J175 – 6/10/2006

At 7H35 Serge left our camp which was installed  in a carpet of wild lilies at the foot of the mountains. A few chidden from the nearby village (2 kilometers) came as spectators.

The scenery was fabulous on the first part of the race.  The stage started with a 5 kilometer climb and Serge reached a pass at 3,030 meters.  Then highway 312 descended slowly and we could just see some remains of the Great Wall in the distance, no doubt the last we will see on this run.  Until kilometer 36 crops extended from the road to the foothills and not one piece of land was left untended.  Bright green crops gave us a feeling of coolness, which was intensified by the presence of poplars planted along the route.

The second part of the race was not nearly as pretty: fields gave way to factories and industry and the old highway 312 is under construction.  The transition was brutal and made this part of the stage rather unpleasant.

It was a devil of a job to find a camp site.  After the city of Yongdeng there were only cultivated fields and small villages at the end of narrow paths.  We found just barely enough space at the entrance to a gravel factory, 200 meters from the 312.  It was rather uncomfortable but in the end not too bad when you consider that we had no choice.

A question has been asked by one of our faithful Internauts: How are you perceived by the Chinese?

Generally speaking, the population is more interested in our vehicles than in us.  Serge can run by a crowd gathered around the camper and nobody will look at him.  There aren’t any campers in China and these unusual vehicles don’t usually come so far.  A house on wheels is much more of an attraction than a guy who runs.

One evening at camp a few children called us “the pandas” because we are rare!  They had never seen foreigners.

Today we stopped for a feeding near a house where the whole family was outside: grandmother, children, grandchildren; three generations under the same roof.  One of the young girls who spoke very good English asked where we came from and explained that her family was surprised to see us because it was the first time they had met foreigners.  It seemed to be an honor for them and they offered us water and tea.  It’s hard to speak of hospitality, as in Turkey or Iran, for example, it’s more like curiosity.  The problem of an exchange with these people is obviously one of language, which we don’t speak, and it prevents us from communicating as we would like.  In this western part of China, we have never felt any animosity or seen hostile looks.  We camp outside and feel very safe and confident.  There is no reason why it shouldn’t be like this in the eastern part of the country as well, which is where Serge’s long strides are leading us.