The Great Wall’ker

After breakfast (with our new friend at the factory) consisting of a sweet rice soup, we were on our way again. The wind was blowing quite hard, so we both listened to music. I favoured Neil Young and Bob Dylan - many of their songs are just right for a walk that lasts for a very long time.

In the end we hit upon a green valley. Because the wind had blown sand into the air the visibility wasn’t all that good, but it was nice to see something green for a change. In the valley the Black River slowly drifted downwards giving life to the area around it.

We headed southwards and followed the rim of the valley and The Wall until we got to a beacon tower and then climbed down a hill. This was pretty interesting because the side of the hill consisted of sand in varying degrees of firmness. We followed a crack in the ground where the sand was loose. It felt safer. I was glad to have the walking sticks.

In the village below we soon found the local Shang dian (shop) and bought some food and drink. We felt the need to rest a little after three days that were a bit longer than what we should have exposed our bodies to. But this place was far too small to have anything that resembles a hostel.

The Doctor had knowledge of both Chinese and Western medicine.

After about half way through our walk the next day, we got to a large factory that we were told made a chemical ingredient for making pictures. Because of the financial crisis it was temporarily shut down. As we walked through the area it was clear that the factory had employed a lot of workers. All the houses of these workers were empty now.

We got to a shop and the lady there greeted us. We asked if there was any place to get a warm meal, which there wasn’t. We asked if she could make us a Ji dan chao jiu cai against payment, and she agreed. The building had two rooms. The shop in front and her living quarters and a small kitchen behind. She said we could stay in the back room until she was finished with the meal. This is a delicious dish, yet simple to make. Jiu cai is a vegetable that is fairly easy to get hold of and ji dan are eggs. Yummy. We also bought and drank more than a litre each. Ice tea is our favorite.

We spent some time in the shop and then went on walking. Along The Wall we saw footprints of camels in the sand. Toward the end of the day we started looking around to find a place to spend the night. Jon walked to another factory and started talking to one of the workers there. He kindly offered us these premises to stay the night. He was a really friendly guy.  We were able to wash our feet which is nice when they are full of sand.