day 173: 定远 (dingyuan) - 兰州 (Lanzhou) = 26,2km

Someone had lost his pig:

Can’t see?

Take a closer look:

Eagle-eye Chris never lets a dead pig go unnoticed!

…

I was so happy I would finally make it to the city today:

- new shoes!

- chocolate!

- a shower!

- broadband!

- a laundry!

…

The road was long and winding though:

And then the city appeared in tiny steps, little by little, first some suburbs:

Then some more countryside:

…and some more of the in-between:

Then, after another curve, there it was:

The city.

The last time I had come to 兰州 was two years ago - by train.

I remember thinking: compared to Beijing, this place seems like some hinterland.

This time, coming in on foot from the countryside, I felt totally different.

Even though in some places it seemed as if raw nature was trying to creep in…

…but the city still seemed absolutely HUGE to me:

After a while, I found a place that I had been to before:

…only it had changed quite a bit:

I walked into a beautiful glaring evening:

…and then wandered from hotel to hotel, trying to find the one perfect place to rest my ill-treated body for the next five days:

After a while, I found one.

Welcome lazy days!!

Soundtrack: Soulfly - “Execution Style”

—total: 2275,5km