Guilin - a mountain view

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Geo: 25.273, 110.279

Well I spoke just a couple of days too soon about the sunshine because this morning we woke to a sullen sky, winds and a heavy shower of rain. We met Wendy right on 9 in the lobby to the news that the bamboo rafting had been cancelled today due to "turbulence in the water". So a swap in our itinerary and we were off to the rice fields.

Wendy had told us to dress for 16 C and water for the boat trip and of course in the rush of the morning it didn't occur to us to change for the new itinerary. Big mistake.

We set off on our full day tour to the Longsheng Rice Terraces, which are about 100 km north of Guilin. The terraced fields are built along the slopes winding from the riverside up to the mountain top. The coiling line of paddies spirals up from the foot of the mountain to the peak, and viewed from above, the fields appear as a huge snail when viewed from the summit - marked as the zenith of our climb with three distinctive red flags. The terraces have been in existence for over 600 years and certainly attest to the work ethic of these local villagers.

But it is a tourist strip! As the stairs wind on forever up the slopes, every available spot features vendors selling stuff. Other rice paddy villages have a cable car to transport you from top to bottom - I don't think these stall holders would be voting for a cable car! There is even a collection of motels, guest houses and hostels up the mountain. Ladies with baskets on their back carry your luggage up for you!

And the sedan chair operators were out in force. Two strong villagers will take you to the top and back for 400 yuan. Again, I was a likely target but had no intention of getting a lift. This mountain was MINE!

The views were spectacular! And the mist was just hovering delicately on the peaks as we reached the summit. I can't imagine a life in this place..but life does go on as normal. There are restaurants and hotels, massage corners and hairdressers, hostels, banks and travel agents..all adjacent to the wending path that is never more than two metres wide. Houses and stores are built on foundations of criss-crossed bricks and hang precariously over the side of the steep slope.

My favourite sale item on the mountain was honey - crisp rock honey hacked off the hive as you watch and packaged in ziplock bags complete with a buzzing collection of live bees! Maybe Hendryc@jpc would be interested.

Lunch was courtesy of the Yao (pronounced yow) nationalities. The women of this minority have thick black tresses of hair that sweep the floor. At age 18 the hair is trimmed to the waist and this bunch of hair is used to make a "hat" which holds the hair concealed within this hat for the remainder of the woman's life (a whole new meaning to the notion of hat hair!) As a tourist attraction, the women will remove their hat and show you their hair. You can even comb their hair. The cost: 30 yuan for a look and a comb but they will only show in groups of women together (nice marketing strategy) so usually about 100 yuan. Needless to say - for $20 Mac can comb my hair every day!

The food that was served was different. We enjoyed rice and pork steamed in bamboo cylinders (nice flavour), bacon strips, pork steamed corn dumplings (28 of them!), vegetables and rice. We also sampled the local rice wine which was so sweet and delicious. Again, we couldn't even make a dint in the food. Lucky it is a compliment in China if you leave some food behind!

The snaking roads through the mountains continued to challenge our reserves of steel as Chen wound his way...mostly on the wrong side of the road - through the steadily climbing mountain road. The mountain descent features a series of "judder" bumps in the road to act as natural speed inhibitors. No worries for Chen - he avoids this braking aid by driving on the wrong side of the road and swerving in and out of the arrays in his own personal slalom run.

Time to pull the hood of my jacket over my face and close my eyes and try and relax. Watching just kills me! Mac was stoic as usual and continued to garner a new toolkit of skills to deploy on the roads in Queensland.

Ah...soooo... I have finally worked out the answer to the perennial "Why did the chicken cross the road" joke. The answer is "Because no car in China would ever hit them." Ahhhhhh...not ...soooo...funny, but really true. The chickens are free ranging in China ( along with the yaks, water buffalo, goats, sheep, ducks, geese, pigs, horses and donkeys) and the animals are the only things that have right of way on the roads and cause a vehicle to stop.

Speaking of donkey - it was on the menu today.....um, no thanks.

We finished the day with an evening cruise (Four Lakes and Two Rivers). It was a real treat. Lots of people and a very crowded boat but Wendy got us the best outside spot and we enjoyed a very touristy one hour cruise. The lakes are set up as a night time spectacle for the cruise boats with effectiviee lighting, staged musical events along the length of the lake and a comororant fishing experience. We flashed and snapped at dozens of photo spots, yelled and yahooed under every bridge and chatted with fellow tourists from Italy, Canton and France.

It was a must do of Guilin and we followed it up with a leisurely dinner at the hotel eating Chinese food in the Western Restaurant- with our set Western flavours with our single allocated drink!

We gladly called it quits at 9.30 - an early mark for us. Fingers crossed for less turbulence tomorrow so we can hit the bamboo rafts!

PS had an almost toilet experience today. There is a ritual associated with going to the toilet especially a squattie pottie. I was nearly caught out by a windowless stall and four male workers who had peeping tom potential. Avoided the embarrassment just prior to the lock and load...so glad I did cause I am not sure the workers would have survived a mature Australian woman with Sheeweena and the extension in action.

Pedometer Reading: 8 199 (need to factor in stair rating! )
....Was a bit of a crazy lazy day actually. We drove for two hours each way to get to the rice fields - then walked an hour to get to the top....and then 30 minutes down hill. And @AuntyGail ...no you can't be crafty on these mountain roads, you need both hands to hold on for dear life!

Temperature: 20 C light rain and showers in the morning (and way too hot for exertion plus the merino wool long johns and turtle neck skivvie)

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Photos

Getting to the top
Mac with one of his fans

Comments

[Aunty Gail]

Sweetheart, no need to worry about all the scrumptious dining, I'm sure the stairs will cancel all that! And just how is your knee coping with all of this climbing????I'm exhausted just reading your blog......xoxoxoxoxoxo