“The most poetical thing in the world is not being sick.”

In addition to my lovely pounding headache and fever, I have now acquired a very swollen sore throat and a pretty intense ear ache. After lying in bed withering every time my pain meds started to run low, I figured it was time to check out the Ladakhi medical system. Though the “senior doctor” was out, I was able to see his “junior”, whatever that entitles. In any case, he was a sixty year old manwho knew how to put the batteries in the apparatus to look down my throat, and see that my tonsils were extremely enflamed with white bumps covering them. He proceeded to prescribe me an antibiotic (amoxicillin) and told me not to eat hard foods (even swallowing water at this point is very painful so I will definitely be heeding this piece of advice).

Hopefully the antibiotics will do their thing, and in a few days the swelling will reduce and I will no longer be a bed-ridden girl. It is amazing, really, that my head, throat, and ears, are able to work together to produce such a searing pain that I am left completely disabled. It is also amazing how much our bodies adapt. Practically overnight, I transformed from someone who eats five or six meals a day, to someone who is living off of one small banana lassi. I am glad I at least have a diagnosis (and I trust it, my tonsils do look absolutely horrendous), because I was tired of people telling me it was altitude sickness (I just cycled, without a hitch, over two of the highest passes in the world), food poisoning (in which case my stomach and bowls would be a mess, which they aren’t), or just that my body was overworked (nope, my body is doing splendid thank you very much). I did get a motorcycle ride out of this whole mess at least. I apparently looked less than great as one of the tour operators in the area approached me and asked me what was wrong. After explaining to him that I was sick, he volunteered to take me to the small medical clinic in a different part of town. As much as I love cycling, the motorcycle was great fun as well, and I’m sure in a few years I will be traveling on one of those as well.