trouble in paradise (paradise lost)

a sleep deprived ondrej is writing to you from yichang, 40km downstream from the three gorges dam...
.

but first - let's finish up with zhongdian - that was ages ago.

.

basically things went pear-shaped in paradise - 3 nights turned into 6 (which is like 2 years in travel time!) and i spent most of my days in cafes reading because i couldn't walk.

.

the night before i was supposed to leave, the bank ate my keycard, and i returned home with a blinding fever that had me wrapped in 5 thermal layers and a sleeping bag (zipped all the way up) shivering uncontrollably. maybe it was a gut thing, because i couldn't stop putting out these evil smells and my room-mates' faces would contort into silent screams as they ran to the other side of the room to throw open the windows at the slightest suggestion of more 'eaud'ondrej'. for me it was a case of giggle and squirt.

.

every night in the main square of zhongdian, there is a 2-hour public dancing session, which is really lovely. all these little grannies in traditional costume descend from the hills for their daily exercise, and grab your hand and take you spinning around the square at break-neck (of femur) speed. i did one lap before my own hip gave out. the whole town turns up and there's a really good feeling of community in the air. i wish that sort of stuff happened in australia. c'mon lord mayor so - i kno you ca mae it happ!

.

i got my card back (after 2 days and with no money) and my fever settled. you know how sometimes when you're getting better you feel so good that it was almost worth the illness? well it wasn't like that at all.

.

i had a major bout of insomnia on the night before i actually did leave, and ended up staring at the ceiling of my room for 6 hours bopping away to a song that wouldn't get out of my head: (to the tune of 'i am the drug that killed river phoenix'): 'i am the clot that killed richard carleton'. you won't be able to get it out of your heads now.

.

(this paragraph has been deleted because mum said i was too nasty about richard carleton...man that woman really does check my blog ever 20 seconds...)

.

thanks mum :)

.

there was a massive monastery (the most important in south west china) in zhongdian filled with over 600 monks perpetually talking on their mobile phones. i didn't have the pressure of needing to change my ring tone, so i slipped into some deserted parts of the monastery and blissed out.

.

before i knew it, i was boarding a bus for xiangcheng...

.

pics 1 + 2 - women in zhongdian

pic 3 - a crappy shot of the monastery