Sunday 16th November 2014

Ping An – Longji One Hotel – Rice Terraces

We woke at 7am and sat on our patio with our morning tea and coffee. We enjoyed the view once more and saw some tiny birds that were brown with specks of white, red and yellow. There were also some larger birds which were black with a perfect white stripe across their wings which we spotted as they flew onto the top of a bush, the tinier ones flew deeper into the foliage.

We are being picked up at 9.30am and we must pack what we need for tonight and tomorrow in our rucksacks. We must pack as light as possible as we will be carrying our rucksacks with us on the hike through the rice terraces tomorrow. If our itinerary had not been altered we would have been staying two nights at the Longji One hotel and therefore we would only have to carry water on the hike.

Marco introduced a new driver to us and explained that our usual driver had a personal emergency. We commented that we hoped he was okay and Marco confirmed that he was. He told us that his nephew was 100 days old and therefore he must attend the family celebrations.

The first part of the 4 ½ hour journey to Ping An was rather erratic, there was lots of traffic and it seemed like the majority of drivers were continually pressing their horns. Drivers were taking crazy risks, overtaking on bends was one example. For the first time we all fastened our seat belts and we later agreed that our driver too had taken a couple of unnecessary risks.
We stopped part way into the journey to use the public toilets in a small village. There were no doors, only walls separating each cubicle, so Anne and I stood guard for each other, while thanking the ‘powers that be’ for the walls!

Once more Marco was very informative, he told us how difficult it was to own property for the majority of the people. The average monthly salary is 4000 Yuan. The men who work on the rafts earn just 40 Yuan per trip, at this time of year Marco thinks that they will do two trips a day, in Summer maybe three.
Ping An village is in the county of Longsheng and magnificent rice terraces dominate the area. The Longji rice terraces have been nicknamed ‘Dragon’s Backbone’.
Marco warned us that the rice terraces might not appear very green due to the irrigation being turned off after the rice was harvested last month. However, apparently the irrigation was turned back on for a few days as Jackie Chan was there last week making a film. He is now in Yangshuo continuing the filming.

We decided to leave our luggage in the vehicle; Marco said that it would be safe. As we left the vehicle, it started to drizzle so we donned our cagoules and followed Marco through the tiny streets. There were some rickety stalls with souvenirs and foodstuffs for sale. Our guide stopped briefly at one of them to show us some dried meat hung up, he pointed at one and said ‘this one with the long tail is a rat’. I asked if he had ever eaten one and he exclaimed ‘no, I hate rats!’

We walked up many steps, some of which were muddy and therefore slippery. We had seen one or two porters hoping for business, they had huge baskets strapped to their backs. Their seemingly advanced years surprised us.

We stopped at a traditional wooden building, which was an eatery, for our lunch. What a feast we had. We were served with sweet and sour chicken and green beans with pork. A piping hot and steaming aubergine casserole was brought, along with a beef and onion dish with red pepper. Steamed rice arrived and a huge bowl of soup with mushrooms and vegetables. The dish that looked the most interesting was the sticky rice that was cooked in a piece of bamboo and then opened and served still in the bamboo. Our Sunday lunch was absolutely delicious!

 

 

 

 

 

After lunch we continued by foot to our hotel. There were more steps along the paths and some paths were closed due to workmen in the process of digging them up. Because of this we had to walk a different way and Marco got a little confused as to which direction to take and therefore stopped and asked the way.

It’s just after 3pm and we have just arrived at the beautiful Longji One Hotel.
A note on the reception desk stated ‘ if Spring is not here, please call her on her mobile …’. Well Spring is not here and the eagerly anticipated view of the rice paddies from our third floor lovely room is not here either. We are in the midst of a low cloud, I say a silent prayer that the cloud lifts soon, we are only here for one night.
We quickly unpack, as we have brought an absolute minimum, it takes only a couple of minutes.

The hotel is superb. The beautiful wooden furniture in the rooms, and the dining and reception areas have been carved from tree trunks and then heavily varnished. We decide to have a quick coffee before we go for a walk. Marco has warned us that there are no street lights (there are no streets!) and advises that we don’t venture out after dark. We think this is a sensible idea as it could be easy to lose ones direction or footing in the dark.
Dave and I wander up and down the narrow, uneven and wet, muddy steps watching the Zhuang people going about their business. Today is a Sunday but it is definitely not a day of rest in this tiny village in the southwest of China. Men are busy binding bamboo together to make scaffolding. Others are leading mules carrying heavy burdens of sand or bricks.

We pass a dusty shop selling groceries and one or two equally dusty souvenir shops. We see old ladies, whose heads are wrapped tightly in brightly coloured material and notice that they are carrying children strapped to their backs. One old lady is carrying long lengths of pipe, there appears to be some plumbing work in process. It’s quite unbelievable really as every café or eatery that we pass boasts ‘Wi Fi’ but there are lots of places without plumbing.
It was starting to get dark so we returned to our hotel. This is the coldest it has been since we arrived in China, we switch the air conditioning on to heat our room and we decide to get comfortable on the bed, to read and to write my journal. As I place a cushion behind my back, I catch a glimpse out of the windows and exclaim ‘oh my God’. Dave looked at me in alarm and I pointed out of the window and said ‘look!’ The cloud had lifted and there before us was the stunning view of the rice terraces. What a fabulous sight! We scrambled for our cameras and the door to our balcony.

 

 

 

 

 

We quickly take a couple of shots, we look for Pete and Anne but as they are not on their balcony, I run and bang on their door to tell them that the cloud had lifted. I was afraid that it would quickly drop again! We spend quite some time admiring and appreciating the picturesque view.

It seemed strange to me later, as I was having a hot shower in the smart bathroom with it’s delicate porcelain washbasin, (this one decorated with a blue and white elegant bird); I was aware that there were people living in extremely basic surroundings close by. Old ladies carrying buckets of swill for the pigs or lugging pipe on their shoulders on the misty and muddy slippery steps which is how Ping An is today.

The four of us met up for our evening meal in the hotel’s dining room at 7.30pm and Marco met us to discuss the hike through the Longji rice terraces, which we are doing tomorrow. We have decided to do the 3 ½ – 4 hour hike as opposed to the 5 – 5 ½ option mainly because we don’t want to have to rush. We want to be able to stop and look around and enjoy the scenery.

It is cold in the dining room and when we finished our dinner just before 9pm we all decide to return to our rooms. Dave and I are now sat up in bed reading and writing. We are wearing our t-shirts and fleeces and have the air conditioning unit switched on.

Our room is a corner room and we therefore have two huge windows. We have left the curtains open and hopefully we will wake with the rising of the sun and to the view of the rice terraces. We are not sure which direction we are facing however. Just in case the light doesn’t wake us we have set our alarm clock for 7am.

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