May 30th All right, I confess, today was my fault! My first job this morning was to upload last week’s Blog post because I hadn’t done it last night. It was late and I was tired. All was finished this morning though and Plan B worked well enough. I told Huan that we would walk behind the fuel station, short but uphill. Here’s the fuel station.
Here’s the beginning of the uphill part, the road on the left.
And here’s the fuel station from above, just before we started our upward trek.
It would appear that we both have a mental block when trying to remember this route. In our minds it is always not far and not hard, we’re only right with the distance. The going is ‘up’!
Eventually we reach the point at which we have to turn round and come back. It’s a shame that the beautiful path between the trees just fizzles out.
Huan didn’t go to the end with me; she stood and chatted to the occupier of the des res.
I found a vantage point while they were busy and took lots of views, the sewage works, the mansions on the hill, the road to somewhere with TV tower, the highway on and off ramps, and of course the full vista of Wuzhishan from the west.
Huan insisted that she have a photo of the occupier and I having a chat, I already had one of those two that she didn’t know I had taken, so here they both are.
While I was taking the shot of them both I noticed just how big this house was. From where I was standing I had to stitch a couple of shots together but I think it worked well enough.
This area is surrounded by rubber trees, all not being used however. Huan, at my request, asked for more info and the lady told her that she wasn’t able to farm them anymore due to her health. She also told Huan that she rents the place which has a total land area of 600 亩Mǔ, (that is approximately equal to 396,000 m2), for the princely sum of 430RMB per year!
We were invited to stay and rest awhile but we took a rain check on this occasion. We may visit again in the future, earlier in the morning, and accept the offer. That is of course if is repeated! For today it was downhill we went.
The distance to the house on the top of the hill is only about 2.1km so the expeditionary leader decided we should go home via the unused officer’s club. You can actually see this from the top but the only way to get to it is back the way we came.
We headed along the path to the farm of many dogs, where the owners always worry but the dogs, whilst very vociferous, always remember me. Next to there, the old armoury seems to have people living in it now.
We were home early enough for me to have lunch, not just water,
before our now usual OAP nap. Dinner was courtesy of chef Bob again, today
finishing off the beef. It was steak, broccoli, carrot and baked potato. Huan
said that the steak was much better than any restaurant steak she had eaten in
A walk to aid digestion was called for after that. I promised myself I wasn’t going to chase kilometres this month but we both seem to have been at it over the last week or so. Success, if you can call it that, is now assured and we will reach 300km tomorrow!
May 31st As I had promised Huan we gave Donald his birthday present today. Have you forgotten Donald? His full name is Donald Dongfeng and he is our car, his present was a much needed car wash. Huan captured this first pre-wetting just perfectly.
The second one is just me putting soap on. We spent ages after this trying to get all the grime off before eventually finishing just in time for lunch.
All that work wore us out and it was naptime after lunch again. After dinner, we did what we said yesterday, and crossed the magic 300km mark. On the way Huan was desperately trying to take a photo of this husk but failing miserably. I managed to get a little closer.
Would you believe it, without the camera, in the evening, and where we don’t normally find them, Huan found two lizards. I had to use phone zoom so they’re not so good. The second one appears to be ‘with child’ as they say.
And that was our lot for the day.
June 1st A new month but not a new post, because it’s not Tuesday of course, it’s Thursday. After a long while I told Huan we would go up the Mountain Graveyard walk today, I haven’t found anything else to name it yet. In fact I just spent the last couple of hours searching the PC to see if I had named it something else in the past. If I had, I can’t find it! As usual, the producer found another lizard, even before we started up the hill. This one appears to be shedding and that looks like his old skin behind him.
We walked to the end of the road to somewhere and then went straight ahead.
Across the other side of the road we found a couple of cars, they might be interesting. One is a little three wheeled tricycle covered in all kinds of stickers. The other, well make of it what you will. On the front it has an upside down Ford badge, on the back it claims to be a Focus but a V6 version. Somehow I doubt they’re telling the truth.
Behind the little village all seemed normal and just like the last time we walked this route.
Looking back we could see the way we had come, along the road to somewhere, but we still can’t work out just exactly where that somewhere will be.
We do know that it is not going to go this way, although the scenery on this occasion has drastically changed. Previously, once through the village and behind the new buildings we were walking on tracks shaded by lots of trees. Not so today, this was the view. Luckily, after deciding not to wear a hat today I had succumbed to Huan’s ‘suggestion’ and put one on.
Soon I found a way to walk at the side, worrying Huan who thought I might fall down off the edge. It was not for long though and before long I had to rejoin her on the road.
Thankfully, the new road soon gave way to the old track, complete with natural shade.
After a little over four kilometres we reached this fork, neither of the two paths lead to a ‘through’ destination, they both involve coming back to this spot. We turned back here.
Arriving back at the ‘new’ road, I was mildly amused by the sign. You can speed up the track as fast as you like, there are no rules of the road there, but as soon as you hit the real road, you must, by law, slow down. Mind you, only dummies would go fast in the woods.
At least going down is easier.
If you want to see the difference between the old and new walks, we have a video on Youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQZWuJ-WNGs&list=PLrm74YBD3qG5hMSefKtpaGIH2okgNoBLN&index=43&ab_channel=HainanBob
Huan has been reading her phone again, a dangerous habit, and she
decided we needed to try some of these, 海南捞叶, Hǎinán lāo yè –
They are supposed to have a taste, an aroma, possibly slightly minty, and they are supposed to be good for you. Well, we had them with eggs for lunch, there was no noticeable taste or smell at all, and I very much doubt that they will do anything for my health either.
That was it for our day, we had planned an after dinner meander but rain stopped play!
June 2nd Earlier this week Huan had a phone call from the area clinic inviting us both for blood tests, to see if we have hepatitis. As I am tested every year, or less than that, for my visa medical I respectfully declined. Huan decided to go this morning on her way to her hulusi practice. She still managed to spot a well camouflaged lizard on the way.
This hepatitis test was done with a prick on the finger; the same way as a diabetes test In fact both were done at the same time.
Huan also had her blood pressure checked; no problems there, and of course, as she does every time she sees one, had to step on the weighing scale. Again I declined the invite.
Soon after dropping Huan off at Yefeng for her practice it was my turn to find a lizard. I got fairly close to this one who was balancing between two pieces of wood. I almost felt as if I could have reached out and picked it up.
Today’s walk was the main road only turning off towards Camelot and following the stream. I almost trod on this one and couldn’t see it all through the viewfinder.
The geese did their usual bit of warning me off along with a visual display today.
More wildlife, it must be my lucky day!
This is a nice walk, so near to the city yet peaceful and shaded too.
Across the stream there is another
housing complex, with the usual ‘unoccupied’ villas. I was going to write
abandoned but they aren’t. People bought them and then just left them
unfinished and unattended to make money over the years. This happens
everywhere, not just
Soon the going became a little soggy, but still passable.
The top was a disappointment, although I should have remembered from our last visit. There should be quite a nice lake taking most of the middle and left of what you see here. Today the imitation Wuzhi mountain is barely visible through all the greenery. It does still have a wild beauty I suppose.
This was also the point at which I had to turn back today. If I had been wearing my boots I may have been able to head through to the housing complex and then the main road. Unfortunately, my sandals were not good enough for this!
Still, one can’t complain about being forced to walk back through scenery like this.
Before long I was walking back along the main road alongside the old army barracks, still a very pleasant walk with shade provided.
I show you this next photo to accompany it with a question. Is it me, or are all women only capable of single minded focus. You can see that the distance to the security guard is not far, Huan managed to walk past without seeing me sat where I was at all. She then didn’t hear me singing at the top of my voice “my baby doesn’t love me anymore”.
Why did I say ‘all’ women? Well
Huan’s companion didn’t see or hear anything either. It also reminded me of
when my first wife came to join me in
Walking home together we spotted this, my second of the day. I had popped into the big bike shop on the way to Camelot where I had drooled over a 650cc, and seen a few350cc and 300cc. I had mentioned to the manager that new Chinese bikes were looking pretty good; here is the proof for you. Of course, I can’t ride it, being limited to 50cc.
Huan was going dancing in the evening so I walked her up to Yefeng and then carried on for a little stroll. Friends were found.
Huan wanted a picture of the moon, it came out reasonably well.
It had rained in the late afternoon so the air was quite good for this walk. There wasn’t much to see though, only some snails which I took photos of for Huan. For you, there is just a fish. If Huan had been with me you could have seen a video of it trying to eat my finger!
June 3rd Market day again, we did need some fruit and some cucumber so we headed on a wrong way round walk thus not making me carry heavy things a long way! Our first friend is a canine companion, looking very sad today for some reason. I sat with him for a few minutes and did not see his Mum, maybe that was the reason.
Approaching the bap market area I told Huan about one of my other regular friends, she was lucky, he was there today too.
Today was a beautiful day for it, not too hot either.
Pineapples, bananas, mangoes and cucumbers in hand we headed home. On the way I saw something on the wall. Only when I looked at the photos at home did I realise that whatever it was it had left its exoskeleton behind. Perhaps it used to be a stink bug?
On our many walks we have seen many millipedes, Huan has occasionally picked them up for better photographs. She would not pick this one up today! It wasn’t a millipede of course, it was a centipede. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centipede It seems that all centipedes are venomous to varying extents so just as well we left it alone.
That was our only walk today, I had planned another after dinner one but rain stopped play to begin with. After that I had to be part of the congregation for my nephew’s wedding. Mind you, they had no idea I was watching. Modern technology can be both a curse and a blessing, today it was very much the latter. Being able to watch and listen to the service, to see and hear my brother, his wife and family, really made my day. Watching on a 27inch monitor, on full screen, I also managed a couple of decent screenshots. I have to say, tears almost came!
June 4th Great minds think alike, or so they say. Of course they also say that fools
seldom differ. Whatever, we both decided that a walk up
Soon thereafter we found a squirrel, not in the best lighting, but here it is.
As is often the case, I was chastised for not wearing my hat. However, I had remembered what this road is like, lots of trees and shade.
Flora took our fancy today as well, a solitary beautiful bloom for Huan, and then a blooming bush for me. Which do you prefer?
Just over five kilometres in we reached our turn off; the plan was to go through here, down the mountain a little, over a stream and across to another road to head back to the village near town.
The path started much as it had done last time, reasonable going, nice and shady.
Unfortunately the going soon became soft and boggy, they were making a new path to the farm and had laid down a lot of red soil. I forgot to take a snap of it! My initial response was to keep going, after all I had my boots on and surely Huan had her sneakers on. I was wrong!
Back we went towards the city, at least going downhill all the way.
Have you ever wondered what animals think when you carry out what you believe to be Good Samaritan acts? This not so small snail was trying to cross the road, there is no way it would have made it safely to the other side so I rescued it. In retrospect, I should have placed it safely across the road, and not on the high wall on the side we were walking. That is something to bear in mind for future rescues perhaps.
Back in town I was having a nice game of hide and seek with another lizard. Every time I moved a little he went round the tree a little. Eventually I got some snaps and when I got home I noticed his long tail in this one. The photo has been rotated through 90⁰ so that you can see it too.
Let’s finish off our Sunday with a couple of car stickers shall we, both of the same car. Neither of them make much sense to me but they may to you, if you are younger. Here is the first, 高战动试验型 Gāo zhàn dòng shìyàn xíng - High combat test type.
And here is the second, 初号機,
Is it science fiction? Is it computer games? Is it anime? Is Evangelion 01 the first female android? For answers to these, and other questions, please head to the twilight zone!
June 5th Monday comes round every week and usually we go off to Baijiahui and do the weekly shop, today was different. Last night Huan had a phone call from the maintenance people in Ledong, they said they were worried about our tenants. They told us that the old lady had been brought home by the police twice after having a minor fall. What they really wanted was the telephone number of our tenants’ daughter. Our tenants won’t hand it over for some reason, and we haven’t actually got it. Huan decided she should visit to see if all is well or not. I usually pop upstairs with her, today I went walkies instead. Here’s the lovely clean swimming pool.
I then headed off across, or around, the sports track. The surface had improved since I last saw it.
My plan wasn’t to go too far as I was expecting a phone call either when Huan was finished or asking me to visit. Behind the stadium seating areas I found this, a circle of stones.
It was not a stone circle, more a circle of stone statues; of the twelve animals of the Chinese zodiac. Rather than show you all individually I have made three collages, you can enlarge them and try and identify which animals are in which collage.
I then headed into a corridor, 民族团结进步文化长廊, Mínzú tuánjié jìnbù wénhuà cháng láng - Cultural Corridor of National Unity and Progress.
There were a lot of hanging sayings inside, I decided to stick to the ones at the entrance. Clockwise from the top they say 1) 友善诚信平等自由, Yǒushàn chéngxìn píngděng zìyóu - Friendly honesty equality freedom. 2) 和谐文明民主富强, Héxié wénmíng mínzhǔ fùqiáng - Harmonious Civilization Democratic Prosperity. 3) 和睦互助团结创新, Hémù hùzhù tuánjié chuàngxīn - Harmony, mutual assistance, unity and innovation. 4) 友善诚信敬业爱国, Yǒushàn chéngxìn jìngyè àiguó - Friendly, Honest, Dedicated and Patriotic.
Despite walking through here three or four years ago, we never knew that Lèdōng had mascots. The corridor may have looked different back then. Anyway, here they both are, as cute as buttons, 乐乐, Lè lè and 东东, Dōng dōng.
Could this be them grown up a little?
My route then took me to No. 8 Moon Lake, where they used to have a lovely water display every evening, before pandemic times when we last had a drink there.
I wasn’t expecting see a water display today, after all it was the middle of the day, not holiday time and most tourists have gone back to the mainland for now. Mind you, I had rather been expecting to see the lake with water in it and take some lovely snaps for you. To my great disappointment it was empty so this is all you get, this time.
Not long after this Huan called and I had to head back. She told me that the old lady seemed fine, walking albeit slowly, and in full possession of her faculties. The old fellow had a touch of cold and was lying down, this was why he hadn’t insisted that I go up and say hello. Their daughter will be coming down next month, we may try and meet her then to ascertain whether of not they will return up north or stay down here longer. We both feel that they should be heading ‘home’ before old age gets too much for them.
Huan and I decided that my walk could be continued and that we would have lunch in Ledong. This however, was not to be the restaurant!
Going through the market someone almost got under my feet, just look at those accusatory eyes..
It seems he had escaped having his wings torn off and being sold from this bowl. The second photo shows the ones who have been caught and are awaiting their fate.
Insects were not on our menu, we headed off for a buffet style restaurant that we knew instead. Arriving there we found it was no longer operating, in its place was a genuine KFC! Neither of us fancied that so we wandered slowly back in the direction of the car and found another buffet style place. It was good enough for us. I’m sure you can guess whose is whose.
After lunch we went back to Wuzhishan and put ourselves back on track and did our weekly shop. Having had a ‘cooked’ lunch we just had sandwiches for dinner, cheese and salad (healthy) for Her Majesty, cheese and jam (unhealthy) for me. It was yummy!
Plans for the evening, walking for me and dancing for the boss, were dashed once again. Rain stopped play! I didn’t mind so much, I felt rather sleepy anyway. We’ll be back on the scene in a week, if you can’t wait read a few of the old posts or watch some of our Youtube videos. There are enough to keep you going for a while. Cheerio for now!
No comments:
Post a Comment