Chapter 169

Distance covered: 132 km (total: 215 km)

I slept OK, all things considered. I don’t have an air mattress yet and the ground was a bit hard and uneven, and also it was damn hot at first. But then I fell asleep and slept through the night, only waking up when light rain was falling, a good test for our new tent. No water got in.

Footsteps were heard outside, and the dog started barking. It was an old man who went fishing at the pond, I saw him later. Maybe the discarded fleshlight was his.

It was barely 5:30 when I got out. I got some dog food, a pomegranate juice and granola clusters from the car and had a little breakfast, reading Andy Ngo’s book. At 6:15, the dog barked again, there were three cops on the ridge looking down at us. I asked them if there’s a problem with me camping there and they said no, they just asked if the car is mine and made small talk, asking where I’m from and that kind of stuff, no doubt a bit curious that a foreigner was there. They left soon after on their scooters and after an hour or so chilling and reading, I also packed up and left.

I drove to Nanjing via country roads with mostly large trucks and tons of traffic lights. About 97% of them were red, it was a bit annoying but I wasn’t in a rush at all, in fact I was going to arrive in Nanjing much earlier than I need. So I took my time, enjoying the slow drive and the music I played on the stereo, stopping at a gas station to top up, though my tank was ¾ full, to take advantage of their free car wash.

I got to the former capital, ate some Wuhan-style sesame noodles, and then got to my friend’s apartment complex. He and his roommates were gone for the day, I let myself in my the hidden key and took a shower with the dog, to remove the mud and funky camping smells. Then I sat around for most of the afternoon, writing this diary and browsing the internet, I would have gone out but it was raining intermitently. I took a nap on the couch until one of my old pals came in, a Chilean guy studying Chinese alternative medicine and tai chi. We embraced in a big bro hug and had a bit of a chat, but he had work to do so I waited for my other old pal, a capoeira brother of mine from Venezuela studying medicine in a local university.

He told me about how he spent the day doing an internship in the trauma department, witnessing all sorts of gruesome shit and helping out the doctors there, and was in need of a change of pace. So after sitting around and catching up and sharing one of my homebrews I brought in from the car cooler, we all piled up in a taxi and went to an Irish pub in the city. I bought them both beers to thank them for their hospitality, and got myself a pint of IPA to quench my thirst and then a Guinness, as well as a chicken Caesar salad and a burger. Both of the portions were big and could have been a meal in and of themselves, but I was hungry. The dog was having a good time, going to strangers’ tables knowing that his cuteness will be rewarded by morsels of food. A good time was had by all.