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Like
many who have come before them, Doug and Chanda stand on the Great Wall
of China. October 15th, 1999
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October
18, 1999
Hello people
back home. This is Doug from AroundtheWorld1999.com. This is today's
journal entry from Monday October 18th. We traveled 680 kilometers, 400+
miles, from Dongxing in the Inner Mongolian autonomous region to
Zhongwei in the province of Gansu*. Dongxing is where Ghengis Khan is buried, the
founder of the great Mongolian empire.
It was an
uneventful day. We drove for a really, really long time. We had to drive
well into the dark. When we finally got into Zhongwei, the farmers were
burning their fields. They have already harvested all of their crops. There
is a thick haze of smoke across the road that was totally killing us when
we were driving. That on top of the insane Chinese highway driving. Today
was a long day of driving, but we did have a 2-hour lunch break. No
surprise here, we had Chinese food for lunch. We washed it down with ice
cold Fuzure Cola.
The hotel we
stayed at in Zhongwei was totally pro. It actually had hot water, and
enough of it for everyone, and it was clean. That's a departure from some
of the other places we have stayed. It was a welcome treat for us. Mr. Lee,
our guide, totally hooked us up. He's been treating us right.
Well, I think
that's all there is for today, folks. Kind of a boring day. Tomorrow's
going to be a good day. A little shorter ride, and we're actually going to
get into some really scenic territory. Oh, what am I suppose to tell them
about. The cold? Yesterday was not cold - Todd Borgie is wrong. It was actually
very nice today. It was the day before that we froze. It was a chilly day.
And pretty much tomorrow should be pretty good. It will start getting
chilly in 2-3 days when we hit the rim of the world section. We're going to
be chilly, chilly boys around the world.
What else?
Todd says to mention long sections with nothing there. That about sums it
up. We did pretty much skirt the Yellow River the entire day, although we
didn't always see it. It was a boring day. It was a long miserable day of
driving, but we were rewarded with a pro hotel in Zhongwei. Signing off,
we'll talk to you tomorrow.
*
Editor's note: For those of you keeping track of the Team's progress from
home, Doug does indicate that Zhongwei is in Gansu Province. However, I've
been following them on my maps and it appears to be in Ningxia Province. If
I'm wrong I'm sure the Team will let me know.
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