Shangri La Shenyang Exterior

In Shenyang for one day

The going has been very good lately, as has the weather. After two weeks of walking, I decided to take a breather in Shenyang. Tomorrow morning I head back to Liaozhong which is where I left the route.

Shangri-La-Shenyang-Exterior
Shangri-La-Shenyang-Exterior

Walking pretty long distances for a long time is tiring. I’m noticing how there are not really that many hours of light. I’m trying to eat and drink plenty to keep the old machine working properly. In the evenings I eat a large meal and then check my feet, massage my legs, talcum powder sore places and use cream to moisturize the dry skin on my feet. Skin is cracking on my hands also because I’m using walking sticks, so I put on plasters here and there, just to keep the skin humid enough so it doesn’t hurt too much. Sometimes I wonder if I am on an adventure, or in a beauty parlour.

I don’t think many white people have been in this area before me. Very often, I am the center of attention wherever I go. Cars come to a halt on the road side. Some follow me for a long time, and it becomes slightly irritating. It also creates some dangerous situations as it means the flow of traffic is hindered. Sometimes people ask if I want a lift. I thank them and explain that I have to walk, and therefore cannot take a car ride.

Sometimes mothers will run into their houses and drag out their baby or child so they can get a glimpse of this foreign novelty moving slowly through the terrain. Once I was sitting in a little shop at the end of the day eating and drinking. I was speaking to the owner of the shop when a girl of 12-14 years came in to buy some sweets. She didn’t see me until she turned around to go out. She got the shock of her life and started crying and screaming loudly! I didn’t know what I could do to make the situation any better. So I just sat there quietly until the owner explained that I wasn’t a dangerous man. A little too much attention sometimes.

Now and again I ask people if they have heard about any signs of the Great Wall here, but they just laugh and talk about Shanhaiguan. The area I am walking through is completely flat, and has been an agricultural area for many centuries since the end of the Ming Dynasty. Perhaps when I hit the mountains to the north of Shenyang, the chances of finding or hearing of something interesting may improve.

33, 32 and 31 kilometres the last three days.

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