The train trip to Interlaken was a bit hellish, but Clare and Hannah were brilliant, carrying all my stuff for me. I spent most of the two hour trip on the toilet. The next night and day were pretty much the same, the hostel letting me stay in bed all day, despite their lockout rule (rooms locked from 10.30 to 4.30). Not wanting to see another Swiss doctor, it wasn't until Sunday night, after six days of diarrhea and stomach pain, three days of no food, and two days of passing blood instead of diarrhea, that I called Mum (I was freaking out a bit) and she insisted that I see a doctor..NOW!! Being 9pm on a Sunday, the only option was hospital, and Clare took me there. She was amazing, and stayed with me for four hours in the ER while they x-rayed, did blood tests, took my temperature (39°), and poked, prodded and questined. The doctor finally told me that I had highg levels of inflamation in my blood (300 instead of the usual 10..not sure what those numbers stand for, but it doesn't sound great!) and I would probably not be able to leave tomorrow. I spent the next three day having two different antibiotics puped into me (one literally pumped through IV, the other a pill). These were not fun days, I was scared, on the other side of the world, and had no idea what was wrong with me! (Hannah and Clare left to continue travelling, so I felt very alone!!). Things began to look up though, I began to eat again on Tuesday (after 5 days of no food), to try and cure my nausea. This was actually pretty difficult, I bagan with only a slice of bread and butter for meals.

Wednesday afternoon, the doctor came with some good news, they knew whât I had! Salmonella. Food poisoning. My mind flickered back to all the chicken I ate in Germany (remind me to never eat raw chicken or egg ever again!!). On Thursday, they knew which strain I had (salmonella B - apparently you can get it from contact with fishtanks...maybe I drank more than I thought at Oktoberfest...) and could put me on the right antibiotics. On the road to recovery, I didn't look wonderful (big baggy eyes - you don't get much sleep in hospitals) and blue/green bruised arms (I have these fantastic veins that are there on second and gone the moment a needle comes near them. Putting an IV into me is quite an ordeal and can take up to three different nurses and several attempts - each try involving sticking in the needle and wiggling it around in search of a vein..my veins also tend to die after a while, so I had to have my drip moved four times in four days..lots of brusing!!) but I was staring to feel better!! The nurses were all really nice and helpful, and made the experience as bearable as possible!

I got out of hospital on Sunday (exactly a week), and moved to a nearby bed and breakfast, called Sunny Days. The next few days I spent slowly building up strength, going for little walks and eating more. On my fourth night I was moved to the suite which is huge!! I have two rooms, two TVs, a double bed, a big bathroom with a big bath!! I am used to sharing a room with one to forty other people - this is luxury beyond any backpacker's dreams!! Although it is a little bit lonely, no other young people staying here, only a group of middle-aged, rich, stereotypical white Americans, who don't really inspire my friendship..but I feel very spoiled and pampered!! I have become a BBC Prime addict, watching shows like 'Jonathon Creek', 'As Time Goes By', 'Keeping Up Appearances', 'Silent Witness' and 'Two Point Four Children'. It is great! The chocolate heer is definitely high class and I have unfortunately discovered the local chocolate shop..heaven!!

Well, this is my last day here, on to Holland tomorrow, then Vietnam. I got giardia in Nepal, Salmonella in Europe, any bets on Vietnam? Amoebic dysentery maybe?