuk tuks, so we didn't really get anywhere inside with an AC for most of the day. The picture above is of the Forest Temple in Siem Reap. That one was my favorite temple.
My family and I celebrated Christmas in Cambodia, and we soon left for Luang Prabang in Laos. There, I visited a waterfall (the Kuang Si Falls) and a bear sanctuary. I also tasted a local exotic dish: deep fried frog legs. I thought they were gonna taste horrible but, honestly, they tasted like chicken. In Luang Prabang I also visited a rice farm, where I learned how people grow rice, and cook sticky rice. It was so good. I'm a big fan of rice, but nothing beats the steamed rice I had in Laos.
The day after the rice farm I flew back to Vietnam with my family, but this time, we went to Hanoi. 
We rode in a car for 4 hours and arrived in Halong City, where we got on a 3 day 2 night cruise along Halong Bay. We celebrated new year's there, and then we made our 4 hour car ride back to Hanoi. We stayed in Hanoi for one day, and we watched a traditional water puppet show. Water puppets are basically puppets that float on water, and are controlled by long bamboo poles being held by people backstage.
I came back to Abu Dhabi on the third of January. Overall, this trip was great, but I do have some points I would like you to know:
First off, I had to take nearly twice my usual amount of insulin, because I was eating really different foods, so my blood sugar wouldn't go down. I had to set a temporary basal of 150% every day (I use an insulin pump). Also, don't stress if you get stopped in the bag scanner at the airport because of your diabetes supplies, because the people there aren't used to that sort of thing. The metal detector beeped every time because of my pump, which was annoying, and I was stopped in the bag scanner because of the needles in my inserter set once, when I was coming back.
This trip was amazing, and I loved going there. Thanks for reading!
 -Ana

3 comments:

  1. Every trip I pack the double amount of insulin and double supplies, just to make sure we will have enough if there are any emergencies. This time I got worried... As the time passed I realized the insulin was going so fast I really thought I was going to run out of it... We had to use 50% more for the basal rate and almost 3 times for the bolus... it took me a few days to realize how to manage the high blood sugars, and after spending a night awake checking her, the decision on 150% basal was the best one. Ana uses the sensor all the time, and this helps a lot. We couldn't manage without it. The other problem was the airport security check. They didn't know what to do with the pump supplies, and the doctor's letter didn't help, as they couldn't read english. By the end the called the airline supervisor, who signed a paper allowing us to get on the plane... and was very nice to jump us through the huge immigration line :) Always a bright side!

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  2. Great job, Ana! My son Aon is 9 and has had T1D for 2+ years. He is not limited in his vision nor his abilities, just like you. We tell him that T1D is a gift, not a disease, because it lets him live his life with purpose. We will enjoy reading your posts!

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