A Bouyei (布依族) man in a long line of other Bouyei men and women hauls watermelons from the river to the road above. Many of these porters were in sandles, busted shoes, or barefoot. The watermelons sell for 2 yuan ($0.29) per kilogram in Guiyang.
With a local coal powerplant in the background, a woman prepares to water a recently planted field in Shandong. From our recent experience, they've probably planted winter wheat.
Tomorrow we should hit the northernmost point of our trip. Unfortunately there's no time left to touch the actual Mongolian border :( 2010-08-30
Expected to find grassland up here, but that (along with actual Mongolians apparently) has been wiped out and replaced w/ cultivated fields. 2010-08-30
Also finally got off national highway 110! Now making way east on dirt roads. Camping in field of sunflowers tonight with mountain backdrop. 2010-08-30
Wind settled down and road conditions was paved. Evan was sick but we finally got over 100km, which we need to average back to Beijing! 2010-08-30