Drizzle & Diarrhea Disaster

I'm still in Guilin and it has been a depressing day. Firstly, it has been raining the whole day, I mean from before dawn right up to now 8.30pm ! The rain alternated between light drizzles and heavier pitter-patter. This is not the thunderstorm we get in Malaysia where volumes of water are dumped in a short span of time. No flash flood of the sort that we get in KL but definitely dampens one's spirit considerably.

Secondly, I had a bout of food poisoning (another of my traveling companions was affected too). Prime suspect is the small restaurant we went for dinner last night.... packed with locals and very reasonably priced (66 Yuan, approx RM33 for a meal for 3 persons... 1 fish dish, 1 pork spare ribs, 1 taufu dish, 1 veggie dish and rice, ..unbelievable value for money). We overlooked the unhygenic condition of the restaurant and paid the price for it.

So today was spent in the hotel room and visiting the toilet a few times.... plans for a 2D1N trip to Xingping (a old town located on beside scenic Li River) was scrapped. We are now praying for bright and sunny sky for tomorrow...

Reporting from a cyberspace dungeon in Guilin...

Once again, I'm in an internet cafe in China, this time in Guilin. As per norm in China, the internet cafes are smoked filled (ciggie smoke), dark huge dungeons lit up only by the glare flat screens. Every night, China's gamers are engrossed in their virtual world - some will continue until wee hours of the morning - they quit when they manage to extract themselves from their make believe world, while some will drop to sleep in front of their screens...

As for me, I'm here to check my emails...at Renminbi 1.50 per hour (approx 80sen), this is really the cheapest internet rate I have had the good fortune to be charged.

Just completed backpacking trip that started with an overnight train journey from Guilin (Guangxi Province) to Guiyang (capital of Guizhou Province). I and 3 intrepid companions went to the following places in succession: Guiyang, Kaili, Xijiang (Miao minority village), Rongjiang, Chejiang (Dong minority village), Congjiang, Basha (Miao minority village), Liping, Longli old town, Zhaoxing (Dong minority village - with some fantastic scenery during our morning trek up the rice terraces) and back to Guilin, Guangxi via Sanjiang town. All these in the space of time from Apr 2 - 8 and using public transportation over rural roads and mountain roads. Can't wait to be back home to sort the photos for uploading to Facebook.

Meanwhile, the adventure continues as I will be traveling on until Apr 16. Stay tuned.....

Now I shall sign out. I can't stand the ciggie smoke in this cybercafe but hey!.. at least I'm happy to learn of the by-elections results: Pakatan 2 BN 1