day 214: 四十里堡 (sishilipu) - 六坝 (liuba) = 35,4km

What a morning.

So early…

…so green…

…and so short.

“Why don’t you stay for another day and rest up?” the old Grandma/temple-keeper had said earlier while I had been packing my bags.

Maybe that would have been a good idea, maybe I should have stayed a bit longer, maybe I just wasn’t prepared for this:

…

…

This was only a one-and-a-half hour patch of desert, but it had it all:

…lizards:

…burial mounds:

…spiky flowers:

…weird shades:

…weird lights:

…and then, somewhere in the middle, there was just a whole lot of straw:

Straw?

Well you’re with the inspector, so don’t worry, we’re here to find out:

“Hey!” the inspector yelled as he approached the truck: “what are you people doing with all this straw in the desert?”

“We’re only gathering it here from the villages around, later we’ll distribute it to other places!”

The inspector thought for a while, then he figured that this made total sense: of course the rent had to be much cheaper out here!

…

I arrived at the ox head representing the little township of 六坝 (liuba) before sunset:

I was welcomed with a big and warm hello.

Soundtrack: Blue Öyster Cult - “And Then Came The Last Days Of May”

—total: 2670,4km