This day, if any, has to be the one that I bring up my anecdotes of the Chinese public toilet. Wanting to relieve myself (number 1, don't get too excited) before the initial bus journey of the day I tried my brain with Chinese symbols before waiting for a female to exit before I made my decision which one was mine to enter. Strolling inside 4 heads turned to face me, these women all squatting separated by a 4 foot wall, the only space was at the front where I had to straddle a gutter, pull my pants down and pee at the head of the group. The gutter is on very slight slant so that the produce slides from from the head of the group (me) underneath all other participants to a drain. Picturing myself at a urinal it seems quite ordinary although I imagine at the latter end of the gutter its a little more personal. Next comes the 'gotta use the toilet cause I can't hold on any more' bus break. A low wall surrounds 2 squats, except theres a petite old tribal lady already in place. Fighting my instinct to back off I park alongside her and lower myself, no wall, nothing. We almost touch and I have to convince myself that I do not have pee fright to go. Bad smells aside, this is one of the most interesting encounters of my time, squished behind a fence baring all with a wrinkled stylish hat wearing farm woman backed onto a huge valley that has collected the clouds.

But lets face it, I was prpeared for the toilets, alongside many other preparations required for a visit to China. Its visitors seem more than happy to express warnings and their tales of disgust and in general scaring prospective visitors.

Food, for example, is another cause for concern. One French woman declared 'good luck' concerning our vegetarianism but today we entered a restaurant, pointed at an array of different vegetables and were rustled up a blinding dish of tomatoes and eggs, eggplants, rice and the standard green tea. Proud as we are to be able to order such a feast we are also humbled by what delicious fresh food is served before us in contrast to our expectations.

Another piece of misguided advice is the apparent rudeness of the people, abrupt and unable to form an honest queue (knock knock... oh, hello there cultural differences!).

So far people have been awkward to answer our questions, but it seems out of shyness rather than arrogance, and there are small smiles and laughter at our gestures. Ticketers who are willing to bemuse at our hand gestures and attempts at Chinese, and finally wave at a different gate, general public who stop us from boarding the wrong bus and taxi men who offer us cigarettes.

Given time we find characters who patiently explain the storys that depict the diagrams of their written language, or the quirky hand signals used to denote each of the numbers on one hand (number 7 looks kind of like the shape you'd make to depict a rabbit in a torch light).

Ok so sometimes you narrowly avoid the urine of a child in the street, its parent holding it with outstretched arms from within a building, or wince at the scratching sound produced with the expulsion of plegm, and sometimes tiger balm is the only way forward before you enter the toilet, also it is not easy to travel without a knowledge of the language but you can use your brain for new methods of communication, scribble phrases in a notebook that are necessary and try your luck next time... this is in fact why we travel is it not?

The country in general has fantastic scenery, I wont lie there is much scarring to the land and the wilderness to make room for banana and rubber plantations and sometimes is just flattened to make room, but there is still wilderness to be found if you have the patience to look for it.

All in all, what has been eminently forgotten from a wealth of doom approaching us is how much we are to gain.