The reluctant hiker

19.08.2015

I didn't want to get up all morning. My legs were shot and my stomach was churning. When I did though, Bob and his mom had breakfast ready for me. Bob kept trying to make me more enthusiastic about going for a hike with him and it worked a little bit. I definitely had told him I just needed to rest for these two days in the countryside before I went to his house. I was a little puzzled when he ignored my intentions. He was just so excited to take me there that I had to follow him, even though my calves and thighs were strained and burning the whole time. I just wanted to go back to bed.

We picked up some fruit and cake for lunch and grabbed a motorcycle to the mountain. When we got there, Bob pointed straight up into the air.

"We will climb that one," he said.

"Um, isn't there an easier oe we can do? My legs really hurt."

"Oh OK, you can go slowly."

Oh lord. I really didn't want to hurt myself anymore than I already was, but we went up really slowly and only took the easy path. We merely glanced at the ladder-like stairs toward the extreme peak of the mountain. It had signs warning people to crawl on all fours when attempting to finish the hike.

It really was a nice place and I enjoyed the day, even though I was in excruciating pain the whole time. Bob's enthusiasm for the whole outing made me keep going.

When we got back, I slept for three hours and had a trace of a fever for a while. When I woke up, Bob's dad was cooking Hakka style dinner and two of Bob's girl friends were on their way over. It was Chinese valentine's day, so the joke was that he had THREE girlfriends today. Ha...ha...

Dinner was delicious. Bob's dad made interesting "vegetable balls" and his mom made amazing smoked fish for dinner. I was really impressed! There was also some wild boar (with a bullet still inside!) that was caught by his dad's friend. It had a distinct taste, maybe like a mixture of pork and caribou???

One of Bob's friends, Amy, was really animated and spoke English with me through her amazing translator app. Bob is also an interesting person, he rode his bike across southeast Asia and showed me all his photos. Really cool!

After dinner, Bob and I took a stroll through town looking for a reputable masseuse. The one his friends recommended still seemed a little skanky to me, so I declined. Bob had never had a massage in Ningdu, so I didn't feel like being a massage guinea pig that night.

On top of the mountain