day 131: 礼泉 (liquan) - 乾县 (qianxian) = 19,3km

“Traffic in Asia always looks so chaotic, but there hardly ever seem to be any accidents!” - have you ever had people tell you stuff like this before? If so, let me help clear this up for you:

Bullshit. Freaky driving - lots of accidents. Simple as that.

Well, but then I’m just walking and trying to stay out of harm’s way.

So today I was doing just that (staying out of harm’s way) when I saw what I thought was a church in the distance:

As I got nearer, I noticed that this was indeed a very fine catholic house of worship:

Founded in the mid-nineties, this place was designed and built by the rural community, the “brothers and sisters”, as they put it:

Very charming place, and since we were all siblings in Christ, I decided to spend my siesta in the shade of a tree with the Lord watching my back and a little friend enjoying his apple juice next to me:

My friend could actually speak, but the thing is I just wasn’t able to make out any of his words:

One time he pointed at me putting on my gear and said something like: “ga gaga gagaga ga.” - which his auntie then translated into: “He’s saying that your backpack looks REALLY heavy.”

Ga!

The rest of the way was just boring highway, except for the fact that there seemed to be so many people hosing down trucks everywhere:

You’re probably wondering about my feet though. Well, after an hour of walking, basically every step is punishment, so I’m always very happy once I get to a place with paved sidewalks:

That’s because paved sidewalks usually mean that the “zations” are near:

Civilization, urbanization, modernization - hotels and restaurants, little shops and large supermarkets:

But the best of all: a good rest after a day of walking.

With all the strife and unrest going on in all parts of the world, I hope the Lord can still find the time to watch my back.

Soundtrack: Placebo - “Every You Every Me”

—total: 1652,8km