Dragon Tales 2

Xinjie

Brekky. The worst two-minute noodles I've ever eaten. There was some sort of chemical flavouring in the sauce that made my tongue tingle and sorta go numb. I delivered the sauce to the pot. The potty, that is.

Loaded up, and ready for today's massive climb. My destination today is a town called Xinjie, which is sort of a base town to explore some of the most amazing rice terraced areas in the world (apparently). It's a huge climb of over 1300m, and it's hot again.

But hey, it's not too far, and I have time.

I ploughed past this sign

Looking back on Yuanyang as I climb

Awww, sorta reminded me of the Adelaide Hills

Up I go

Town on the way, there were only a couple

I stopped there for a tamarind juice. Yum! Tamarind has become one of my fave flavours, and they seem to be around a lot up here.

Coniference

All of the graves have been decorated around here, and the sound of firecrackers going off is common at the moment, as people pay their respects, and attempt to scare off evil spirits.

My destination, Xinjie

Climbing into town

I got a contact of a woman here who speaks English, she had a dorm bed for me, which I agreed to pay for without seeing it. But the room turned out to be really filthy, and that's saying something, coming from me. There was ratshit in all the wrong places, and the bathroom hadn't been cleaned since the Qing dynasty ruled China.

There was even used toilet paper on the floor of the bathroom, as well as filthy used towels in there.

So I made sure all my food was securely packed tight in my panniers overnight, which, given that they're super watertight, probably don't ooze out too much smell. Thankfully, no rats came to visit overnight.

I hate rats in my room.

The view through my grimy flyscreen. At least I had a flyscreen I guess.

Another country, another currency.

My balcony was full of rubbish. Just like my room.

But had a great view of the local massive regional school below.

If I was a mozzie I'd probably look like this

So off I went exploring the crazy town

This region is mainly populated by the Hani ethnic group, but there are other groups here, including the Yi, Han, Dai, Miao, Yao and Zhuang. Many people get around in their traditional gear, it's so beautiful to see. Most of the woman make their own clothes from locally produced cotton, and take great pride in their work.

Some of the headpieces are absolutely stunning to see, as is the embroidered cloth that hangs at the back of their dark pants.

Smoked buffalo meat

Local hospital. I love the pink.

Dragon tales. Bouncin around the main square.

Am I in Italy?

Er, no I'm not

Veggies and a blue salted duck egg. They soak the eggs in brine, and then boil them up. Interesting strong flavour, super salty, surprise surprise.

These vehicles really cracked me up when I first saw them. They're taxis, but they're definitely missing something.

Tomb decorations and firecrackers

Local whisky, they call it wine, but it's distilled, and made from things like rice, millet, sorghum and corn.

Strolling down to the markets

Icecream lady. I was too full.

But these kids weren't

Silkie chickens, a local delicacy. They have grey meat.

Chicken eggs, blue duck eggs, and fermented eggs, or "century eggs."

The huge markets

Money to burn

View from the market

Steam buns

Sunset from the main square

Many of the old men smoke through metal pipes these days, instead of the traditional bamboo ones.

To avoid my rat room for as long as possible, I sat in a tea house and ordered a cold tea. And then, to my amazement, Jean strolled in! I'd met Jean at the border, he was completely fascinated by what I was doing, and we'd had a long interesting conversation there.

Jean is originally from Normandy, but more recently has been living in Marseille. He's retired, and has hooked up with a lovely local woman here, Sophia (her English name, which many Chinese create for themselves). Sophia's a tour guide in her 60s, Jean, I guess, is in his 70s. Recently, citizens from a small number of European countries, including France, have been granted 15 day visa-free status in China. So Jean is just hanging out here, leaving every 15 days, and turning around and coming straight back.

We chatted into the night. He's a beautiful man, full of stories.

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Go to Part 3