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Hello everyone
Issy here - we are both safe and well and out in the middle of nowhere, following a 3 hour bus journey onto ever narrower roads and then a 50 minute hike UPHILL in the very humid heat to get to our hostel. We overlook the famous Longji rice terraces, although the view is not at its most spectacular at the moment as the rice is waiting to be harvested. When the fields are full of water it can look as if the mountains are covered in lakes of ice - spectacular.
We are still having "interesting" times when we need to use the local "facilities" - I'm not sure we'll ever really get used to them - but there we go (or not, as the case may be !!)
Tomorrow we are supposed to have a massive trek of about 4 or 5 hours to another set of rice terraces. We're both chickening out and going by bus most of the way, leaving just an hour's climb at the end of the ride to get to the next hostel.
The place we stayed for the last two nights, in Chaolong, again in the middle of nowhere, was wonderful. It reminded me of the South of France, with the warmth, the cicadas singing away, the lovely food and the rural setting. Pat and I had our own short bike ride locally while the others went on a longer ride, and then Lulu, the little dachsund who lives at the hostel, took us both for a hike round the hills !! She really knew all the different routes and stopped every now and then to make sure that we were still following her. It was really sweet.
When the rest of the team came back, it seemed that we had done more exercise than they had done as the "official" bike ride was not nearly as strenuous as had been described. I think we had the better day, as we had a leisurely lunch after our efforts and totally relaxed in the afternoon. Very nice.
Neither of our phones seem to be working at their peak, so don't expect too many calls for the next couple of days - probably until we get to Hong Kong on 7th October. We hope reception will be better there.
Must go now as there's only one computer here and there's a queue to use it !!
Lots and lots of love to everyone. We miss you all.
Issy and Pat/Tish/Tricia
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