i can fix this...

When I travel I don't like to ask for help. Ever. For instance, in my hotel room today I broke two things (or thought I did). First I decided to do some in-sink laundry. I had immediately dropped off shorts, t-shirts and socks to be washed at the hotel as I was walking around town like I was going to gym. Pink dri-fit shirt and workout shorts with runners. Not a great look for me.

So I do the rest (underwear) in the sink. Not sure how the stink stopper works I just push it in because I see no lever to raise and lower it. This was fine until I was done washing. The stopper would not come out. I used my nails, the edge of a pack of pills and even tried tweezers. Nothing. The sink was full of grungy water. I resorted to using the tub and decided I would try again after I went in to town. But before I went in to town I needed to load my valuables into the in-room safe. It was the usual enter some numbers and your most precious items (in my case: passport, ipod, and about $800 worth of Olympic rowing tickets) are locked away from any housekeeper that is randomly your identical triplet and wants to move to Canada, is also enjoying the new Clumsy Lovers song R sent her and wants to take four friends to watch rowing in Beijing.

I am good with numbers and normally don't forget anything important. I think I've only had to have a lock cut once and I learned my lesson. But somehow the thing locked and when I enter what I thought I entered it just beeps Error at me. Not good Mav.

So I head out from the hotel with these two issues in the back of mind. No, I don't do the obvious and ask someone at reception for help. I just decide to work on solving these issues later.

I walk around town and say no 20 times to tuk tuk drivers. I don't tell them I am trying to burn some calories and prefer to go on foot. They are all rather slim and would not understand. After a couple of hours of walking I decided it is time for a foot massage. Rather then head to the cheap places screaming $6 per hour I go to the nicest one I can find where I have to ask for a price list and it is $12. The reasoning for this is that I want to enjoy the foot massage and if the place looks clean I won't be paranoid the whole time that the 12 mosquito bites on my left leg are becoming infected as someone rubs a random lotion into them with questionably clean hands. This stresses me out which is the opposite of being relaxed by a foot massage.

I get lead up to the footbath first as I have walked in (again, in the bad workout outfit) and have mud all over my legs due to the muddy streets from the torrential rain. As the women uses a full on special sink in the floor (no bucket!) just for feet I see her push the sink stopper in. I watch curiously to see how it comes out at the end and...she pushes in again and the stopper just pops up. Bingo! I relax into my foot massage with the knowledge that I will fix the sink in my hotel room as soon as I return.

Now my third on-going issue on this trip is soup ass (aka traveller's diarrhea). Again, I have spent a week not claiming defeat; I have not used the antibiotics from the travel clinic. I tried to rationalise my problem; 'my body is just reacting to new food', 'ít is normal to crap a liter of water' and í can fix it myself. i won't eat for 24 hours and my digestive system will reset itself just like when my ipod freezes and the only way to get it to work is to let the battery run out and then recharge it.' My 24 hour trick did not work.

As I lay enjoying the foot massage my stomach churned. Inner plumbing could be heard moving liquids from one chamber to another. As I paid for the foot massage I knew I had approximately 10 minutes before I was going to be in a bad place that could not be explained as muddy legs from the street.

I walk quickly back to the hotel and race to my room. Will leave out the next part but suffice it say that I broke open that miracle canister of pills and I am praying they kick in before tomorrow nights overnight train ride.

The sink is fixed and now the only problem is the safe issue. Maybe I can have my UK passport fedexed to me and buy some last minute rowing tickets?