day 37: 阳泉 (yangquan) – 寿阳 (shouyang) = 40km

Too much walking today.

There was no kind of accommodation between 阳泉 and 寿阳, so I had to pull off the whole distance at once.

First thing I noticed was this, though:

And then, further down the same road:

Now I am only guessing here, but I think that the red paper things have something to do with a wedding ceremony, red being the traditional color of choice. The thing is, I just don’t know WHY exactly the papers get attached in this way.

— 有没有人能给我解释一下为啥要把红纸贴到这些地方呢？

I walked on a small country road next to G307 for a while today:

Really much better than the highway in some aspects.

It was there that I made this friend:

Filthy and happy at the same time.

I like pigs.

Then I had lunch in a small restaurant on the curb and got to know 豆豆 (doudou):

豆豆 knows his name and will holler back once called for.

“Meow!”

I like cats.

Next thing on today’s long march was “winter sports”:

These kids were having a blast sliding around on a creek that was partly frozen over.

See the hole in the ice on the right? I told them to be cautious and stay safe, and I really hope they will.

I like kids.

Ok, I like this and I like that. Boring. Here’s something I don’t like:

Mad dogs.

I got chased after three times today. I’m sorry there is no picture, but to be honest I was just too scared to mess with the camera.

Imagine furious bastards that resemble German Shepherds come running across the highway to run circles around you and do a bark&growl routine. Like you’re a slice of bacon or something.

People say you’re not supposed to run from a dog. Well, here’s the thing: Even if I wanted to, with all my gear on I just CAN’T run.

So I just walked and walked, and kept mumbling “easy old boy” and what else I could think of to tame them, and eventually they would let go every time.

No harm done.

Anyways, you might imagine that – given the early sunset – walking just wasn’t so nice that way:

Gotta say this though: A lot of friendly people stopped their cars and wanted to give me a lift. Even the police.

But then at some point, when the end is near, and you see streetlights appearing:

It is then that you know that the city is at hand.

You don’t have to take a car. You can walk it off.

And put the dogs in a pot.

Soundtrack: Discipline – “Everywhere We Go”

—total: 543,4km