the good lunch

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I got up at six and started walking a half hour later, when our part of the world was still completely covered in darkness:

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People were just getting up and starting their day:

And there seemed to be less cars on the road than usually, which made walking a bit easier:

Sometimes I could see the mountains in the distance:

It was pretty tough though.

…

I took a rest around noon, when I spread out a bit off the road and slept for a beautiful two hours:

I was wearing sandals again, this time with socks:

…but I could only stand it for a few hours, then I switched back to my boots.

One time in the afternoon, I sat down in a small restaurant to have lunch, when this guy appeared and started asking me all kinds of questions. Where was I from? Why did I walk? How did I like the noodles?

I was bothered as hell at first, but after a little while it became quite clear that he was a very likable fellow, so we sat and chatted for at least an hour, after which he insisted on paying for my dish:

Thank you, Mr. Shi 石先生!

…the rest of the road was pretty tough. My feet were hurting badly, and I kind of just floated by:

I witnessed something weird near this house:

Some people apparently wanted to make this lady get into a car, which she refused. So three guys and one other lady pushed and shoved her until she finally was in the back seat, from which she tried to flee through the car window. She was screaming and cursing all the while. After they had driven off, I asked the remaining two people: “What just happened?”

“Nothing happened.” they answered.

“But it looked like something just happened!”

They smiled: “Nothing happened.”

I chose to get back on the way.

…

When I finally made it to the small town of Manas, I was more than tired. I got a room in a very tall hotel building, some police appeared and asked all kinds of questions (I was inclined to answer: “nothing happened”), and then I crashed on my bed. The sun was just about to set outside of my window:

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It was so beautiful I almost forgot the pulsating pain in my feet.

Well… almost.