Saturday October 30

Shanghai to Longsheng.

Up at 5am for an 8:30am flight. Slept the two hours to Guilin. A windy bus ride through the hills, with a qquick stop for some delicious local noodles (2.5 yuan or 30cents) brought us to the bottom of the Longji rice terraces. Our driver could only take us so far into the park so the rest of the steep up hill, cobbled stone climb was up to us (and the amazing strong 4-foot-something local women who carried our backpacks in baskets strapped to their backs). We stayed in a guesthouse which, like all the other buildings is made entirely out of wood and bamboo joined without any nails - all the pieces simply slot together seemlessly.

We took advantage of the clear blue sjy and remaining light to walk to the viewing platforms in the surrounding hills. We passed pig stys, plumbing systems connected to the local streams that resemble those cross-sectioned bamboo half pipes like you see in the Painted Veil, bundles of corn and baskets of bright green and red chillis left out to dry. The view were amazing, with terraced rice fields giving way to blue mountains beyond and the faded pink sunset lending a glow to the scene of rural life in China. The local women were out in force, showing of their "Guiness Book of Records" length hair for photographs. They grow their hair down to about knee length and cut it to make hair extensions which are then woven back into their natural hair. It's then all wound up into a halo around their heads and secured with a comb. Must be heavy, but great for carrying a basket on top.

Dinner was a delicious combo of the local twice cooked pork specialty, fried eggplant stuffed with mince, sweet and sour pork, beef and onions and vegies, washed down with local beer. The guest house owner's children kept us entertained as the five-year-old boy insisted on us teaching him to play ping pong with his paddle. Very cute.

The next day we caught the local bus to the next big village - Daishan for a 5-6 hour hike back to our village - Ping An. Not as tough as the hikes we did in Peru but my God those stone steps are killers on my knees. Again we passed lots of local women in their brght pink garb and hair extensions, farmers with leading their stocky ponies along the terraces, loads of cows hogging the narrow paths. Each village is quite similar with their bamboo houses all piled on top of each other and chillies and rice drying out the front in the sun but everyone has a friendly "Ni Hao!" for you as you walk through, huffing and puffing up and down the endless steps.

By 3pm we were ravenous and after refueling on fried noodles with meat and veg we ventured off back down the hill to where we'd passed local markets on our way up the previous afternoon. They had everything from dresses to pashminas, pillow cases, belts, hats and bags all in the local brightly coloured hand-stitched fabric. Bangles and earrings that weren't silver but pretty nonetheless, honeycomb straight from the hive, snakes, snapping turtles, dried gecko, flattened birds, and a fascinating looking rock called "pork stone" that looked exactly like a slab of bbq-ed pork that you'd see hanging in the window of your local Chinese take-away.

That night was a raucous dining occasion as a local Chinese tour group had rolled in and decided it would be a great idea for me and our tour guide to try their local home brew from Hebei outside of Bejing. I was suspicious the moment I saw the petrol container in which they carried it. Tasted like firewater - horrible.

Being in the mountains, it turns to freezing as soon as the sun dips behind the hills so we had another relatively early night and were up early for banana pancakes before carting all our gear back down the hill leaving Longsheng for Yangshou.

two and a half hours later we arrived at the touristy but pretty town of Yangshou, on the Li River. It's by far the most Western place we've been with Aussie Bars, Reggae bars etc all over the place, wifi, pedestrianised streets and touts everywhere. An afternoon exploration was enough to orientate ourselves, do laundry and have a decent Aussie hamburger with real beef paddy, pineapple and bacan and egg (no beetroot though, which was a disapointment). Explored the shops a bit, the grotty waterfront where the tourist boats come in, the farmers market and the local shops and stalls.

The farmer's market was not the most gruesome I've been to (Malaysia takes that cake) but I have to admit I avoided the dogs. I heard the yelps and steered clear. Apparently they beat the dogs until they yelp then burn the skin off them before they kill them - the adrenaline is important to the flavour of the meat.

There were snake-fish things being filleted alive with their heads stuck onto nails, fish chopped in half but still gaping and breathing because their lungs and heart were left intact - one kept going for a good two minutes. Other than that - loads of snails, vegetables and particularly monstrous cucumbers and chillis.

We met our guide for dinner at the Aussie "Buffalo Bar" where we'd had lunch - it's also where he lives when he's in Yangshou, and them whiled away the evening at another bar down the street.

Tuesday was an earlier start for a bike ride through the villages around Yangshou and a better look at the karsts. unfortunately, the "mountain bikes" we had were crap, with the gears jumping all over the place and the most uncomfortable seats. We passed over the Yulong River and through some local villages. Climbed more of those God-awful stairs to get to the top of Moon Hill, a karst with a big hole in it the shape of the moon. Got some great 360 views of all the karsts around us. Tried not to look to close to the edge as it's a sheer cliff used for rockclimbing.

had some more awesome local noodles off the street and treated myself to a Chinese massage after that. One hour for less than $20 was well worth it to ease my aching bones.

Now I find myself again at a local bar on West Street, whiling away Happy Hour before dinner.

Tomorrow is a cooking class before we get our last overnight train to Guangzhou where the travelling ends for the time being and the work begins...