6/7/25
During the night it rained. It hadn’t stopped by the morning and continued to pour. Every time we questioned ourselves about staying in fancy hotels instead of slumming it in a tent we were reminded that it doesn’t shower here. Instead it pours for hours and hours. The weather radar was incapable of telling us anything concrete. It showed little sign of stopping.
We’d recently seen intense flooding in Chengdu on the news. Extreme weather events were happening all over the globe. At home in the UK there had been several days of high temperatures. Morons were still acting as though it was a treat. But wildfires were burning and dangerous precipitation events were increasing. People clung to random heatwaves that had happened in the past to soothe themselves. However, the frequency of such events was undoubtedly increasing.
We didn’t rush and had a leisurely breakfast. By 11am the rain still hadn’t abated. Even if we did manage to leave, we’d opt to go just a short distance. There were some big climbs on the next stretch of road. In the end, we opted for another night. We were supposed to check out at noon. The rain remained heavy for much of the early afternoon. We lay inside on our plush bed, watching a Norwegian series called Ragnarok. It was like Smallville meets Norse mythology. Also a coming of age vibe. Our type of show.
At 2pm the rain picked up again. It was falling vigorously. We felt a little bit lost, unable to move forward. When it finally stopped we went for a walk to the market. Almost every street was lined with stalls. All different types of vegetables and fruits.
We bought at least four different types of tofu from two sellers. Also a stack of different pastries.
We found some almost pizza looking flatbread too. We couldn’t walk anywhere without people staring at us and saying hello. How celebrities enjoy the attention is beyond us. We were happy to be inside again and spent the afternoon watching copious amounts of television. We continued to watch Ragnarok. It was actually binge worthy. Something that couldn’t be said for most shows we watched. As the weather improved, we watched the locals come out to play badminton. The children cycled up and down in the courtyard. A gang of them had plastic guns.
Surly They Won't Make It 