On a bicycle built for...a very small person actually

I had my first encounter with bed bugs last night. The damn things savaged me. I tried to get some sleep by lying on the floor but the air con blasted out such cold air that I ended up slumped in a chair waiting for dawn to brake. Ric insists I was imagining them.

In spite of my tiredness we hired some dinky bikes (deciding that the ones the hotel offered were just too dinky) and cycled all the way round the lake stopping to look at various pagodas, statues, temples and pretty lakeside views along the way. There are a lot of tourists here as well as inconsiderate pedestrians who seem completely oblivious to the dangers of stepping in to the road without checking for oncoming traffic including us on our bikes!

It is really too hot for energetic pursuits and we arrived back exhausted, bad-tempered, dripping with sweat, caked with our own body salt and road dust and ready for a lie down, though I don't dare lie on the bed now.

So instead I went for a quiet walk by myself, following the lush ornate gardens and meandering forks of the lake which spread out around our hotel. As I lay down on the rough but still inviting grass, heavy dragonflies hovered over me, curious birds came to observe what I was up to and the setting sun cast a light so yellow that it all the trees seemed to have been gilded with gold.

We have just been for dinner in one of the many restaurants on Gaoyin Jie, a street more patronised by the locals than tourists. We hate the fancy places which pander to Western taste-buds and their presumed fatter wallets. Ric even had a beggar's chicken and a plate of snails today. I just watched as he plucked the snotty looking things out of their shells with a toothpick. We are wondering whether everything tastes so good because of the high levels of MSG being used?!

After dinner we stumbled upon a night market where vendors were selling all sorts of tat including charms, stamps and novelty toys as well as more attractive items of clothing, fans, jewelery and tea. We are wondering what real Jade really is now as it seems to look a bit different everywhere we go!


Tomorrow we are off to Nanjing, a couple of hours west of here.