This morning Meizel and I went to the lab to get some blood / urine tests. The lab we were sent to was Paramed Medical Analysis on St. 154 between Norodom and Pasteur.

We woke up around 8 to go to the lab because Meizel was not allowed to eat anything before the tests. It was raining when we woke up and Meizel suggested a Tuk Tuk, to which I agreed. We went outside and didn't see any tuk tuks and the rain had slowed down so I suggested the moto. (In retrospect it would have been much easier to ride in a tuk tuk.)

As started driving it started raining harder and harder. I wasn't too worried because I am used to driving in the rain. However when we got to the intersection where I had to turn to the lab, I saw that the street was completely flooded. I tried to go but in the deep water my moto shut off. I got it started again and tried a roundabout way. However when we got close to the intersection the road was too flooded to drive. I pulled in front of a shop for us to wait out the rain. I tried to walk and see if I could find the lab but the road was so flooded that I turned around and went back to the shop.

After waiting for awhile the flooding seemed to be going down a little (maybe knee high). However my moto could not drive through the deep water and I did not want Meizel walked through that water. We sat and waited, hoping that something would happen. Then Meizel say a cyclo and suggested that we take one of those. (A cyclo is a bike with a chair in the front that people sit in.) We called the driver and he picked us up. He brought us directly to the front door of the lab. It was only about 150m away but he got us there without having to trudge through the flooded streets. It was also both of our first time riding a cyclo. We have been wanting to do that for a long time.

We arrived at the lab and it was very nice. We were taken to a room for Meizel to get blood drawn right away. The lab staff were very friendly and professional. The entire process in the lab took about 10 min. I was very pleased.

Going back outside was a different story. I noticed a side street close to the lab that I could have taken and avoided much of the flood as we left the building. I wanted to kick myself for this because I had seen the street before but I didn't know it led so close to the lab, or that it was not nearly as flooded as the other street. Oh well, that is life.

When we got close to the moto we saw that the street was still flooded and decided to get some breakfast while the water cleared a little more. After we ordered the rain started to pour down  and flooded the street all over again. I went and got the moto and walked in out of the flooded street. Meizel then hopped on and we were on our way.... except I needed some gas. I stopped to get some gas and wouldn't you know it the moto wouldn't start. I went to the gas station and grabbed some coffee.

By the time I finished the coffee and tried the moto again it worked (yeah)... But as we pulled out of the gas station Meizel noticed that the back tire was almost flat. I decided to just drive home slowly on the tire and we made it fine. Right before our hotel was a tire shop so I got the tire and oil changed and replaced a broken piece on the bike.... It is driving much better now.

So... we encountered some challenges today but we made it through unscathed and in good spirits. The lab was definitely professional and very efficient. It looked clean and did not have to wait at all. It was just getting there and back that proved much more difficult than we anticipated.