Leaving Xinlong with bread, stomach cramps and the s***s, we hike a kilometre out of town and find a nice rock to eat breakfast and prepare ourselves for the day. Feeling fresh and revitalised to face China (or as well as I could feel) we bit into our bread to find pork mince… Of all the breads in China we have ever bought, none have contained pork mince!!! Becks pins this exact moment as her 'beginning of the end' of China; the moment the patience wears thin and the time it takes to snap shortens.

We eat what we can, walk for a bit, taking advantage of the bushes and shrubs for toilets stops when we eventually score a lift with an orange ute full of guys that work to fix power lines. They agree to take us to a town 50km down the road which is a little less than half way to Ganzi; our destination. Grateful for the lift we sit in the ute as they stop now and then to fix power lines.

In the little town where they promised to take us, we said our goodbyes and put on our backpacks to start walking in the direction of Ganzi. It was hot and my bowels were releasing clear liquid regularly and we were lucky to wave down a minivan to take us the rest of the way (50yuan).

Side note: I sat next to a Tibetan in the van for 10minutes and couldn't stand him touching my bracelets, his spitting nor his smell to the point that we stopped the minivan and waited it to deliver whatever it was and pick us up on the way back! This is where you start to see China is grating on me. It's the small things that build up and I snap as seemingly stupid/small things. It is just something you have to experience yourselves to have judgement. Anyways it wasn't a bad idea to get out of the van as we were dropped beside a farm overlooking snow-capped mountains and valleys with farming villages in the foreground. I lay between the wheat stalks, listening to the birds and the wind to regain composure as Becks went nuts with the camera.

Arriving to Ganzi (with another stop at a police station to record our passports), we were immediately impressed. It's a small town in a broad flat plateau surrounded by huge jagged peaks shielded by clouds. If it wasn't for me feeling like absolute s***, I would have walked around a little more and enjoyed the town, instead I had to dump my bags in an eatery and find the public toilet!!! DO NOT USE THE TOILETS IN THE MINI VAN STATION!... unless you are desperate.. well I would prefer to bare my ass in the streets next time to avoid that mess I had to endure.

Taking the first hotel we see, we are relieved when they charge us 100 yuan for a semi clean bathroom and room! Happy to be in the comfort of my own space, Becks goes back out in search of goodies. The superstar she is returned with rehydration drinks, medicine and prayer flags which she hangs around the bedroom and into the bathroom! She insists they will bring luck and a quick recovery to my bowels! Haha. Thanks babe! So there we are laying underneath a string of coloured prayer flags, watching the L word and sipping fluids. PERFECT!

The next morning I wake up feeling average and its Becks turn to catch the tummy bug L. It was my turn to take to the streets as nurse Prue and seek out the fluids and breakfast. After eating chive bread, we listen to our bodies and make a mutual decision to take the trip north to Dege (6 hours away) where we can put our bags down for a few days, recover and relax.

Goodbye cute town… time to get back on the road and head north!