My story is a bit different from the ones here but I'll tell it anyway. I went to Thailand in January. The first part of my trip was alone and then a friend joined me halfway through.
I hadn't been sleeping much the week before my trip so I arrived a bit tired. I tried to buy a coke at the Shanghai airport without thinking and had my only card blocked because I hadn't given clearance for China. Fortunately they took Yen so I didn't have to go without. Arrived in Bangkok and tried to use my debit card... Declined declined declined. I went to 6 atms and none worked. Thank God I had slipped a $100 bill into my bag at the last minute.
I didn't know how long $100 would last me in Thailand or when my card would start working again. I decided to take public transportation to my hostel, which wasn't so bad, except I had a 20 minute walk in the dark from the metro to the hostel. Being a young solo girl, I try not to have to do this my first night in the country. Luckily I had printed out directions and a map in both English and Thai so I could ask for help. The only problem was that my directions were using the metric system and as an American, I have no clue how far 200 meters are. Finally got there after walking down the wrong Street a few times.
Called my mom in the states and she sorted my banking system for me because I was so exhausted I couldn't think. I went to bed but unfortunately woke up 4 hours later stressing.
The next few days were a blast! New years in Bangkok and a reddit meet up. Lots of drinking, partying, sex, and very very little sleep. I was averaging about 3 hours a night for 2 weeks at this point.
My friend arrived and the next day my throat hurt a bit... Figured I was just tired and took an easy day. Then it hurt more.... So I bought some antibiotics and cough drops at the pharmacy and slept the whole day. When I woke up, I could barely breathe. Woke my friend up at midnight to take me to the emergency room. He wasn't excited of course but obliged. They gave me more pills but said I'd be fine.
Woke up the next morning and was sooo much worse. I couldn't swallow, I couldn't talk, I couldn't eat. At this point I wasn't even able swallow my own spit or open my mouth most of the way.
My friend took me back to the emergency room though he was getting tired of this and complaining about how much time it was wasting. He also asked me for $10 that I owed him while I was sitting on the bed waiting for an IV drip. Then went on to tell me I was walking too slow on the way back to the hotel.
Ended up being diagnosed with acute tonsillitis, getting a shot of painkiller, antibiotic and hydration IV, and some other various drugs. I had to return to the hospital everyday for the next 4 days to get a daily IV which pretty much killed my plans for vacation.
I hadn't eaten or drank anything in almost 72 hours at this point and finally was able to due to the pain killer. I asked my friend to go with me but he refused. So sick and somewhat drugged, I walked around alone until I found an awesome Mexican restaurant and drank about 10 fruit smoothies.
At first the hospital was nerve wracking. I was the only foreigner there and people around me were getting blood transfusions and other scary shit. But the staff were really nice and tried to make me comfortable. Spoke wonderful English and even the patients became friends. A doctor even asked me on a date on the last visit. Considered skipping my plane but thought better if it.
After that, my friend and I traveled together but split ways for most of it. I was feeling better but still exhausted. Spent the next week chilling on the beach and eating awesome food.
I got sick in the airplane back to Japan and had another week of daily IV drips to finally kick this stupid infection.
Being sick on vacation is never fun, especially in a third world country. I feel lucky though that my family back in the US came through for me and the locals were Uber kind. Hospitals in Thailand aren't terribly expensive but also aren't terribly clean. I survived so all is well that ends well. And the sex was amazing enough to make up for the rest of the trip :P