Snake Oil
I woke up this morning feeling pretty terrible – so another day off for us after a quick walk into town in search of real medication. Pharmacies in China have been a challange. We walked in and were greeted by helpful staff who could not understand a word we were saying (our fault not theirs). We passed walls of little wooden drawers each containing various kinds of dried roots, mushrooms, animal parts etc. Chinese traditional medicine seems to be a booming industry (as ever). Along with all the other ‘Snake Oil’ we passed what could only be decscribed as ‘real’ Snake Oil – or what looked like a partially disected snake in a jar of liquid. After scanning the shelves in vain I made some ‘sore head’ and ‘coughing’ actions – the staff presented us with a few items in Chinese packaging. Evetually we found some real medicine with bad English on the box and inserts that at least indicated a few familiar active ingredients.
Back at the hostel we lounged in the lounge. V got a chance to scan some recent National Geographics and other books – I lasted less than an hour after taking a pill. After a good snooze I am feeling much better. It was raining on and off for most of the day – hopefully it clears so we can get out for a hike tomorrow.
Dinner on Foreigner’s street was cheap and nasty. I think we would rather have simple Chinese food than ‘western’ food prepared with all good intentions by a Chinese chef, it was barely edible.
[Pictures: Boring one. The lounge at the hostel. It is a fantastic place. The Lily Pad Inn – highly recommended]
– Posted from my iPhone via Wifi