My energy level collapsed as I cycled into the heat. The small road along the Mekong became dirt, and I crawled along it. Lying down on a bench under a little shop verandah, I wondered if I had dengue fever, and closed my eyes.
Lying down in the heat
Mark had lost his energy as the first sign of dengue fever. I had no energy, and no appetite. Even sugary drinks were not appealing. Just water.
No. I didn’t have a temperature. I checked. It was just hot, and unlike my Uzbekistan heat experience, it was humid.
The dusty road
Listening to a new book while inching forward – a book on climate change, how society got to this point, and what needs to be done now – I thought about how unseasonably hot it is here now. The locals all mention it. In some of the more dire scenarios by 2100 this part of the world could have lethal heat waves. Heat waves that not everyone can escape from using energy consuming air conditioning. The people here have no escape and will feel the full brunt of the warming and climate change our use of fossil fuels has created.
After returning from the dirt to the main road – Highway 13, I passed the village that I had my eyes on for the evening. No aircon in the guesthouses. Only in a karaoke place 2km out of town nowhere near food. An aircon trumped lack of food. I felt the energy returning, lying naked under the fan and aircon combo. No, I don’t have dengue fever.
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