 |
||
 |
 |
|
| The last two weeks have been long. After starting to walk as planned, I soon needed to let my feet rest because of multiple blisters. I found out it was just as well to wait till my brother came to Jiayuguan before cutting the umbilical cord to the comforts of the hotel.Whilst in Jiayuguan I got to know Shirley who works with tourism in the Gansu province. She offered to help me along the Great Wall, when needed, which is great as she is a local Chinese and knows the province well. A few days ago I called her to hear if she knew of any hotels in Gao Tai (where my brother and I are resting now) and a few minutes later she had fixed a room for us. Thanks very much Shirley!It has been great fun to walk the last few weeks. Mostly the nature has been dry and harsh. We have seen several sand storms, or rather heard them as they usually do their thing at night time.
Thanks to my brother’s Chinese skills we have met many very hospitable people along the Great Wall which has been a great experience. On the down side our bodies have taken some punishment. I was ready for some 10-15 km days, but over the desert stretch we did about 20 km pr day for three days in a row. Jon seems to have managed pretty well, but I am having problems with my feet because of too narrow shoes. More about this in a post soon. |
. | The next two weeks will be pretty decisive with regards to our bodies. I will probably have to get larger shoes which won’t be easy since I’m a 45, so they might have to be shipped in from Norway.If that sorts itself out, then I think the next two weeks will be easier and we can say goodbye to being REALLY tired every evening because our bodies are not used to the punishment.I hope it gets a little warmer, although I’ll probably regret that statement. It has been really cold at night lately, but it is probably better to freeze a little at night than walk in 40 C temperatures right?
When my feet get sorted out, I want to spend as much time as possible picking up Chinese from my brother. This is the perfect chance. I just have to ask him about everything. So far I have learnt things like: bridge, river, different types of food and don’t touch… The latter has not been needed yet, but last time we were here the locals could get a bit too excited when testing our equipment. I am also looking forward to taking more pictures and sharing them with you! Have already taken quite a few and I hope to open the picture gallery soon. One last thing: I notice that I should stop talking about what will happen tomorrow. Plans can change really quickly on a journey like this, so I don’t want to commit myself too much. As a footnote to the above – we have been reading about the swine flu. Who knows what the world will look like in two weeks time. |
Jeg sender plaster til vannblemmene!