Day 6 & 7

HI!

I'm sorry I did not make a blog yesterday! I really had no energy left. Yesterday morning we had a 2 hour busride through the mountains of the Japanese Alps. We went from Matsumoto to Takayama, where we had to walk for 20 minutes with our heavy bags to our hotel. When we were settled, we walked back into the old part of Takayama, but we were already out of energy. We decided to go back and take a bath (wich was really weird, because it was a communal bathroom and you were not alowed to wear any clothing). We relaxed a bit in our hotel and we went to get some dinner at a café and it was really great! I had spaghetti with shrips and red sauce and it was really really delicious!  Also I drank some weird green soda and it was suprisingly tasty. We went to bed early and today we woke up at 8:45 (which was very late for us, normally we get up between 7:00 and 8:00). Our plan was to go visit the early market, however me being me, we had to go to the hospital.

So today's story will basically be about my hospital experience. First I will tell you why we needed to go there: Monday evening I felt a small bump on my upper lip. I told mom and dad about it and they both said "don't worry, it will be gone by tomorrow!". Well, let's say they were not exactly right about that. Yesterday I woke up and the bump has gotten at least 3 times as big, but it didn't hurt or anything, it was just really annoying and I looked rediculous. BUT when I woke up this morning it had grown so much I couldn't even close my mouth properly. Talking hurted and eating hurted even more. We figured out it had to be a mosquito bite, because that's the only thing I am allergic to. So we decided to go to a hospital. We tried to look for one on Google maps but we ended up first at the chiropractor and then at an eye clinic. We asked some doctor over there where we needed to go and he pointed us the direction of the hospital. We had to walk for 15 minutes but ended up at the right place. We went to the desk, all helpless, and it took the woman some time to find a nurse who could speak English. She gave us some forms to fill out and we had to wait for 15 minutes for a doctor to come (which was suprisingly quick because it was very crowded and on the form it said that it could take 2 hours to wait for an available doctor, because they gave people with severe injuries a treatment first.) A nurse came to pick us up and walk with us to the right department. Or so, they thought it was the right one. BUT it was a dentist. He could not do anything for me, so they went to get another doctor. This doctor turned out to be the vice president of the hospital and I was very honoured that he made the time to help me. He was the only doctor that could speak English properly and he took a look at my lip. He decided to bring me to the dermatologist who, after he finally understood our problem, gave us a recipe for medication. He called a nurse and she guided us to the right desk. In the meantime, all the nurses and doctors we had seen, were having a hard time hiding their smile. Like I said, I looked ridiculous yesterday, but today it was even worse! Luckily I was able to laugh about it as well (not physically tho). The doctor had given me three types of pills. One was for my allergic reaction and two stomach protectors. I have to take 6 pills per day in total until the bump is completely gone. AND luckily it has become smaller and smaller over the day and right now my lip is almost as good as normal. I still feel the bump but it's almost gone already. :)

When we came back from the hospital, we walked to our hotel and got our photocamera. We walked up the hill close to our hotel and when we reached the top we could see a big temple in the distance. We decided to walk over there and it took us (literally!) three hours to get to the temple and back to our hotel. We were absolutely dead when we came back because so much walking with a temperature of 31 degrees celcius is killing! However it was totally worth it! The temple was even bigger from up close and it was guarded by at least six police officers. We were not allowed to take pictures inside the temple, unfortunately, but it was sooooo beautiful inside! We did get to take pictures from the outside of the building so you should totally check them out!

This was it for today, I will write again tomorrow.

BYEBYE