Planning planning planning

The good thing is I managed to get the Hep A/Typhoid vaccination at my home Drs last week. The bad (and annoying) thing is that it's given me a stinking cold/flu, which just seems to be lingering and getting worse......

Anyway, today we managed to get a few things sorted for our elective - we contacted the airline and managed to get some extra luggage allowance for the supplies we're taking over for the hospital. GSK are very kindly donating some toothbrushes, toothpaste and mouthwash and in return want some photos of our elective. We've also contacted other companies such as Dentsply, 3M and Septodont to see if they can donate any equipment. AHC have a long wish list of supplies that they use on a high consumption basis, or which they find difficult to get hold of in Cambodia. As they are a non-governmental/charity organisation, they rely on the generosity of donations.
We also ordered our prescription of HIV PEP (post exposure prophylaxis) today. [Something which you need to take if you are exposed to HIV infected bodily fluids, for example through a needlestick injury]. Cambodia has the highest HIV infection rate in all of Asia (~2%). AHC is the only centre outside Phnom Penh which provides antiretroviral treatment for Cambodian children with HIV/AIDS. So AHC really is a valuable centre for all Cambodians.

We also started planning our travel itinery for after our elective. At the moment, we want to visit the islands off of Southern Thailand's Gulf Coast: Ko Tao and Ko Pha Ngan in particular. I'm also really keen to see The Perhentian islands off the coast of Malaysia. <See google images> The trouble we're having is planning how to get there, as the FCO (foreign and commonwealth office) website advise against all but essential travel through parts of the the Thai-Malaysia border, due to terrorism. Which means we can't get the train to the part of Malaysia that we were hoping to. So we need another plan, maybe take the longer route around and then catch a bus? It's starting to look like 12 days isn't long at all to get from Siem Reap to Singapore and see some islands on the way!!

Lots more planning still needs to be done.....only just over two weeks to go!!