The forgotten valley 5


Thursday the 3rd

It was indeed a cold night, and the inner walls of the tent were icy this morning. I had kept the Platypus drinking system inside the sleeping bag to keep it from freezing and that made the night all the more colder. But the sleeping bag did a good job. It is very spacious which makes for comfortable sleeping. One thing I cannot understand is why the producers of four season sleeping bags don’t take the consequence of sub zero use?

Under these conditions, humidity from the air that is breathed out from the user will end up on the outside of the sleeping bag as icy drops of liquid. Also, chances are high the ice will form by the feet because the bottom part of the bag comes in contact with the inner tent. Why don’t they make these two relatively small areas more resilient to humidity or ice from the outside?

This is most definitely the season for slaughtering pigs! I walked past several families at work and was twice offered to eat with them. That would have been fun, but I wanted to get to Shenmu today so kindly had to refuse.

Walking down a steep valley I had to make a detour as the track I was following abruptly stopped at a water reservoir. I was only half a kilometre from the bottom of the valley but had no chance to get down the cliff.

I wonder when this grindstone was used last.

Before leaving, I memorized where I should go up the other side to get close to the track of the Great Wall. When I finally got down I came across two old and abandoned farm houses. The had a great feel about them and I spent quite some time walking around imagining what life must have been like there, and taking pictures. When I started walking on I noticed that there were no roads, or even dirt roads leading to the houses. This added to the lonely feel of this beautiful place.

I managed to find the right place to go on walking along the Great Wall and had a hard ascent but the cooler weather made this a lot easier.

When I got to the top I could see the Blade Monastery of Shenmu to my right and the endless line of trailers, driving along the road far down below me. I am staying at the same hotel where the Grandson of the people I stayed with last night, works. With any luck I will get to meet him and perhaps the girlfriend who he has been together with for three days, tomorrow.

22 kilometres today


5 thoughts on “The forgotten valley

  • Jean Loken

    Lovely to catch up with your daily inputs again. I am always so impressed by the generosity and hospitality shown by those wonderful Chinese people who share their home, their food, their water and their Kang with you. What a fantastic dream you are fulfilling when you meet such incredibly good people as you are going along The Wall. Love Mamma

  • Christian Mogensen

    Fay and I are off to China for three weeks starting 15 december. We will mainly be in Beijing – so the chances of bumping into you are small. If there is anything we should bring for you, let us know.

    A kang is fantastic – Fay fell asleep on her sister’s in 10 minutes the last time we visited.

  • Robert

    Jean – it is a dream come true for me to be able to walk along the Great Wall for so long.

    Chris – enjoy your trip to China – I hope you have a great time, and a white Christmas!

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