day 167: 会宁 (huining) - 西巩驿 (xigongyi) = 25,2km

I’ve said it before: sometimes being bored in a nice way can be quite pleasant.

Today was just that.

…

With my cold still in effect but noticeably getting better, I slowly waltzed out of this place today:

You can see on the map how the road kind of winds around a mountain:

There are a lot of beautiful little villages in the spaces between the hills:

Ha, my friends know: I can easily get obsessed with things. Well it’s the solar stove thingy now:

I just love it. Why doesn’t everybody have one of these everywhere? It’s so pretty and so convenient at the same time!

Walking still wasn’t all that much fun with that damn shoe though, but I felt like I was making progress:

Getting closer to 兰州 (Lanzhou - the place-of-new-shoes for me!) with each step.

There was another fort (April 17th 2008) just down by the road:

And I chatted with some farmers about agricultural problems for a while:

“This area is very arid, have you noticed?”

“Do you guys in Germany also use mules for ploughing - or is it all mechanical devices?”

“What kind of crops to you grow?”

A very enjoyable talk, even though I proved to have little knowledge about German agriculture or agriculture in general for that matter.

Once I got to 西巩驿 (xigongyi), I noticed the brand-spanking new temple they had there:

…and I got a little turned off. Temples have to be OLD to be nice! thought I, but then I had an epiphany:

Of course living people who are religious are going to build new temples!

Now the sane among you are going to say: “Well, duh! Like we didn’t know that one before! And you found that out just NOW?”

But seriously, I had been so caught up in looking for beautiful old things, that sometimes I wouldn’t be open to what’s new.

After all, a community that undertakes the effort to build a large new temple could be interesting.

Whatever the case, I am staying in a hairdresser/hotel:

Get your hair done downstairs and then go upstairs to sleep (or just do either).

Of course I skipped the hairdo.

Soundtrack: DJ Quik - Mo Pussy

—total: 2137,3km