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| The last two weeks have been special because they are the first I have spent in China after my brother Jon left. I was very excited to see just how much Chinese I have learnt the two months he was here, and luckily it looks like I have learnt enough to find my way around. Although my understanding is still limited, at least I can catch perhaps a word or two of their questions now, and then they will fill in the (gigantic) gaps.Walking wise, the last two weeks have been about getting to and past Jingtai. I crossed some pretty deserted places and hit on the Yellow river which was a great experience. The last 4 days, I have walked more or less from Jingtai to the doorstep of Zhongwei. I have started splitting the days into two walking sessions avoiding the time between two and six o’clock.
It was a milestone to cross the border from Gansu to Ningxia! Feels great to be finished with one of six Chinese provinces 🙂 Hopefully, Ningxia will take less time than Gansu. There have been more ‘rest’ or ‘work with the computer’ days the last two weeks than before, but perhaps I needed them to have a little break, and to get on top of things with regards to correspondence. I am not a ‘loner’ who can walk alone for ten months without contact with friends and family. I also enjoy working with pictures and trying to improve the website. |
. | The next two weeks are going to be very hot! I hope to find some trees here and there to hide under when the sun and heat are at their peak. There is no point in sweating away all the water I’m carrying. Hopefully, I will meet Andreas – a member of the Great Wall Forum – in less than a week and we may spend some days walking together in Inner Mongolia. Andreas has intimate knowledge of the rammed earth part of the Ming Dynasty Great Wall and has been very helpful and passed on a lot of his knowledge about it’s route to me. He has agreed to bring a shipment with equipment to China from Norway which I am very grateful for!
The heat affects me a lot, and I notice that I’m eating less than before. Therefore at the end of a long day, I have less energy to write the daily reports. I asked a guy yesterday what where the hottest months in Ningxia and he said July and August. The statistics I have seen indicate that July is the hottest month and June and August are slightly less hot. I’m hoping for an extra cool July and August… |