My tramp starts from Udine, unplanned. I have a bulky DSLR but it’s always kept inside my backpack, a tent, and a stove. Train from Venice to Udine, arriving at 13:50pm. I may want to go to Slovenia or just to the north-east, probably to the unknown. Craving for the feeling of living, and to live for myself. PEACE.
3:54pm. Took a nicely cooked Chinese-styled MapoTofu rice in a Chinese restaurant somewhere in Udine. I asked the woman for the almost-drove-me-crazy Wi-Fi password and replied some messages, swiped cellphone game as well.
I’m now pooing in a locked-but-I-got-a-key toilet in LiDL supermarket on the road not far from Udine. Just bought some food, chocolate and water for €5.53 – enough for my one-day meal though. But I still couldn’t find any fuel for stove. About to finish my work in toilet, I will soon be walking on the highway, I guess.
After two hours of walk, I paused at the midway. Here is a park with an Italian flag in the middle, surrounded by some stone made chairs without anybody. Back then I lent a toilet in an Argentinian house on the road. To be honest I’m definitely fine peeing on the road but perhaps it’s always nice to have chance communicate with local people in such remote area.
He’s a retired old man, asked me if i had dined or not. I didn’t think of asking him for dinner in his tidy house though. He told me there’s 10 kilometres to go, I thought that should be more than 40. Guess i will have to pitch near to the highway later, who knows?
7:30pm, I find a place full of flowers, yellow and purple strips grown by a field full of grasses that tall enough to reach your waist. Ford vehicle company behind without anybody but some empty cars. Sea of sunflowers growing at the far other side and a seemingly empty old church at about 100 meters away from me. I called it Magic Flower Paradise. Feeling good, but no water sources here, and a bit windy. I’m still thinking if I should stay here tonight or not.
After a moment of depression sitting nearby the highway, then I turned back and got a successful hitchhike with my second thumb, grazie. An old couple drove me almost to Cividale del Friuli though they weren’t going to Slovenia. I see a train station and Coop with a nicely built architecture here. Train not heading to Slovenia claimed by a cool lad waiting for his dad for pizza dinner. He asked me why not take train, i said i like walking. Now sitting near the train station on a big tall rectangular concrete that the lad was sitting on. I hear some musical instruments of a large old man band at the museum. Feeling kind of helpless, having no idea why they’re celebrating though. So I lay down with my head on my backpack, typing, and doing nothing, now is 8:00pm.
I wandered, somehow I found a Chinese cafe Baralborgo. Tried few strips of their stiff and oily Chinese-styled fried noodles, couldn’t even finish a quarter of it. The staff spoke Mandarin but I could just understand about 70 percent. Brushed in the toilet, asked for Wi-Fi but she said she didn’t get one even though I did see the Wi-Fi signal on her mobile phone. She gave me a map of Cividale and a paper written in big thick Italian means “Please drive me to Slovenia!” for hitchhike. I went away an hour later. Now I’m sitting in the cafe that the woman advised, finally got Wi-Fi on the receipt as I bought a 1€ macchiato. It’s my first cup of coffee in Italy – Espresso with foam on top, one sip finish, and I forgot I have just brushed.
I remembered the woman said that the route I planned (yeah, of sort planned) to walk is not quite reliable. She told me to walk from the east to Ljubljana, whatever. It’s interesting when you’re sitting comfy, you’ll think lots of bad things. I’m actually thinking of going back to Udine by bus (google says it takes just half an hour while I’d been walking for half a day with my painful waist to lower back), then directly to Graz tomorrow after sleeping at a wild campsite nearby (hopefully) tonight. My painful back tells me I’d done at least enough, not scared, plus scared is not a good excuse. I admit that tramp is not as funny as imagine. But yeah at this moment I still love wandering. Perhaps most importantly there shouldn’t be a damned heavy backpack like half of the weight of my body.
I left the cafe at 00:22am and spent like an hour finding where was the so-called campsite. Into the little empty lanes and into the dark. Saw a cat with eyes even lighter than my headlight. Fear forced me to seek for helps. So then I asked an only old man in the restaurant but still couldn’t find it. I went back to the bar and then asked the waitress but she didn’t even know (English). Luckily, I met two young lads and their daddy with their bikes. They led me to the riverside Natisone where I’m now sleeping at. Grazie, surprise comes when I’d already got sick of my heavy backpack. They asked me to tell them once I’m back to Hong Kong. Then a friendly “brothers style handshake” ciao. I Pitched on the beach mix with sand and stones. 1:49am, nobody else but I hear many bugs flying outside my tent. I set an alarm at 10am but then I switched it back off. Human don’t need alarm, good night.
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