the messenger
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You remember my dear Teacher Xie (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 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 Teacher Xie)
…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 Teacher Xie)
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 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 Teacher Xie, 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 Teacher Xie had gotten my messages:
…and he had:
Oh what a wonderful thing – a reunion in the desert!
“Teacher Xie, 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)
…Teacher Xie…
(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: “Enjoy life 享受生活”
I’m looking forward to that book!
Hermann
Ich warte noch auf den nächsten Book-deal.
Grüße in die Wüste. Ist es noch Gobi oder schon Takla Makan?
Barry aka Ba Lli
Geil. Einfach nur geil.
oneday
today is the first day of the rest of your life.
deep ha .
wisdom is all i have.
Jan Ric
Ich warte auch auf das "The longest way" Buch (mit den tollen photos), den Film "The Longest way", das computer spiel, die tassen, t-shirts…. ah ja und melonen (die mit magenschmerzen, und die ohne) 😉
IG
Lovely reunion in desert, so emotional 🙂
Florian (Flo Li Anh,
Nächstes Mal wollen wir aber, dass Du zusätzlich noch Rauchsignale gibst. Geniale Geschichte !!!
Steven
In the middle of the desert ………..
就是缘份 !
Barry aka Ba Lli
So melde mich dann langsam mal ab. 21:51 geht der Zug. Ziel ist das Paradies und was mach ich wohl dort? Richtig, neun Tage wandern.
Bis dahin also:
Servus
Gisela
Super Idee der rollende Messenger. Da muss man erst mal drauf kommen. Mal wieder ne richtig nette Geschichte. Ich hoffe, wir hören noch mehr von teacher Xie. Das Foto vom Camp hat was!
Marc
hehe geile Geschichte heute… Die "whirls of wind" heißen Dust Devil oder Staubteufel 😉
Hoffentlich wird das Buch mal übersetzt. Hehe vielleicht eine Aufgabe für dich Chris und dann suchen wir dir nen guten Verleger und ihr werdet reich 😀
John
Another great story and a great idea to use the messenger cars. and a book!? i hope it gets translated into English, i'd love to hear what Teacher Xie has to say. Maybe that's something you could think about doing in the future, translating his book? After doing one of your own, that is!
Momo
Oh, ich find sowas toll, dieses "Man läuft zwar durchs Land und warscheinlich seh ich die Leute nie wieder, denen ich unterwegs begegne, aber einer läuft auch und den treff ich immer wieder mal"! Hihi, mir kullert gleich ein Tränchen aus dem Augenwinkel. 🙂
Christoph
Hermann: Die andere Wüste da ist sehr sehr weit entfernt von hier.
Barry aka Ba Lli: Freut mich.
oneday: 脸皮厚。
Jan Ric: Die Melonen sind das beste!
IG: Oh yes!
Florian (Flo Li Anh, 開花): Ich tu immer mein bestes.
Steven: Exactly.
Gisela: Ich hoffe auch.
Marc: Haha!
John: Yeah, I hope you'll get a chance to read it, he has so many interesting stories!
Momo: Ich freue mich auch sehr.
Josie Ella
Very clever the messenger cars! I’m hoping he wrote his book. I shall keep reading to find out.