Friday, August 26, 2011

Beautiful China: Hiking the Dragon's Backbone (Longji Rice Terraces)

The morning after my camera got stolen in Guilin we weren't really feeling up for much, but we'd previously made transportation arrangements to go to the Longji Rice Terrace villages and spend a day hiking through the hills, spending the night in a local guest house.  So off we went.  The day started pretty rough since I was still really, really sad over losing our pictures from the earlier part of our trip.  Jason caught my attitude perfectly in this first photo!  :)
















We were dropped off in Ping An village -- it was beautiful and quaint ... and very touristy!






















Our hike began and PingAn and was scheduled to take 4 - 5 hours to DaZhai village along these lovely stone pathways.  It was gorgeous every step of the way.  The sign Jason is standing next to says "no photos while walking."  :)


Unfortunately for us, the path was NOT well marked at all.  We'd been told we could ask for directions in the small villages along the way, but the locals refused to point us in the right direction, insisting instead to be our guide (for a fee of course!).  At one point we were literally running to get away from one of the women who had decided to "guide" us even though we'd refused very directly. 

So .... all that being said, the hike took us 8 - 9 hours and we ended up walking on a desserted highway after dark, in the pouring rain.  Not exactly what we'd imagined!  We eventually stumbled into Dazhai and took the first room offered to us.  The next morning when we awoke, this was the view from our window!  Amazing!


Looking a bit tired, but still enjoying the gorgeous scenery.


1 comment:

williamqliu said...

haha, the first couple pictures captured your sense of humor perfectly :) Beautiful landscape and that looks like quite the hike.