day 66: 甘亭 (ganting) – 临汾(linfen) = 19,7km

Very friendly people at the hotel:

It had been a much better night than the one before, I guess you can tell that from the picture, eh?

I stepped out into the white:

Snow had been falling all night and all day, creating a soft whiteness that made the few colors I could see so much stronger:

“我快乐” – “I am happy”

…and it was the truth.

Few people outside. But I ran into a guy taking a walk on the highway with his umbrella:

He told me about a good place to have lunch a couple of miles down the road.

I stopped for an extended break that I used to thoroughly warm up, then I continued walking towards the city.

As it got closer, misery became more …visible:

I tried to help this poor soul by offering him/her a little cash, but all I got in return was an annoyed grunt.

Sometimes when asking local people how they deal with these lost ones, I get told that they are out of their minds, and that giving them anything wouldn’t do any good, because they wouldn’t be able to understand it anyways.

I don’t know. But I do think that being crazy probably doesn’t make anyone immune to low temperatures.

And it is very cold outside.

…

I was happy to get to the city eventually, also because I had been planning to find a nice place and hang out there for a little while:

The kids were out:

…having a blast…

…sliding on their butts…

…until the sun went down, and then again in the morning.

Looked like a lot of fun to someone who hasn’t done this kind of thing in a long time.

Soundtrack: Toasters – “Legal Shot”

—total: 963,8km