Melting

Spending the last night on the cruise boat was relaxing and peaceful, and aside from having to repack our stuff, we didn’t have much to do. Our final port of call was a town called Yichang, and we were told by our tour guide Kevin that we needed to be off the boat by 6am, so they could get the boat ready for the next trip. Luckily, we knew this ahead of time, and had planned our flight out of Yichang for 10am, giving us plenty of time to get to the airport from the boat dock. Getting off the boat, we searched in vain for a taxi that would agree to take us to the airport on the meter instead of a negotiated price. Finally, a driver agreed, but insisted we pay the 10Yuan toll also, which we agreed. We hesitated about heading into town to try and find some coffee and breakfast, as we weren’t sure how far the airport was, and assumed that we could get something there. As it turns out, not only did we have more than enough time to get breakfast in town, but it was a regrettable choice as the options were slim to none at the airport. [read on]

The truck driver pulled up to the house early in the morning, before sunrise at 6am. I was already awake and showered, since I couldn’t sleep with such anticipation. Annette told me that he wanted to get a really early start, and he meant it. Loading the sheep onto the truck took only about 45 minutes, and I quickly had breakfast while I waited to leave. The sun was just starting to come up when everyone came to the house to say goodbye, and I loaded my bags into the high cabin. He was in a hurry, so I gave hugs all around, and boarded my ride to Broken Hill. The sheep were restless and so was I.. I was ready to continue my journey west. [read on]