day 314: 星星峡 (xingxingxia) – [out with Teacher Xie] = 41,5km

2008-09-17.kml show on larger map

You remember my dear 谢老师 (Teacher Xie), right?

Well, we had always been staying in touch, and a little while ago he had told me he was already on his way back from the West just now, planning to go south before it got too cold during the winter. That called for a reunion of course, and just yesterday I got a message from him saying he was about 80km away from 星星峡 (xingxingxia).

So I figured we could each walk a day’s worth and then meet up in the middle:

I texted him on his mobile, and then I walked and I walked…

(no reply from 谢老师)

…there were little whirls of wind and sand in some places on the way…

(I tried calling him, but I couldn’t get through)

…and there were some things that only needed to be put in a frame to be able to tell a little story…

(no way to contact 谢老师)

Then I came up with a brilliant idea:

…dispatch messenger cars!

First I stopped a vehicle coming from the opposite direction and asked the driver whether he had noticed a dude pulling a large wooden cart on the way. When he confirmed and told me it was about 30 or 40 kilometers from here, I let him go and stopped another vehicle going in the opposite opposite direction. In the direction that I was walking, that is.

“Go about 30 to 40 kilometers,” I told them, “then you will see a dude pulling a large wooden cart on the way. Tell him that his friend 雷克 (leike) is moving towards him, and that we can meet up tonight if each of us pulls off another 15 to 20 kilometers, okay?”

And there it went, my messenger car.

I passed by a large mine on the way, but I didn’t bother to stop there…

…I wanted to meet up with 谢老师, and since I never got a reply on my previous message, I stopped a few more vehicles to inquire on his position, and then decided to dispatch another messenger car, this time having them tell him an exact meeting point (the highway has markers indicating the kilometers, so I picked one of those as a meeting point).

Then I continued to walk well into the night, hoping that 谢老师 had gotten my messages:

…and he had:

Oh what a wonderful thing – a reunion in the desert!

“谢老师, why are you suddenly going back to the South now? Didn’t you tell me before you wanted to stay up here for a while?”

Well here’s the news:

(imagine a drum roll)

…谢老师…

(drum roll)

…got a…

(drum roll)

…BOOKDEAL!!!

That’s right! He’s getting ready to find a nice warm spot in the South to type it up.

The title: “享受生活” – “Enjoy Life”

I’m looking forward to that book!

Soundtrack: Nèg’ Marrons – “Encre Du Bitume”

—total: 3826,2km