Intestinal fortitude

Awaking with the contents of everybodys' intestines intact, we cooked a
small breakfast and threw in some of the mushroom stalks. Then we rolled
down and made good speed, following our undulating but never steep
highway through some characteristically arid landscape.

We decided to celebrate Leigh's birthday tonight, and so picked up a few
cans of beer in Horasan. Then we climbed out of town for some distance until the sun was setting, finding another nice hilltop near the highest point of the road.

We enjoyed the beers whilst cooking and eating, but nonetheless turned in at a fairly sober hour, ready for a 6 a.m. start in order to make the most of the daily diminishing daylight.

During the night I heard Leigh and Charlie talking fairly loudly and noted that the time was only 4 a.m. I asked what was going on and was told that Leigh had been violently ill some minutes earlier. I had heard that getting an upset stomach was pretty much unavoidable when travelling in eastern Turkey, and realised that this meant it would probably be my turn next, though in explaining to my companions why I'd not yet been sick myself I put it down to having eaten a lot of food out of bins for the last 7 years!