Heading down south
18.08.2015
In the morning thankfully, only my calf muscles were in pain. But there was no way I could hike another mountain today. I figured I'd skip Longhu mountain and head down south to Ningdu, which was not in my plan, but my host recommended it and said I could stay with his parents.
I asked Bob if I could come over early. He agreed and as soon as I woke up, I headed out. A woman at the bus stop wasn't very helpful. Bob said there was no train station in Ningdu, so somehow, I found my way to the intercity bus station.
I saw a symbol that looked like that and took that bus. I arrived at some sort of bus station, but not the right one. Of course it couldn't be that easy. A man there told me how to get to the main bus station That bus indeed brought me to the correct place and I bought my ticket to Ningdu.
I really needed breakfast so I found a dumpling stall and sat down for an hour to catch up on the blog and enjoy some soup. Dumplings, how I have missed thee.
I told a friendly looking guy my legs were sore and he started giving me a massage on the street! I managed to tell him to go away with my dictionary by showing him the word for unnecessary.
Bob shouted at me from a new flashing white scooter. He was waiting for me at the drop off point. He had been to the station already and texted me in a panic, afraid I got on the wrong bus. No, it's fine, we're almost there, I wrote back.
At home, his mom had dinner waiting on the table, and as usual, I tried to help clean up, but I was denied. After dinner, Bob and I walked (very slowly, because my legs still hurt, remember) to a 600 year old pagoda and to a temple jus behind it. His friends caught up with us and we watched a Zen buddhist chanting session for a while. Bob said they were chanting phrases from the Buddhist scriptures. We went back down the river to have some street food and beers.
I felt a little sick after dinner and figured it was the soup I ate. I usually get sick from weird soup, so I wasn't surprised. After the beers and the street food, it didn't get any better. I was pacing back and forth from the bathroom to my room all night long. Perfect.