Whilst I'm still pissed off about my money being nicked, it's difficult to harbour hostility towards the people of Anyuan when so many of them display such simple genuine kindness- friends and strangers alike.

This morning, Hoby came to say goodbye, and brought his older sister to meet me. Their grandmother passed away recently and they were going to collect her ashes to take back to their village. I had written out a poem that I found comforting when my grandma died ('Death is nothing at all' by Henry Scott Holland) to give to Hoby, and whilst I was finishing copying it down, his sister spontaneously decided to give me her keyring as a gift. I found that really touching, it's times like that when the mantra 'it's the thought that counts' really rings true.

After they had left, some important people from the education department came round with some flowers to comfort me after my 'accident' as they keep referring to it. This was nice of them, but more like sucking up than genuine concern, and I don't need sympathy anyway, I just need money. Still, they're very pretty flowers.

If I needed reaffirmation of the kindness of strangers, I got it as I was walking along the street in the drizzle. A girl I've never met before casually pulled her bike up alongside me, handed me her umbrella and chatted to me as we walked along the road towards our intended destinations. She was very sweet and I felt that glad feeling that comes when you have a fleeting experience of the selflessness and friendliness of others, which was good because it caused me to ignore the fact that she kept unknowingly make me walk in puddles and bashing my legs with her pedals.