Days of rest and muse
N 28°00'54.8'' E 102°50'34.4''
Date:
26.04.2016 until 02.05.2016
Day: 303 – 310
Country:
China
Province:
Sichuan
Location:
Zhaojue
Latitude N:
28°00’54.8”
Longitude E:
102°50’34.4”
Total kilometers:
16,524 km
Total altitude meters:
30.814 m
Sunrise:
06:33 a.m. – 06:28 a.m.
Sunset:
7:39 pm – 7:43 pm
Temperature day max:
32°C
Temperature day min:
17°C
(Photos of the diary entry can be found at the end of the text).
Because we have opted for the shorter route to the Vietnamese border, we can take more time. We stay a few days in the village of Zhaojue at an altitude of over 2,000 meters and take advantage of the first warm days for our records and simply to stretch out on all fours. Every lunchtime we go to the same restaurant, where they cook delicious meals for us. Especially without flavor enhancers. Here, too, we are photographed by the staff and guests. Sometimes in the middle of a meal. Two men at the next table seem to have been busy letting the air out of a few bottles of rice schnapps for some time. When they discover us, they come to our table and try to talk to us. Apart from grand gestures, they don’t utter a word. “Gambe,” I say, toasting the main gesticulator. An idiosyncratic conversation ensues, which neither of us understands. Nevertheless, the Yi is enthusiastic. In the end, he pays our bill, although we vehemently refuse.
On the street, we pass a children’s clinic every day that treats its little patients on the sidewalk. Each of the regulars receives a dropper in the forehead or temple. Big tears flow. Why this is done is beyond our knowledge. Maybe the girls and boys have some kind of malnutrition?
We spend many an afternoon in the hotel’s small park. Ajaci has the luxury of being able to play on green grass here. Women and men from the Yi people lie on the grass. They play cards, chat or just chill out. Yi children watch Ajaci play his favorite game of catch den ball. Whenever he chases after his red ball like a white flash and catches it successfully at the end, they applaud enthusiastically. Then, when Ajaci is tired and the show is over, they romp around or play badminton. “Here,” says a boy, smiling shyly at me and hands me the badminton racket. “Xie xie,” I say thank you in Chinese, although these people speak a different language here, get up from the grass and play with the boy. “Let me play with the man too,” I understand, as a girl rushes over and takes the bat from the boy’s hand to compete with me. This way, each of the little ones gets to compete against me. Ajaci, who is constantly jumping around us, would love to join in too. “Come here Ajaci. Now leave the children alone,” Tanja asks him, whereupon he sits down next to her after several requests and doesn’t take his eyes off the shuttlecock for a second…
If you would like to find out more about our adventures, you can find our books under this link.
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