Swine Flu in China!

China has been a country of contrast & whilst we will never forget it. Its the people we have met along the way that are the real stars of the orient! Generally they are very patient, extremely polite & tolerant of travellers....well unless your body temperture is about 37C that it! Why 37C,?...well thats the temperture that suggests you have SWINE FLU! And its a point that was all to clearly demonstrated by our own new 'trip buddies' who set off the alarms at the HongKong border crossing as we attempted to make our way back into the mainland! However, other than being escorted from the premices in full 'chemi' suits, having bloods taken & spending a night at the local hospital i'm pleased to report that our new friends have recieved the all clear.......as well as the new nicknames of H1 (Holly) & N1 (Peter)!


Still whilst H1N1 enjoyed (i use the term very loosely) their night at the hospital, Miranda & I enjoyed our own local service in the form of a full body massage. 60 minutes of being pulled around & generally beaten up by a local, saw us (38 Yuan) 3.80 out of pocket but completely rejeuvinated. A bloody good job as with a 4 hour hike to undertake the next day & our first of two home stays (when you stay in a locals house & explore their culture close up) we needed to be prepared. Our preparations weren't in vain as our first homestay didn't have sufficient beds, so a mat on the floor was offered. But not to worry as the home-made rice wine (40% ABV) was supplied freely by the man of the house to the joyace calls of "Gambi". Roughly translated that means "Bottom's up!" & whilst we didnt fancy a early morning hike in 40C with a hang over, its certainly what we were to end up with (athough the home cooked meal & toasting / presentations to our hosts' dead relatives was rather poinient & so made up for it)

















After the 1st hike through the farm lands around Maliao we entered the village of Xijiang to local folk songs & traditional travellers greeting of a shot of rice wine (from a buffalo's horns) for each leg thats carried you there + a pink egg!? JUST what you need when you are exhausted, dehydrated & dont want to upset or offend your new hosts!























Subsequently the rest of the evening bluuurrrrreeeeeeeeeeedddddddddddd into one although I do recall another spectacular meal, getting the locals very drunk (We english guys really can drink it appears) and starting a huge food fight! A great way to say goodbye to China & perfect timing to cross the boarder into Vietnam.