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Published: October 25th 2008
Little Budha
China..the country where kids are king...
Love the magic and hapiness of this simple moment...
On the way to MenghaiWhat felt like the longest drive ever...Bulangshan - Menghai - JinHong
So here we were. After a well deserved rest in a tiny hotel in Bulangshan, we were ready to hit the road again!
As we head toward the bus station, the
morning light was stroking every single face and objects...hard to resist and while Cedric was getting our bus tickets (which was an adventure in itself), I went on for a walk around, camera on hand...
Daily life as usual in this remote village which is deserved by one bus per day, most women wearing traditional outfits while men mostly affectionate the mao jacket. The smell of the local spices nicely adding a local touch to the whole picture, ticket on hand, we were soon to enjoy the now usual spicy rice noodle soup breakfast.
From raw material to well cooked meal... on one side of the table, the local was making the rice noodles (fresh) while on the other side his colleague was cooking them,
us being at the very end of the table enjoying the how so tasty meal!
And on the bus we went! Were initially told that the ride to Menghai would take about an hour, and we were both already picturing ourselves in the Mandian rain forest early afternoon...mmm...back to previous blog....
"you can plan as much as you want....always expect the unexpected!" So, the one hour drive turned to be a 3 hours and half, super bumpy ride!
Locals did mention as we left that the road conditions were really bad which we should have taken as a sign that the ride was going to be everything but cozy! People there being normally used to poor quality roads...
Stopped counting the number of times we felt like we would either die from a deep fall in the ravine boarding the super muddy path or break our neck as we were "jumping" from our seats or loose Yako who kept passing his head through the window!
Far from being my first bus ride in China, but this one is truly memorable! Actually, as we were driving on a
quasi non existent path, up and down, jungle alternating with paddy
Mandian..view over the paddy field
Last trekking of the trip...amazing view over the rice fields...shortly before ended up IN the paddy field and through the river! field and local tiny villages, really wondered whether we could have discovered this part of the Xishuangbanna if not through this bus ride,
As always...colors were everywhere! From the bright outfits of the locals, to the deep and intense green and bright red of the path!
Pictures speak by themselves (for some reason the small format make the pictures look blur...mmm...got to click on it to see them in proper resolution...Ali, help!!)
Once in Menghai bus station, somehow back to civilization (or at least proper roads), one more bus and we reached Jin Hong where we were soon back on Mei Mei cafe terrace...indulging ourselves with apple pie and fresh orange juice!
And that's how we ended up sleeping out in the open surrounded by the jungle and the sound of the waterfall...
Alright....so by now you must be wondering
how we went from "Apple pie with ice cream" to "out in the wild type of experience"... 😊
Well...between two bites of apple pie, we were arranging for a driver to get us to Mandian, the last bus of the day (11am) having left few hours before, and were already chatting about what was lying
Waterfalls! Soooo happy!
We indeed ended up finding those waterfalls! ahead and how to make the best out of it.
Cedric dropt in the conversation a casual "would be fun to sleep by the waterfalls"... Well, just loved the idea and the reply was "give me 5mn, coming back...” We were obviously not equipped at all for this type of experience, so crossed the road and went for some shopping! (Girls are always good at it!)
Came back few minutes after with two mats, a good blanket and plenty of water, after which Cedric went on search for candles...
10 mn later our driver was pulling by MeiMei cafe terrace and we were all set for what was definitely going to be an adventure! (one more...)
A short hour and half drive took us to Mandian, bumpy road again, but by then we were already used to it, so nothing insurmountable!
Mandian is a tiny village built along a river, with basically two streets and wooden houses lined up on both sides of the street and a few grocery stores.
Driver politely indicated us the direction of the guest house and as soon as he was out of sight, we started loading additional groceries and drinks and headed
Crossing the river...
mmm....a bridge....well, not really so ended up crossing the river before realising that we had forgotten Yako on the other side! hahaha! so Cedric went back to get the dog! to the path leading to the waterfalls...well, at least the one indicated by the locals…
As a side note for the ones who might actually visit Mandian...to reach the waterfalls one must keep the river on its right shoulder, thus from the village you would need to cross the river... While the locals did indicate the right direction, they forgot to mention that there was no bridge after the village... (ended up taking a swim..)
So, small advice that would make your trip much easier! You would need to come back from where you came first with the car or bus, which mean exiting the village where the one bridge is located and then follow the river (tiny path visible from the road)...
So, in our case, we followed the advices of the locals and
walked toward the waterfalls (so far so good) but with the river on the wrong side... As we went up and down (for a change), with no bridge in sight (but still hope to see one at some stage), we soon realized that we would have to cross the river whatever it take...from the tiny path we ended up crossing through the paddy
field, trying to keep our balance while walking on the tiny hillock surrounding each rice field, hoping for the best (not a big fan of snakes...) until we finally reached the river.
Clearly no bridge, so using a wooden stick to check the depth, we crossed the river , once again trying not to fall and most importantly making sure to keep clothes and paperwork dry!
As we both reached the other side of the river, we looked and each other and burst into laugh! Yako was desperately looking at us from the other side, clearly terrified by the water...
Oups, we had forgotten the dog! So across the river, Cedric went again! Got Yako and crossed again, ending up wet but somehow keeping Yako dry and happy!
Finally, on the right path (although we were not so sure about it by then), we were after few minutes to enter the jungle.
We were then surrounded by the
rain forest with trees going for the sky and a path that was so tiny that the wooden stick became soon more than helpful to maintain the balance when sliding on the mud. Up and down again, we could always
hear or see the river, which somehow reassured us that we were on the right direction.
Late afternoon already so we knew we would not see anyone on this path, so the sound of the water down the mountain was our only guide on this part of the journey.
Yako was most of the time first in line, followed by Cedric and myself, both of us completely wet by then, and getting slowly use to the humidity and surrounding vegetation.
Guess that's when a massive tree blocked our already very tiny path, and Cedric deducted that the path must have been going down (fair enough). So, as I was catching up with him, he majestically throws the bag with the blanket and groceries and was about to go down (somehow)...
Well...until, I pointed out that the path might be behind the tree...hahaha...An other really good laugh! By then, we were already exhausted and truly looking forward to get closer to the waterfalls and the river...but not quite yet!
Cedric ended up going down and climbing up with the bag (second time we nearly loose a bag pack...), and on the path again we were!
As we walk and
occasionally fall thanks to the muddy path, we truly started to enjoy the
sight and sounds of the rain forest,
Somehow
mysterious and magical, really felt the connection with the nature... and indeed, we were surrounded by an environment full of life and strength (have one look at the trees and you will understand what I mean by this..)
After 2 hours walk (including the 30mn during which we were looking for our way), and as we exit from a very dense vegetation, the waterfall suddenly revealed itself!
Not sure whether it was the beauty of the scenery or the relief to finally have reached our destination, but a straight smile appeared on both faces!
A bit more climbing (not even trekking anymore) and we reached a tiny beach by the falls.
Well...as often when reaching a place visited by tourists, the tiny beach was polluted by papers/chopsticks and other rubbish left by tourists who visited the site earlier...
So...first thing first...big garbage bag and clean the place...few minutes later, we were done and already taking a swim by the waterfalls.
Waouh...didn’t have such an adrenaline rush for a very long time! Although I was standing a good
10-15 meters from the falls, my heartbeat started to accelerate, the sound and sight was so powerful that it is hard to compare with anything else... The air was filled with water and as I look up I truly started to realize how magical the whole setting was...trees all around, water pool followed by an energetic river and the falls...
Sunset was coming... time to get the camp fully ready... As Cedric started to spread candles in key locations and getting all the grocery out, I decided to go on a challenge!
Get a campfire up and going, with wet wooden pieces of wood and twig...mmm.... and indeed, efforts were soon to be rewarded! Peeling off very tiny branch of wood & adding as much paper as we could find I finally managed to get the campfire going!
Enjoying some snacks and drinks, surrounded by the jungle and sound of the waterfalls, we kept chatting for a while before falling asleep...
A perfect day, followed by a perfect evening and well...a rainy night! ahahaha, still laughing about it...
Obviously, we had asked our local driver whether there was any chance that it might rain before leaving for
Smile!! ok...on that one, can feel proud!
Might not looks like it but was a true challenge!
Maybe I should add this on my resume..."build fire in the jungle by the waterfall..."ok, maybe not! Mandian waterfalls...to which we had a very straight "No", well, should add this under my "how to plan a trip" section (see part 2 of this blog)!
Shortly after we had both fall asleep, I was wake up by tiny raindrops on my face, which soon became a full on/ non stop rain....Hidden under the nearly waterproof blanket, we both managed to fall asleep again...
At least, until I got wake up again by what felt like water touching my foots...quickly grabbed my flashlight and pointed out to what used to be a good 2 meters sand beach separating us from one of the waterfall pool, only to discover that
the water had went up and the river & waterfalls doubled size! Quickly waked up Cedric and here we were anxiously packing everything while keeping an eye on the water level....430AM in the morning...by then completely soaked, our only option was to get to a slightly elevated area and wait...
The night was pitch dark and the idea of walking back the way we came in was just not an option...so, we waited...hoping that the early morning light would come out around 630AM when the first ray of
The survival kit...
to name a few...Lancang beer, swiss army knife, candles (lots of them), lighter (does help...), and huangjiu light only came after 7AM....deep into the jungle we were!
730AM, ready to go...and still wondering how we were going to manage the way back on the tiny jungle path which was already super slippery the night before although it hadn’t rained ...
Well, the answer to this came within seconds: would be
a mix of climbing (using anything we could hold to) and mud sliding... By then, was really hoping that my lucky star would protect us...
As we finally exit the jungle trail, and started to walk across paddy fields, we were covered with mud, head to toe, backpack included, and half of my sole was gone...
The river crossing was not an option anymore, so we kept walking hoping for a bridge at some stage to allow us to cross and reach the village on the other side...anyway, common sense...got to have a bridge at some stage...
930AM: Yako who by then was unrecognizable, followed by the two of us, wooden stick on hand, covered with mud, finally entered the village. The few locals who were outside or chatting on their terrace, couldn’t seem to believe their eyes...and one of the first question of
mmm...next morning view of the waterfalls!
The waterfalls actually double size! ... went from a nice and quiet waterfall to a powerful and threatening scenery! the guest house owner was 'were you at the falls last night?', clearly not accustomed to have tourists spending the night there!
The hot shower that followed got to be one of the most enjoyable moment of the day....and the lunch prepared by our host could not have been tastier!
This was our last stop in Xishuangbanna and we were to fly later in the afternoon to Kunming and then back to Shanghai....
By then, we had both fallen in love with Yako and tried everything we could to think of to get him back to Shanghai...but the reply had always been "no paperwork no travel"...so, we had really been hoping we could find him a friendly family in Mandian, a place where locals would take good care of him...
And just like that...after a short explanation, the owner of the guesthouse and her husband promptly said they would be glad to keep Yako!
They had already feed him and their house was tidy and spacious with lots of local and a few foreign tourists stopping by frequently (only guest house of Mandian)
That's when our driver walked in, obviously the other inhabitants of Mandian had pointed
Majestuous trees!
Mandian rain forest is absolutely stunning! the way to the guest house, and after further thanks to the new family of Yako and a painful farewell...we were heading back to Jinghong, where we headed for some shoe/ dry clothes shopping before meeting with some friends of Cedric and enjoying our last MeiMei cafe apple pie....
Back to the civilization, mobile phone working again (well...at least mine...Cedric mobile had taken a bit too much water the night before...), ready to go back to work the next morning and as usual .... looking forward to the next trip!
Huge thanks to Cedric...
eheheh...looks like Shanghai has a new addict to off the beaten track type of holidays! To read about the first part of our trip in Xishuangbanna....
PART 1 Xishuangbanna, Yunnan...Trekking adventure through chinese minorities' villages
PART 2 Xishuangbanna, Yunnan...Trekking adventure part 2: the one from Yako to Bulangshan, pick a way!
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Stephen Paul
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Les Trois Mousquetaires?
Another installment of the crazy adventures of Laetitia, Cedric and Yako! Too bd its all over. :( I'm so happy you found a home for Yako... What a great 3 post travelblog adventure it's been! The waterfall looked powerful after all that rain!