day 143: 王村 (wangcun) 白水 (baishui) = 21,1km

It’s not the shoes, it’s the road:

Looks like a nice strip of concrete, doesn’t it? Well, here’s the thing: it seems as though all roads in this part of the country are inclined towards both left and right. This is obviously some sort of intelligent design to help with the drainage of rain water - but it makes walking so painful after a while…

…the landscapes were nice anyways:

Here’s something you don’t see every day where I’m from:

At least this vehicle doesn’t need any side-impact airbags anymore.

I sat down for a chat with some farmers:

They were getting ready to plant some kind of melon (anybody know what a 绿瓜 is supposed to be?).

Four or five moths later, and there will be WATERMELONS everywhere, I am so excited!

I noticed another white line (January 5th 2008):

Only this time I didn’t have to ask what it meant.

…

When I sat down for another rest in front of a small store, I somehow attracted a small gathering of people around me.

At first, they would only pose their questions indirectly, as if asking one another, but loud enough for me to hear in case I wanted to answer…

“…is he from France?”

“…why is he carrying so much stuff?”

“…and where the hell is he going like that?”

Eventually, this old bearded guy sort of became the negotiator, accepting questions from the others and then redirecting them at me:

We all had a good time, especially when I told him my age and he started laughing: “27 this year? But you’re just a little baby then!”

…

When I arrived at 白水 (baishui), I noticed that there was something different about the people:

回族 (the Chinese Hui-minority) - this is the first time since Xi’an (March 2nd 2008) that I’ve come across a larger settlement of this interesting people:

They told me to go visit the local mosque in the morning.

Apparently there is a church and a Buddhist temple as well.

Tonight I’m staying at a Muslim hotel, and I just had a large bowl of mutton soup.

Guaranteed halal.

Soundtrack: Paris & Healey - “Ripped”

—total: 1861,5km