Poor Wee Mikey Boy's not a well little boy (warning- not for the faint hearted)

Actually, for the last few days I've been on the Slimfast 'Shit yourself thin diet'. Getting a cold last week (which I still have) was bearable I guess, but when you can't stay off the loo for more than a few minutes at a time, it's really not that entertaining, especially when you're in a hostel without 'banos privados'.

I know you don't need to hear this but sorry, I have to 'share'. Last night, after climbing from the heat of Lima and the desert back up to 4000m again made me quickly regret having just packed away all my cold weather gear the previous night so it all had to come out again to stop my shivering. We had to drive very slowly through thick, cold mist with 10m visibility (I even nearly ran into a cow) and relentless rain. But having to stop at disgusting roadside toilets that look like they've never been cleaned (with no seats naturally) and finding suitable spots on the hillside for all those unexpected 'calls of nature' without locals magically appearing is all quite depressing, not to mention getting ripped off by corrupt cops (see below). And all this when I'm already feeling lousy. My cold has been such that in order to breathe while riding, I have developed the rather disgusting habbit of having to blow my nose into my left glove and somehow getting rid of it on the tank- Sorry Bertie! I feel a bike wash coming on...

When you're feeling low like this, you start dreaming of home comforts when you're riding, like 'wouldn't it be nice to have just one night in my flat, with the bath running, the fire on and a fridge full of nice fresh food'. While riding last night, I kept dreaming of Heinz tomato soup for some reason, don't ask why. A lot of the time, the food here isn't that great and you come away feeling like you wish you hadn't just eaten whatever it was. Or it was so bland, it was basically just 'fuel'. However, in Lima, I did have the best chinese I've had since the start of the trip which helped somewhat. I haven't been able to weigh myself so far but after the last few days, I doubt I'm anywhere near the 13st I was when I left Scotland.

Anyway, instead of moving on today as origionally planned, I have decided to have a quiet day off kicking around here in Huaraz, trying various internet cafes until I find one that actually works, and taking as many imodiums, rehydration sachets, lem-sips, antibiotics and painkillers as my body can stand. Its anoying feeling so crap here as there appears to be some fantastic mountainbike riding here. Oh well, there's always Whistler. However last night, we did manage to find a nice clean (and I can't overstate that) hostal with private bathroom and an incredibly comfy bed so it's not all bad.

Oh, and for lunch today, I somehow managed to get some really great tomato soup which helped cheer me up, it's the small things you know...