Ju County in the Chinese province of Shandong is home to the ginkgo tree which is thought to be over 3,000 years old. The area is also home to 1.1 million residents.
One day as I walked towards a small city called Juxian I first had to reroute myself across the Shuhe River as a chunk of a bridge on a backroad was missing (see photo). Thankfully that was only a minor issue as a few hundred metres in the distance I could see another bridge on route S335 and when I zoomed in on my smartphone Google Map.
I decided to change direction. How did travellers manage to find their way before smartphones came on the market many people have often asked me?
Well, we managed but we probably were stuck to the main roads more so than now; that is unless we were armed with paper maps. Such things are difficult to find nowadays. I can barely remember the last time I saw one or an atlas on sale. With a smartphone map, we can go deeper and more remote. Maps can be downloaded when we are online and then used when on the trail in the offline mode or when we have no signal. All we need to do is keep the phone charged up.
That morning while walking on a pedestrian path I was astonished to see a man lying down on the path. First I wondered if he was injured but when I went to check on him he didn't want to respond to me. I got the impression that he just wanted to rest in a shaded area and was unconcerned about zooming scooters, thankfully there were none. I suspected this man had some unfortunate mental health issues but what could I do? I tried summoning help but I was ignored by one man. Eventually, a man stopped to help him.
Some paths are difficult for me to walk on as they are not designed for pram pushers or wheelchair users. It's not uncommon to find lamp posts or trees blocking the way. That day there was a stupid drain design which took up almost the entire width of the path and these were spaced every fifty metres.
The next day was a 28-kilometre stroll to Anzhuangzhen a small spread out town which seemed to consist of one long main street. On the way, I stopped for.a snack in a grocery store and got chatting to a man called Lee. He spoke good English as he previously lived in South Africa where he studied business. As always when I ask such people why they returned to their country instead of staying abroad the answers is almost always because home is where the heart and family is.
Further on down the highway, a man in an electric three-wheeler taxi stopped for a Google Translate chat. He had a child behind the wheel as he drove and even offered to buy me lunch but I tactfully refused and walked on. A little later he returned with what can only be described as a large 'disc of bread' which weighed over a kilo. It was so enormous that I had to use a bungee cord to strap it onto Karma.
Arriving in Anzhuangzhen I decided to buy a small external speaker to listen to my music and podcasts in a bit more comfort. Inside the phone shop, I decided to test it. I scrolled through my You-Tube music list and fittingly stopped at David Bowie's Little China Girl. There were hysterics from the staff and customers when I did a bit a jig on the shop floor. Sportingly one of the women came out from behind the counter to dance with me!
There was only one basic accom in that town, above a hairdressers shop and the owner didn't want to have me as a guest!
On the way out of town, I stopped at a restaurant and the kind owners strongly resisted my payment for my dinner.
Eventually, I got going again but I was also on the lookout for a place to camp. As luck would have it at the end of the then there was a small forest beside a petrol station. As I didn't want to pitch my tent in daylight I decided to pop into the petrol station for a cup of coffee. Once again I had another delightful Google Translate chat with the lovely young family who worked there. The man asked me if my wife objected to my long hike!
For a joke I told him that I said that I was initially going for a 30-kilometre hike and she replied: "Good in three years time you will be 30,000 kilometres away from me!"
Then I went back next door to my forest and pitched my tent. In the morning the man came over to me and woke me up... With, I kid you not... Four loaves of bread! That's more bread than I would eat in a month back home. Along with that, a packet of salami and a huge tub of tomato sauce. Between the disc of bread and the four loaves I was looking like a mobile breadman. It took all my powers of persuation to tactfully refuse this kind offer!
On I walked and met more people and had some more nice chats. I walked past the strangely named Wang Cum Park When I got to Gaoqiaozhen I found a basic accommodation which cost about seven euro. Then a knock at my door and I discovered that I had to go down to the police station to register. The hotel owner drove me down and waited about half an hour and I wondered had he regretted taking me in that evening as his reward was this hassle. But he didn't seem to mind. The officers were friendly. They just took a photocopy of the information page of my passport and asked me for my phone number. I noted that they didn't look for my visa, obviously they are not used to dealing with foreigners.
Then to welcome me back to the hotel the nice owners brought me a big bowl of noodles, vegetables and eggs to my room for my dinner.
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