The place I came to last evening had more than just a shop. It also had a cantine for the workers and I was allowed to use it. I ordered a good meal and one more ‘to go’. It was great to eat real food and give the dried Yak meat a rest. By this time, as you can imagine, my jaws were almost dropping off from chewing the hard dry meat.

Today I started walking at six o’clock. The clear blue sky boded yet another hot day. The Great Wall was magnificent. Probably about eight metres high sometimes. Many places it was situated by river beds or hills that added to it’s effective height. Pretending I was the enemy of the Ming Dynasty, I was left thinking that a successful attack on the Great Wall would be completely impossible at some places.

At two o’clock it was getting very hot and I took a rest. I found a great spot on the top of a hill in the narrow shadow of the Great Wall. To the East I could see the green fields of Ningxia fed by the Yellow River. To the West, I could see dry dry mountains. The outer Ningxia loop that I will be walking the next week or two was designed to keep this important land in the Ming Dynasty.

Towards the end of the day I got to San Guan Kou. This was a very important military position with an interesting history that I will write about tomorrow.

I have taken the toll of the last days heat and weight. Three blisters on my left foot. I think mostly because the left shoe seems to be a bit tight. Also my big left toe is aching because it hit a rock yesterday. At San Guan Kou, I decided it was better to head for Yinchuan to recouperate, than have a bad walking day tomorrow.

27 kilometres today.