Yearly Archives: 2008

figured out

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I used to believe that I would be able to figure some things out during this walk… …but now I’m not so sure anymore.


the cut

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Uncle Shen took me to the hair salon today: I was too weak to put up any resistance.


downfall

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My dear readers, my dear friends. This is going to be the last one: 11,9km. For now. — My friend Uncle Shen (fire in the hole) is here, taking good care of me. He guided me through the city to find a good place to stay. All I had to do was keep walking, and […]


Ürümqi

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Again, I don’t know what to say. … … … … … … … I am here. It doesn’t feel right.


vain?

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I’ve lost something out there. Somewhere along the way – I’m not exactly sure where – I’ve lost something very valuable. And I’m not even sure what it is. So much road. So many hot summer days and cold winter nights. So many faces. So many trees and flowers, so many mountains and so much […]


days to quietly walk and think

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… … … … … … … … …


the robot

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Last night I had prayed and asked Him to please take His mighty winds out of this valley. Otherwise, there would be no way for me to get through here. And I had to get through. Today it seemed like my prayers had been answered: Okay, every once in a while He would play a […]


roadkill

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At first the police wouldn’t let me go: Too dangerous, they said. Then I told them about my situation and they allowed me to pass. So there I was in another wind gap (blown away): By loading the map, you agree to Google’s privacy policy.Learn more Load map Always unblock Google Maps Only this time […]


down in a hole

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I went outside and bought a pair of gloves because it was getting cold: The more people I saw, the more lonely I felt. No way to sleep. No way to eat. [PS: please don’t comment on this. Thank you.]


my light

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I had just poured a glass of tea and taken some pictures in the process, thinking about what I was going to write about tea… …when Juli called me and said it had to be over between us. [PS: I have been thinking a very long time whether I should make this post or not. […]


happiness

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I had no idea that today was going to be my last happy day for a while. … I walked through the little village… …to the Ancient Graveyard of Astana 阿斯塔纳古墓: Nothing much to see here, just a few graves from a bunch of centuries back, some with murals, others complete with mummified corpses in […]


depression

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I was in my room just getting ready to brush my teeth when Mike from England busted in the door: “Dude, I am so happy to see you!” he exclaimed and sat down with me to relieve his heart of some stuff that had troubled him during the last couple of days. The poor dude […]


Turkestan

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I stacked up on hot nang before I left: Then it was a long hot walk through the desert, with houses to dry grapes and make raisins left and right: Water means vegetation out here: …as well as the lack thereof: The whole region is inhabited mainly by Uyghurs, who build some picturesque houses of […]


speaking of which

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It’s always hard to leave a good place, knowing that there is only that much more walking through the nothingness ahead: I had picked the hotel I was staying at simply because of its name – Journey To The West Hotel 西游酒店, and it had definitely been the right choice. Everyone was so friendly to […]


desert Caboose 1.1 (new & improved)

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Mr. Luo 罗先生 had agreed to give the Caboose a general makeover today: But first we had to go to a bike shop… …and get a new set of wheels: I asked for old steel frames with thick ball bearings, and I think we managed to find something durable this time. Then Mr. Luo got […]


tea & cookies

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The first time in 48 hours that I see the light of day – and it is so bright that I might have to put these glasses on: I went all over town today, looking for a repair shop to give the Caboose a general makeover: When I finally found one, me and the owner […]


the problem with chopsticks

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Here is something I should have done a long time ago: Stop using those disposable chopsticks. I remember reading about this problem in Mandarin class before: people use disposable chopsticks too much, thus putting a large part of the country’s wood resources to waste. The solution is as simple as it is obvious: Get your […]


feet of steel

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After one year of walking, my feet will be hard as steel, and I will be able to WALK LIKE A WARRIOR! Those were my thoughts last winter, when I had just set out on this trip and my days were filled with blistering pains (health points +10, good news). Well, not much has changed […]


what will they say?

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There are oilfields here in Shanshan: Guess who’s drilling? Right, the ladies and gentlemen from Tuha Oil City (crude oil). We didn’t get to know any of them though, so we weren’t able to find out what it feels like to drive 300 kilometers to work. … Vincent from Taiwan 台湾 was riding his bike […]


is this the end?

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The Yu family I was staying with was very friendly, and they wouldn’t let me go unless I had breakfast with them: They told me that the largest stretches of Gobi desert now were behind me, and that I could look forward to walking through more populated areas from now on. The end of the […]