The Great Wall’ker

This morning I noticed that my rucksack is starting to show signs of the last half year’s use. It is a lightweight rucksack and although it has a capacity of about 70 litres, it weighs only 1.4 kilos. The hip belt has loosened a bit on one side, and a couple of places the material has been weakened significantly and will have to be repaired. This should not be a big problem though as there are many skilled sewers in every middle sized town.

I took a bus back to the place I left the Great Wall last, and started walking Northwards. The terrain was nice, but was full of dry bushes that seemed to have only one purpose in life - to break off and visit my feet in the jogging shoes. I had so stop many times to empty the shoes. After 18 kilometres I found a convenient spot to get a ride back to Yulin. I guess there is one more walking day left with Yulin as a base, before I start on the stretch to Shunmo - the next town along the route. It will be a while before I can walk this last day though, as I am going to Beijing to meet a friend - John M, and also to collect the boots that my parents sent from Norway.

18 kilometres today

During the last months, Xiaoli Fotland has been translating this English website to Chinese. She has done a tremendous job and the quality of her work has been very high. Not that I would really know, but several Chinese people I have met have said so.

Xiaoli has been very busy, and Helen has offered to take over the translation job. Helen has experience as a blogger and can therefore insert text and pictures on to the Chinese website which will save me some time when I get to towns with internet connection. Helen and I have spent time lately going through the Chinese website to make it as ‘Chinese friendly’ as possible.

Thank you very much for the fantastic job you have done Xiaoli, and welcome aboard Helen!!

It’s only half past twelve here now. I will probably stay at the hotel and work on more pictures for the website, and actually get some pictures into the posts that I have heard  all you readers like… I wish you a good weekend.

I have made friends with a young Chinese woman called Helen and her husband Daniel. Helen works at a school in Yulin and speaks very good English. Daniel is a lawyer. They were both very helpful today and Helen was the translator both under the TV interview, and afterwards to translate the things I had said in English.

We drove to a large Great Wall fortress that lies just south of Yulin and took some shots there. Then we found a part of the Great Wall that resembles the rammed earth style which I have been walking along the last half year. I set up the tent and made some food while a woman filmed.

Afterwards we had a nice dinner at a good restaurant.

It will be fun to see the end result. Thank you very much Helen and Daniel!!

Today I got to the main road that leads to Yulin from Jingbian after some hours walking. The night was damp again, but not so cold. I spent it on a desert dune all alone   

After walking for a little while, I got to a fairly deep valley and  lost the Great Wall. I asked people where it continued and they all pointed me northwards. I followed their directions, found the Great Wall again and went on walking. After some more sand dune walking I found a simple dirt road that followed the track of the Great Wall. That made the walking a lot easier.

I came to a picturesque village, and the dirt road went on in the same direction. Asking an old man where the Great Wall was to be found, he laughed and gestured that I was standing on it. Later I saw a small, low building of worship. It was not locked and looked like it was used regularly. Will post a picture of it.

14 kilometres today

I’m using my third and last mobile battery now, so short report.

Woke up after a very cold night, then realized that everything was wet. Outside there was a fine mist and there was just as much on and in the tent. Because the ground was not flat, I had slid down one side and the sleeping bag was wet, as were my feet.

Walking the Great Wall has been easier today as it is flatter here and therefore little erosion.  Many places the Great Wall is covered with sand, so I have to be careful not to lose it’s path.  Lots of trees in bright colours.

I set camp a little earlier than I wanted, to dry out the tent and sleeping bag a little before sleeping.

19 kilometres today

It was cold and humid last night, so I didn’t sleep much. Have put on more clothes tonight. I got off to a slightly late start and walked eastwards along a ridge. To the left I saw the valley and river I needed to cross.

There was drizzle in the air, but after an hour this turned to steady rain. Soon it was raining harder and the wind increased. Looking behind me I saw a thick grey wall coming closer. There were no buildings in the area, so I set up the tent quickly and took refuge. It was hard to find a good place for the tent. Once sitting inside, I inspected the tent floor.

Several places I felt sharp thorns sticking through the two bottom sheets of the tent. I suspect my new inflatable sleeping mattress has a slow leak and now I know why… Three and a half hours passed before the rain did the same.

I went on, after packing the tent, slightly frustrated that the rain had taken away some valuable walking time. After crossing the river, I found a small restaurant. I ordered two dishes and two portions of rice. One to eat there and one for the road, or Wall.

The man that greeted me was a funny guy with a loud voice. He spoke slightly slurred.  I am unsure if it was the dialect or that he had been eating and drinking with his friends in the room inside. His wife took the order and made the food. As I was eating the man asked me questions of which I was able to answer about half. His wife seemed embarrased by his straight forward approach and every now and again she would tell him off and shake her head in resignation.

I had to laugh, and managed to communicate that they were like an old couple where he would say something that provoked her, and she would tell him off. They both had a good laugh and agreed.

Before long I was off again.  I spent a little time to find the Great Wall on the Northern side of the river and went on until sunset.

Thanks for the talk yesterday (brother) Jon!

13 kilometres today

I just heard that the first snow has fallen in Oslo. Probably most readers are experiencing colder weather now and perhaps wondering what it is like here.

During the night it is usually below five degrees C. That is no problem with the old 3-season sleeping bag and it should manage some minus degrees without too much trouble. The sleeping bag is old only because it has been used for the whole trip. It, and it’s big brother were bought in the US this year. When the cold really sets in, I will be using a much warmer sleeping bag and two sleeping mattresses.

During the day, things are different. It is usually about 20 C in the shade. I am walking in desert terrain, and there is little shade. This means that the days are pretty hot. I use my desert hat to keep my head out of the sun. I have changed trousers to a sturdy type of the Swedish Fjällreven. They are dark and absorb a lot of heat!

The daily variation between day and night is about twenty degrees. I wouldn’t mind cooler days, but there are no pickings here and this is certainly a lot better than the summer that lies behind me, and the cold winter that lies ahead.

I have been walking downwards a lot today. The terrain was still pretty challenging, but ahead of me I could see a flatter and more forgiving terrain. There are trees in the desert now and they have spectacular colours.

When I got to a road today, I hitched a ride with a young boy to the closest town. I ordered 4 main dishes and a litre of Ice Tea. Then I got back to the same spot. The remains of the meal are currently giving my tent nice aromas and will be eaten tomorrow morning.

I have been eating too little lately. The last couple of days I’ve tried to eat till I’ve almost been sick. It is easy to notice when the body has enough energy and when it is running on a flat battery. This oatmeal business isn’t the most becoming food to eat day after day.

About 20 kilometres today
(Forgot to stop the GPS for the MC ride, but will work it out later)

I didn’t write a report yesterday because a thunder storm came uncomfortably close to my tent camp. I have heard of several people being hit by lightning while using their mobile phone in a thunder storm. I don’t know if mobile phones actually attract lightning, but I didn’t feel happy being a guinea pig.

Yesterday morning I walked to a nearby road and continued in the direction of a small shop. I was completely out of water and had not eaten a proper meal for quite some time. The terrain was full of rifts because of erosion, so I had to make a long detour.

I was lucky in two ways. A car stopped and offered to drive me the four kilometres to the shop. Once I got there I bought five litres of water and Ice Tea and the old owners of the shop offered me breakfast.  I was very grateful and left some extra money as thanks for their hospitality. I then got myself back to the starting point and went on walking the Great Wall.

The Great Wall not only follows the ridges of the hills in this area, but these hills are the highest ones to be seen. This gives a spectacular view of the surroundings.

The area was more populated than before, so towards the end of the day I started asking people if they knew of a shop. A guy told me there might be a woman with a few items for sale a mile away along the Great Wall. I managed to find it and met a wonderful 66 year old woman and her cat. She let me in and I bought two noodle meals for supper. Eating the meal, we spoke a bit and I took pictures of her kitchen. She was preparing supper for all the pigs they owned.

By this time it was getting late. I went on walking and noticed dark clouds behind me. When I turned around to look at them, I saw a big dog following me. It kept at a comfortable distance of 30 metres. I walked on and it kept following me keeping the same distance. I thought that a companion such as this dog would have been great to have on the longest and toughest days along the Wall…

It got darker and I looked for a camping site. Not so easy when all the hills have terraced hills with fields, or houses with barking dogs. I found an area by a large beacon tower and thought I was alone. Then I discovered a female  shepherd. Just as I told her that I was walking the Great Wall I saw lightning in the distance behind her.

That was lucky, because I got to tie down my tent extra well. The only tent site I found was on one of the lower terraces from the beacon tower. It was still high up in the terrain. Soon came the lightning and thunder. It was intense and the closest was about a kilometre to the south. There was also a strong wind and heavy rain.

16 kilometres yesterday

Well - I’m afraid to say that the rucksack hasn’t felt much lighter today. I’m happy with the distance I’ve walked but am low on water, so need to find a place to get more tomorrow morning. A nice man pointed me in the direction of a shop towards the end of today, but a point of the finger is difficult to follow for a kilometre, and there were no other people to ask.

Early on in the day I got an extra liter of Kai Shui - boiled water - from a nice woman that was not afraid of me. People seem to be very friendly here. I asked her if she had seen other foreigners walking the Great Wall and she nodded. I asked if it was an Australian and she nodded again. Not sure if she was just being polite though. If it was an Australian, it was probably Mark that walked the Great Wall in 2007.

The terrain has been challenging at times. It is full of steep valleys because of earth erosion. At one place I asked a farmer how to get to the other side. He walked me close to a cliff, stopped me and shook his head as if to warn me not to get too close. (I see fresh landslides about every day here). He then pointed further down and when I looked closely I could see a very narrow track clinging to the side. I walked along the top of the cliff for 50 metres to find the entry point. The first metres of the decline were pretty uncomfortable, but after that there was no going back. I’m very glad I had the walking sticks.

21 kilometres today

Today I saw three farmers and one shepherd in the distance, but spoke to none of them. Whilst walking the Great Wall, I noticed for the first time that this is taking its toll. Not physically, but mentally. Don’t know if it’s the extra heavy rucksack, or the fact that I spent half the day walking in pretty lose sand, or that I’ve been at this for so long that it’s starting to show. Anyway - I had a short talk with my brother which was very nice.

The sun sets at six o’clock now, and it is dark an hour later. I like to have the tent up by seven and write this report and eat. By the time that’s done, there isn’t much to do but sleep. Everything else uses batteries which I have limited amounts of. I should start getting up earlier. Therefore I have placed my tent where it will be hit by the sun tomorrow morning. That is if there is any sun.

The walking was hard today. No high hills, but I was constantly winding my way through the desert dunes. 23 km walking has resulted in only 15 or 16 km in a straight line. As I am still using my jogging shoes, the shrubs I walk though quickly find their way into my shoes, and often need to be emptied of small twigs and sticking seeds. The sand gets into them as well and quickly occupy the space for my toes making size 46 shoes turn into slightly painful size 44 shoes.

Anyway - the rucksack will be lighter tomorrow, and hopefully so will my spirits.

23 kilometres today

I left Jingbian at about eleven o’clock this morning. Because of heavy traffic in Yulin, a few police controls and picking up more passengers en route, I was not at the Great Wall before a little past three o’clock. The shop where I had planned to buy water was closed. Luckily a few teachers at the school nearby, took mercy on me and gave me four litres of water.

In addition I have brought two Gong bao ji ding courses, rice, chocolate biscuits, chocolates, three eggs and more than 750 grams of oatmeal, so I’m not going to starve any time soon.

After walking around a lake, I headed straight north following the Great Wall. The desert here consists of fine sand. Some places, the Great Wall formed what seemed to be a road through the desert which was easy to walk on and follow. Other places, the sand had taken over, so I had to climb the sand dunes. There are also plants and scrubs here. Most of them are only a foot or two high, while others are 3 metres/10 feet high.

I wonder if there has been a project to rebuild the Great Wall here? In some places the watchtowers, originally built from rammed earth, had an outer layer of what looked like pretty modern bricks.

The afternoon was perfect for walking. Although I tried to keep a pretty fast pace and there was a lot of climbing the sand dunes in places, I hardly started sweating. As the sun started setting it got chilly. I have a hole on the top of my left shoe. Every time sand got in, I could feel it cooling down my foot reaching the point where they got too cold.

I am glad to be back along the Great Wall and excited to see what the terrain will be like tomorrow.

10 kilometres today

Congratulations on your engagement! I was so happy to hear about it  

Wish you both all the best and look forward to meeting you Steph!

Paul is my English cousin, and Steph is his beautiful, intellectual and cool wife to be…

I went back to the visa office and picked up my passport this afternoon. So now I have a visa that lasts for one month.

My friend John sent this graphical representation of which words are used on this website right now. The more often a word is used, the bigger it is on the graphic.

generated on www.wordle.net

Yesterday the wind was incredibly strong with gusts of more than 100 km/h! I’m glad I was in Yulin.

I visited the local Police Station today to get an extension for the visa. They gave me a one month extension. I will return tomorrow afternoon to pick up the passport. This will be my second visa extension and I am unsure if I can get any more. In one month’s time, I will find out!

Have also bought some warmer clothing here in town. I was hoping to return to the walk tomorrow, but will have to wait till the day after because of the visa.

A short update for today. Clear blue sky, but very windy. So windy that I lost balance a few times. The walking sticks were a good help. I’m happy I wasn’t walking on steep and narrow sheep tracks today. The terrain was flat and beautiful. If this terrain continues to Yulin, I’ll be a happy man!

The wind speed was about 40 km/h with the gusts up to 70 km/h.  As the wind is predicted to be 70 km/h and the gusts over 100 km/h., in two day’s time, I plan to go to Yulin tomorrow to work on the computer and upload more pictures.

26 kilometres today

Woke to a very cold room. From now on I’m using rooms pointing southwards. Also woke to the sound of thunder and wet streets outside. I waited to see what the weather was planning to do. By midday, I took the chance and got to the Great Wall by hiking a motorbike ride.

The first stretch was hilly and crossed a river. I had to look closely to find the path of the Great Wall. It is pretty easy to be fooled by the free standing watchtowers that often stand on higher ground behind the Great Wall in this area.

The last stretch was fantastic (and flat )

About half of the houses scattered along The Wall on this stretch, were abandoned. Some of the dwellings were carved into The Great Wall. I entered a few of them and took pictures. One still had posters hanging on the walls.

Unfortunately, I had to break off just as the fun was beginning. The stretch in front of me would have taken three-four hours, and I only had two hours light left.

13 kilometres today

I’m happy to report that I am more or less clear of the mountains after the last days walking. It feels good and I am looking forward to experiencing the desert in colder conditions once I have walked around Jingbian.

The trip back to where I left off yesterday became a bit more exciting than planned when an earth slide stopped all traffic. As a result I had to walk the last kilometres to the starting point.

It was sometimes hard to identify where the Great Wall was and wasn’t today.  I spent time walking in the dried up river bed and on the top of the ridge. At the end of the day I came to a very large fortress that lies southeast of Jingbian. It will be fun to take a closer look at it tomorrow.

There were no busses to Jingbian this afternoon, so I ended up on the back of a motorbike. The driver was good, but sometimes he would be a little too creative. Like the time he decided to pass a lorry full of equipment, by driving up on the curb at full speed just in front of a cross…

21 kilometres today (That’s not including the 6 k spent getting to the starting point)

Just a hundred metres north of my camping site, I saw a beacon tower right on the edge of the river bed. The Great Wall probably once ran along the entire eastern side of the river I walked along today. Because of erosion, most of it has disappeared as the river bed has slowly expanded.

The stretch I walked today was very beautiful. Happy farmers in many of the fields and nice autumn colours on the trees. I got to a village and found a small restaurant where I had my first proper dinner for five days.

North of the village, the landscape became less hilly which made me a very happy man. This part of The Great Wall has been more demanding than I expected and the short distances I have covered have been somewhat demotivating.

I planned to go by bus to Jingbian in the late afternoon to shower and wash clothes. I asked when the bus passed by and was told there was only one bus a day which left 8.30 in the morning. Whilst walking along a small road which followed the river bed, a car stopped and the driver kindly offered to drive me to Jingbian. It was only a little past two o’clock so I could still have walked another 3-4 hours but the prospect of a warm shower and guaranteed transport was too great a temptation. I will return by bus tomorrow and walk back to just south of Jingbian.

The last couple of nights have been pretty cool in my 6 month-old three season sleeping bag. Therefore, I went out to buy some long underwear today. Bought a full kit with what they call ‘Bambus fiber’. It looks like a thin fleece to me and should work great until it gets so cold that I have to start using the winter sleeping bag. I have also washed my clothes and bought more food for the next stretch to Yulin.

I’m sitting at a small, cosy and very noisy eating place in Jingbian enjoying a Xi Hong Shi Chao Ji Dan (egg and tomato) meal now, before going to bed.

12 kilometres today