Hot springs and hospital
Hi again
We are now in Kunming but only until tomorrow when we catch the bus to Lijiang. We had a lazy couple of days in Emei Shan hoping that Katie would recover which she did to an extent. We treated ourselves to an afternoon at the hot springs, a huge complex of natural hot pools just round the corner from our hostel. We had met a Dutch girl at the hostel and she joined us. It was very relaxing, swimming and just lying around in warm water. And it seemed to do Katie good. But then overnight on the train she had a relapse. So when we got to Kunming we decided that we should seek out some medical assistance. This was not a good idea! There is a hospital near to the hostel which were advised to go to and we were told that the doctors spoke English. Getting to see the doctor at all was something of an experience. We eventually found the right department, a corridor of chairs outside some consulting rooms. No doctors or nurses anywhere so we just sat and waited. More and more patients arrived and still no medical staff. Eventually some doctors and nurses did appear and then the scrum started. People just shoved and pushed their way into the consulting rooms. There was no organisation whatsoever, no queuing, no prioritising, just a free for all. Someone would go in and sit down in the chair in the room and about 10 other patients and their families would also go in and crowd around, pushing and elbowing to make sure that they were next. It was a nightmare. In the end we did manage to get into the hot seat and of course the doctor spoke no English at all. We did our best with the phrase book but in the end she just appeared to get fed up with us and sent us off to another department to find someone who could speak English. No member of staff could be found to help so in the end we had to ask a young women who spoke quite good English to help. But even then we were getting nowhere fast so we just came out. Katie is however a lot better now. I think it must be the dread of having to go through all that again that has cured her.
Anyway, we have a nice time today climbing a hill not far from Kunming. It overlooks a huge lake and there are some pleasant gardens on the way up. And Katie was well enough to go out for a meal tonight. We are hoping to do some trekking from Lijiang and have been making enquiries about possible alternatives. Of which more later….
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