Oh, that makes sense. If the excerpt had started with that paragraph, I would have been expecting the next sentences to explain it. By being halfway through and

Oh, that makes sense. If the excerpt had started with that paragraph, I would have been expecting the next sentences to explain it. By being halfway through and starting with "I learnt nothing and left nauseated", I thought its function was to sum up what she had seen over her whole trip. Thanks for explaining how to read it.