With only 2 days left in China my body decided that being fit and healthy is no longer fun, and it would be oh-so-much more exciting to fall very very ill. So yesterday I woke to the world spinning in all directions, my stomach and my head competing to see which can induce the most agony. 2hrs of lying around and feeling like the life’s been drained out of me later, I was carried out of the house in my pajamas and to the hospital, which luckily is located just across the street.

It was the general assumption that I had suffered heat stroke from the day before when I went out shopping in the 39 degree heat, and the accumulated exhaustion from the non-stop 2 weeks I’ve had in China. The first and most common treatment for any illness in China is to put you on a glucose drip, which was exactly what I was prescribe - 2 bags of the stuff actually, at a hefty 500mLs a bag. Needles are not my favourite things, I find that as I grow older I become more and more terrified of them. Needles in a Chinese hospital, attached to a tube, attached to a big bag of liquid, can probably top my list of least favourite needle experiences. I was taken to the glucose injections room, which is a big hall filled with rows of chairs lined back to back, and a row of about a dozen beds against one wall. Rows of hooks hang from the ceiling in front of the chairs and beds, from them hang the bags of fluids which drip slowly down thing plastic tubes, which are attached to the needles, which are inserted into the back of the patients hands. All in all, not a good look.

When we arrived the place was busy with people, and I was still like a rag doll being supported by two people. Thanks to a good search by my grandma we were able to find me a bed, which was just as well because I ended up being on that bed for the next 6 hours.

I do feel a lot better now. My body still lacks energy and I get a little dizzy if move too much or too fast, but its a far cry from not even being able to open my eyes yesterday morning. I’d like to sit in peace and quiet and not have to talk to or listen to anyone, but the Chinese show they care by being like a broken record with the volume turn to MAX.

I head back to Aussie land tomorrow. My flight is 6:20pm departing from Shanghai. I’ll be leaving Ningbo around midday for a 3-4hr drive to Shanghai, a 2hr or more of check in and waiting at the airport, then the 11hr flight back to Melbourne.

Looking forward to getting back home and having a rest.