Day 175
Roads continued to be congested as we passed through a number of scruffy towns. There doesn’t seem to be a break in this. The urban sprawl is incredible with every valuable roadside spot a business. Tire repairs shops, restaurants, mechanics, local convenience stores, Indomart and Alfamart, textile shops line the road in an unbroken chain. Traffic is heavy all day long and the wall of businesses blocks any breezes from blowing away the exhaust.
Heavy traffic on narrow road, with no shoulders to escape
Our repetitive, drab scenery was broken by the appearance of a naked homeless woman and then a naked man wandering down the street. No one seemed to notice. Soon afterwards we saw a cat and a barefoot man scavenging through huge piles of rubbish along the road. Next to this man was a creek, and although we had smelled hundreds or animals rotting in the sun, we both for the first time almost vomited from the smell. There is no way to sugar coat this. The amount of pollution here is overwhelming. Our senses are being assaulted on a daily basis.
We only encountered one stretch of rice field for the entire day. We only caught a glimpse of the green before the scenery switched back to more grey human establishment.
We found a small hotel next to the road and washed the grit off. Sweat and dirt from my face made it look at if I was wearing mascara and was crying. Perhaps it was an omen. I had to laugh writing that, but it’s becoming difficult to stay positive.
接受失望，因为它是有限的，但千万不可失去希望，因为它是无穷的。