#laos

#laos

For Bethany Clarke, poison tasted like nothing. There was no bitter aftertaste, no astringent sting at the back of the tongue. If anything, she thought in passing, the free shots she and her friends were drinking at a hostel bar in Laos had probably been watered down she wasn't detecting a strong vodka flavour through the veil of Sprite she had mixed it with.

Their whole bodies were covered in red spots. It was very, very painful. A lot of stings, more than 100, over the whole body. I thought already that it's a very dangerous situation because I had never seen it as bad as that, Phanomsay Phakan, a doctor at Phakan Arocavet Clinic, where the father and son were taken.

Traveling by motorbike, which I had actively avoided for years, became a way to explore the uncharted Laos alongside a newfound friend, Travis.