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Wednesday, June 4, 2014

Losing My Coach in China

Have you seen those pictures of the tall almost conical mountains in China on the Disney films? We took a tour to a mountain top in Guilin.
   On the way back down I stopped at the ladies' toilet. The cubicles were squat toilets. The cubicles had no doors.
   I entered one and I Chinese girl walked in. She saw me and must have said in Mandarin - 'Come and see - a blonde Westerner!'

So I waited until everybody had gone.

Then I found my party of Westerners and guide had vanished. I filled the path downhill. It forked. I took the right hand fork.

At the bottom of the hill - nobody. Only a seller trying to sell me postcards. Speaking Mandarin. I had no passport, no money, was miles from my hotel. Nobody spoke English.

Group? English group I said. She did not understand. I burst into tears.

She beckoned me. I had no choice but to follow her.

Around the corner was a huge car park with several coaches.

I ran along the coaches. At the far end was a coach with westerners.

Of course my fellow passengers had no idea where I had been.

Toilet Tip
After I got back to London I asked a seasoned traveller what I could have done to avoid being ogled in the toilet without doors. He said, "Always carry an umbrella. Whether you are indoors at a cubicle without a lock (or even a door!) or outdoor with no toilet at all, open the umbrella and hide behind it.


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