TD

I enjoyed breakfast the morning I went to Jiuzhaigou with Yusuan's fmaily. We ate baozi, or steamed meat buns some noodle soup, both essentials of the Chinese diet. It was plenty of food. Everyone at the table were eating these weird hard boiled eggs. I didn't really want one; I've never cared much for boiled eggs. Yusuan then officially offered me one. I explained that I only eat fried eggs and politely declined his offer. His mother then offered me one as well. Waving my hand, I said thank you in Chinese. Yusuan then turned to me and said the magic words, "My mother made these eggs; she would be offended if you don't eat one." How could I let down the matriarch of this family that so kindly adopted me? I politely ate the egg, even though I didn't really like it. I asked Yusuan what it was and he said it was a 10,000 year old egg, or a black egg.

I later learned it was a special type of egg made by burying it underground for a few weeks. The heat of the earth cooks the insides, turning the whites into a clear gelatin and the yokes into a black or green mass. As a bonus, if the egg just happened to touch pork, when it is dug up, it becomes kosher.

I thought nothing much of the egg until eight hours later while hiking in Jiuzhaigou. Suddenly, without warning, I had to use the toilet. I was fine enough to return to the visitor's center. Again, I still thought nothing more of it than an urgent bathroom emergency, they happen, especially when you eat lots of Chinese food.

I headed back to the hotel and used the toilet again. Soon, it became apparent that something had made me sick. The Tibetan culture show was that evening, so I took an imodium, chewed up some pepto tabs and headed out.

After squirming for two hours, I shivered my way back to the hotel and collapsed onto the bed. I was cold and could not get warm. I made some tea, put on some long underwear and a sweater, then crawed under the blankets and rode out the terrible fever. I did not sleep that night, but the fever broke at some point in the night and I felt quite a bit better that morning.

I planned to visit another national park that day, but I was just too tired. Instead, I prepared to move on to a nearby town that was better for transit. After packing my bag, I felt weak and went back to bed. An hour later, the hotel woman woke me up, saying it was eight-o-clock, time to checkout. I grabbed my things and started the two mile float to the bus station.

I learne that there was only one bus to Songpan and I'd missed it by twenty minutes. I then hailed a cab, went to another hostel, checked in, then collapsed for twelve hours. The fever came back off and on. At some point, I mustered up the strength to check my email before heading back to bed.

The next morning, I awoke, again too weak to get out of bed and book another night. I wasn't going anywhere that day. At some point in the late morning, I forced myself to go downstairs and pay for another day and buy some juice since I had no appetite for food buy needed some calories. Again, I slept for the whole day. At some point, I read my pamphlet on traveler diahrea. Based on my symptoms, the pamphlet said that I needed to start a course of antibiotic immediately or else I could end up with a serious infection need hospitalization. I didn't hesitate to follow the advice.

The next day, I sat in bed, read a bit and ate a couple of crackers. An Isreali guy moved into my room and gave me some coke, which was surprising helpful for my stomach. I guess it still goes back to the days when it was a cureall tonic.

Somehow the next morning, I packed, made it to the bus station and survived the bumpy three hour trip to Songpan. I was feeling a little better, but was still quite sick. Even a five minute walk had me winded. That night, I was able to choke down some bland potato soup and piece of bread.

By this point, I had exhaused my entire supply of antibiotics for the trip. My doctor told me one dose would lick anything I would catch, but I needed all three doses just to get slightly better. Don't be fooled by the name travelers diahrea, it is really just another name for a serious food poisoning, most likely e-coli or salmonella. I could have managed a little diahrea, but whatever I caught took me out for five days, derailed my plans and forced me to skip Huanglong, one of potential highlights of my trip. Now I have to find more antibiotics. At least I know I shouldn't eat any weird buried eggs again.