My world walk blog/ China Part 2/ blog #44

My world walk blog/ China Part 2/ blog #44

Next morning the kind family who own a restaurant let me stay for the night in their  spare cabin gave me a traditional pork porridge breakfast while we had an interesting Google Translate conversation. The woman mentioned a local man who left it too late to go for treatment when he suspected he had cancer. He eventually went and is also using traditional Chinese medical treatment. We spoke into the microphone and Google gave back the appropriate translation via script and audio.

they told me via Google Translate that they met ten years ago in Sichuan province and got married soon after. Life seems to be comfortable for they now have three children, the youngest being just five months old. They then set up the restaurant and work a small adjacent hobby farm. We spent the evening watching children cartoons followed by a great movie based on the Marvel comic heroes called The Adventurers. 

When I was leaving they asked.. "So are you going to Taiwan by car?" Many people just don't get the walk even after long conversations

My reply was.. "No, why would I do that because Taiwan is ONLY three weeks walk away and Shanghai is ONLY three months walk away!" Lol

Please remember my cancer awareness message: Life is precious and early cancer screening saves lives.

That day I walked 37 kilometres. 

Thirty-six kilometres the next day and all of it on routes G324/and 236. 

What I try to do when I receive kindness like this in poor countries is to give it back to someone who needs it more than I do. This way everyone is happy. 

 Normally I hand a similar amount of cash to the amount I saved from kindness to a poor person that I meet on the road. This to me is the best way to accepting hospitality in a poor country. Yes, I, know that not everyone is poor here and without diminishing their wonderful kindness it was just a spare bed and what would have been left over food from their restaurant. So it's not like I was freeloading and the way I see it is that when I help someone out who is less fortunate than myself or my hosts, then everyone is happy. The man I helped out today was seriously down on his luck. He was going through trash cans and was pretty ragged for one trouser leg was torn off. I have done this many many times in China and interestingly their reaction is almost identical for they usually just look at me with a bewildered stare and never utter a word or a smile. I say this not that I expect their gratitude, for I'm only too happy to help in my own tiny way, it's just strange that their reaction is always so predictable. 

Interestingly much of the scaffolding material used on construction sites in China and South-East Asia is made from bamboo trees as the poles are so strong they are a cheap replacement for expensive metal erections. 

 That night I got to a grocery store along the highway and went inside for some noodles which the owner kindly added boiling water to. When asked where I was going to sleep I asked if I could lay my air mattress and sleeping bag down in a secluded sheltered corner outside the shop. Thankfully they allowed me to lay my weary body there for the night.