day 15: 保定 (baoding) – 方顺桥 (fangshunqiao) = 23,2km

I woke up and I continued to walk.

Not much landscape on the way – it was a misty day that made buildings look like submarine boats.

MY FEET WERE OKAY, but it was just too regrettable I didn’t have my beloved wide-angle lens. Kind of amputated in a way…

Hey, did you know that there is a place that tries to make all the buses come and go on time?

They rumble along the way, then they stop in the middle of nowhere next to this house and punch in:

I asked them if there is any way to cheat on the clock. They said no. And smiled.

Today’s lunch was austere but very pleasing:

I don’t know why, but it’s just a very nice feeling to be sitting outside on a crossroads, having crackers or whatever, with all this space stretched out in front, and sometimes I get to thinking: in just a bit, when this moment is over, you’ll be over there walking into that space, cutting a line into the green, and your silhouette will get smaller and smaller…

I like that thought.

Then I fell into a hole:

Well, I didn’t exactly fall into the hole, I kind of just walked in there voluntarily, because it was so big and because I thought there would have to be a way out on the other side. But there wasn’t, so I had to do some free climbing in order to get out. That is if I didn’t want to walk all the way back and then around the damned thing. Guess what I did.

This friendly farmer thought it was hilarious that there was this huge foreigner with this humongous backpack appearing basically out of nowhere (out of the hole, that is) to suddenly stand in front of him on his field, asking for the way to a hotel. Very friendly guy, gave me a good impression of the place, and the last bit I walked just light-heartedly.

I got food from a small truck stop restaurant and was allowed to shoot in the kitchen:

Noticed la cigarette? Even though it was my food that was being prepared there, but I still loved the visual impression of the chef’s nonchalance. This must be what the Lonely Planet keeps calling “cool” and “stylish”…

Soundtrack: Soprano feat. Blacko – “Ferme Les Yeux Et Imagines Toi”

—total: 213km