Jinji Sadan

I waited for this day for a long time.

Couple of days ago (15.12.10) I accomplished one of the biggest achievements and I am still don’t believe that I did that and that I brought that day to a reality dream.

When I fantasies about my last day cycling in Asia I could not imagine it really happen to me.

It was cold, so cold that the sweat layer between my clothing became ice on my body and even the most beautiful girls here will want to have a beard like my beard to help that against the shivering winds.

I will not write many words in this post, photos (and videos soon) will say everything and I really tired from this entire last chapter and really need a rest.

“He who has not climbed the Great wall is not a true man” Mao Zedong, the great leader of china said.

So I wonder what he will say about a man the cycling on the great wall?!…

Every km that I did and every drop of sweat was worth this feeling.

Me and Emuna (the bike) alone on the great wall in a magic moment that will go with me years and years.

I saw many photos of cycling and many photos of the great wall but I never saw a photo of a guy cycling on the wall so I thought that its can be the perfect combination no?

It was 350km east of bejing where the wall meets the ocean and I could not believe that I really doing this.

This is the day that I can say and know that I finished crossing my 5^th continent and Asia was the toughest one.

I will not write a summary about Asia I have time to rest and to digest this amazing achievement.

After cycling on the wall I climbed down and walked to the sea.

I took in my hand a ball of ice a throw it to the sea ,Said  thank you for the world and now for the last continent…

This is where big starting to be huge.

Finish china!

Finished Asia!!!

Now let’s get some rest before the action start in New Zealand and Australia.

Thank you for be a part of this day.

Jinji

China its very big country –no news in that statement but even after 3 months I look at the map and the road to the sea and I see more months.

In the last 5 weeks I did more then 2500km to crossing desert and mountains but I still got more of them to go.

China is so diverts there is more then billion people live in this country but in the west side there is not so many and the desert are the only thing to see with no big cities.

I cant say that my route in china lead me to the most beautiful places that this amazing country has to offer but its too big and I am with a bicycle and came to cross  this giant and no to travel   in it. If there are sights that are really close to me I will go to have a look but other then that in my resting days I just eat, rest, read and do some  internet work.

I will have my travel time in a month after finish my journeys in china at the place were the wall meets the ocean and I will earn my time traveling in china.

The last 5 weeks were the loneliest weeks that I had in this journey.

There are people on the road but no one understands me.

China is a challenge.

Every thing is a challenge here.

Going to a restaurant is a challenge-I don’t understand nothing from the menu (if there is one), asking directions on the road is a challenge-most of the signs on the road are in Chinese.

Finding a place to rest in a room and not in a tent is challenge-many places can’t accept foreigners and even in the internet places they give you problems because I don’t have a Chinese Id card.

No one understands me and they can drive me crazy because they laugh about how is try to speak and how I even use my chop stick –this sticks are good for drumming on a drum but for eating???

So you need to have patience and know that they stare and laugh about you because it’s how some people do that when they don’t understand me. Not because they mocking me they are very nice people in china.

We all can feel lonely even with many people around us no?

All over the world People needs to have numbers to Measures acts, time,status,age,distance,success  and more things in life by numbers.

If I will say I am cycling all over the world it’s nice but if I will give numbers they will understand better.

To say very far is nice but to say 54000km is much better.

If I will say it’s very cold that nice but if I will mention the numbers -10 it will be much useful way to described cold.

But not only about my numbers even in everyday life like:

Very expansive it’s not enough its how much $ it cost.

It’s not how smart you are its how much you got in the final exams.

In many ways it’s not who you are and what you do is the numbers and grades that you bring.

Sad but true.

A dream is one thing that you can’t describe in numbers.

Our brain is busy thinking in numbers but how you described emotions like loneliness in numbers?

The feeling that you feel like an alien in your world?

I have with me a letter that my friends made for me and its say:

“Hello, my name is roei

I am 28 years old from Israel.

I am cycling around china (they will not understand if I will writ the world).

I came from kashgar and going to bejing (not really true but it better to say places that people will understand).

I am sorry but I don’t know much Chinese but I really like your food and your country”

That’s an answer for the common questions that people ask me.

I also have a pictures dictionary that I can point on the things that I want like, if I want breakfast I point on the eggs and tomato and doing frying sign.

From all my journeys I collected experience and tools to help me communicate with others.

That’s one of the gifts of being alone all the time.

China is not a place to start your journey and I think that I will start her I will also finish here…

Now for the plans for the future:

In the next week I will fly for a week to the city of Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province.

The Israeli embassy with the locals municipality doing an “Israeli week” and many known artist coming to perform and to show that locals what is really Israel.

They invented to ride with the locals and to show my journey.

I got a feeling that is going to be very big.

I just thought how I can describe loneliness in numbers:

For 40 days I didn’t meet one traveler.

Only Chinese and only one person that I could have a conversion in English.

Think of this number when you will feel lonely and it might help you to think that it’s not the end of the world or even not the end of china…

I will finish this post with a story about how you can look at things in a positive way:

Yesterday I talked with one of the childhood friends, Eyal Petrushka, I share with him my tiredness and told him about that no one here understanding me and think that I am crazy.

“wow jinji! So you mean it just like back at home?” eyal asked me…

Now you understand me?

Until the next time

Roei ” jinji” sadan

Baotou

Inner Mongolia

China

Asia

The world