day 163: 翟所 (zhaisuo) - 会宁 (huining) = 21,9 km

I am so slow, I got overtaken today.

Again, the sky cleared up and revealed the breathtaking beauty of the world:

There weren’t that many places to resupply on food and drink, but I found some people with a large cool-box somewhere (about an hour before I got overtaken):

Then, right before it happened, there was probably the smallest temple I had ever seen:

And then there it was - I got overtaken.

A green jeep stopped and a guy with sunglasses shouted at me: “What you doin man?”

“Walking,” I replied.

“From where?”

“From Beijing.”

The dude pointed back behind us: “We got a guy here who’s been RUNNING all the way from Zhejiang province (浙江)!”

“Oh.” I looked at the car, then in the direction he pointed to. I didn’t know what to say.

“RUNNING!!” he repeated in an excited voice.

And indeed, a runner appeared in the distance, and the dude in the car told me: “That’s my athlete.”

Your athlete? I thought, then the runner was already there:

We took pictures and shook hands - and then I got overtaken:

Looking at the runner following the dude in the car, I couldn’t help but feel sorry for him.

Sure I’m slow, I thought, but at the same time I’m free as a bird!

Then I noticed the pain in my right foot.

Well, maybe not exactly like a bird.

…

Later on in the day, when the dude and “his” athlete were long gone, I saw the solar kettle in action:

An old guy told me that this thing needed only a couple of minutes to boil during summer, but - with the right technique - it could also be used in winter.

Hard to believe, but why not.

The free bird then decided to take another rest in the hills next to the street:

And at the time he woke up again, it was so late he had to walk through the evening and into the night…

…when only the almost full moon was shedding some light on the road that a runner from Zhejiang had travelled before.

Soundtrack: Pharcyde - “Passing Me By”

—total: 2112,1km