troopytracks

We took a slightly wrong turning and missed a link road early on in the day which meant that we took a decision to stick to freeways and head towards Nanning before swinging west towards Kunming. It seems a long way around but we thought it may be faster. The scenery along the freeway is great now, much more tropical and there is more open flatter land. Bananas, mangos, sugar cane are growing along with the normal rice and maize.

We  stopped frequently to have a drink and at lunch time cooked a pasta dish as the food at the services is buffet style and on the quiet roads can sit a long time ….

The day went in a blur of freeways, toll booths and pleasant scenery. Driving on these roads is relatively easy as there is never much traffic. The lorries have a habit of driving in the overtaking lane and they are often loaded so wide as to obscure their mirrors, so overtaking requires caution. The lorries all have water cooled brakes and so there are frequent stations for them to refill the water tanks. You know when a truck is in front on the mountain roads by the fresh trail of water. We saw another couple of accidents along the way, one lorry had rolled on an emergency escape lane (they all looked well used!) and so not sure how good these brakes are. Someone told us that the trucks do not use engine breaking … not sure why?

On one of the short sections of national roads we saw a man that will not leave his dog behind, however much he is carrying!

We finally stopped after covering a whopping 820 km, by far the biggest days driving so far. It is a shame to rush through this area of China, but the way things are set up here does not lend itself to our style of travel. Bigger groups cheaper, but agreeing how far to go each day and where to stop could be a bit of a nightmare unless you all get on really well. Lovely though Spring is to travel with, the camper is small and not suited to more than two travelling. She was really good and rode in the back on most of the freeway sections of the trip.

We still have a 500km day tomorrow and we are not sure which freeways are finished so again need to make a reasonably early start.

After stocking up at the supermarket we headed out of Langshuo with the intention of working our way west towards Laos. We had intended to go slowly, but the fact that if we did not get to the border on the Friday meant that we would have to pay an extra three days of transit. It was already Tuesday and so this left us a massive 1750 km to do in two and a half days! We decided to give it a go.

There is no doubt that China is expensive to travel through as a single car group. It is not the normal things like diesel that racks up the cost, but the guide costs as charged by the companies that organise the permits and guides. It is possible to do this much much cheaper if you book directly with other smaller companies or the experienced guides themselves. It does take about 3 months to go through all the processes though so you need to plan ahead. Please contact us directly if you are thinking of a trip as we have met up with great contacts who can give you a great trip at a reasonable price …. don’t book until you have talked to us!!

The first part of the day was national roads, more interesting but slower and they require more concentration! There are lots of things to look at but as we need to cover the distance there is little time to stop. One man showed me around his bee hives, but discussion was limited!

Along the road the farmland is changing to flatter areas, but really precisely organised.

We drove until late at night as once we were on the freeway I was OK to drive in the dark. Not something I would do on the national or provincial roads. Even then we saw the odd person walking along in the centre of the fast lane, dark clothes and back to the oncoming traffic, so you have to beware!

We stopped at about 9.00 pm behind some buildings in yet another rapidly growing new city.  These pictures were taken in the morning, but it shows the spot. It was just next to a kindergarten, where they take security of the kids seriously as they are often stolen for childless couples and …. who knows what?

Tomorrow would need to be a big day as we need to cover lots of km’s. We had done 456 km today with a start at 2.00 pm so good going.

Yangshuo is a very busy tourist spot. It is the centre for rock climbing, boat trips and cycling on the Li and Dragon river (small and pretty river).

If you would like to spoil yourself in Yangshuo town centre try staying at The Bamboo House Resort. We did not stay but had a great breakfast there. The owner, a lady called Rosie gave us a tour. The bedrooms were fantastic (and some had their own jacuzzi in the room). The rates are good outside the Chinese peak holiday periods. Her website is http://www.bamboohoue.weebly.com and her email is bamboohouse23@hotmail.com.

Most of the rivers look pretty dead in China. You rarely see any life in them and seeing fishermen is quite rare. Not sure if this is due to the pollution or the fact that they are almost all dammed. These rivers seem to be better.

We spent the morning on the website, preparing e-mails to send to Ben for the updates. It is so much better when we can use 3G to connect the computer to the phone. It is then little and often rather than catching up for a week!

In the afternoon we drove to the Yangsuo Mountain Resort to meet up with Ronald who suggested that we take a walk along the river and on into the karst landscape.

There are queues of rafts running down the river, so don’t expect to be on your own. The charge is 150 Yuan per person, about 30 pounds per raft for a couple of hours.

Along the walking path we saw a sort of giant pear shaped grapefruit and some cotton growing.

On the way back through the village we had a chance to look at one of the trucks up close that we had passed everywhere in China. Very basic but reliable, they are used all over China.

Its been good to settle somewhere for a couple of days as we have driven a lot in China, stopping in each place for only one night. Tomorrow we will carry on again, but will not check out of the guest house until midday.

We tried to get up for sunrise on the rice terraces but our efforts were a bit halfhearted as we were expecting a cloudy and misty day. Admission to the viewing point/village was 80 Yuan each, but as it also included an overnight stop with great views …. not too bad. We got up at six, but by the time we got the camper cleared up and were ready for the hike it was already 6.30am and already fairly light. You can be lucky with the weather here, but lots are not …. including us. It is still a nice walk in the mountains and the scenery very pleasant.

The village is interesting in its own way, but is mainly craft shops, hotels and cafes offering both western and Chinese food. It is priced based on a captive market and so things a little more expensive than normal. Outside the tourist season people still farm and you see interesting crops along the way.

Because everything has to be carried up to the village without cars we saw mules being used to carry everything from bricks (in special hods) to huge heavy loads of vegetables and groceries. This poor creature could barely stagger up the hill. Only continuous whipping got him to keep moving. Overall in the areas that we have been to we have seen very little use of horses. Lots of water buffalo though.

As we were leaving the carpark we met a Dutch man called Ronald who worked in a resort hotel in Yangshou. We decided to see if they had rooms as we needed to catch up with the website and do some washing. After a long delay on the road to Guillin (another accident) we made it to the freeway (G65) that takes us most of the way to Yangshuo.

We visited the Yangshuo Mountain Retreat (where Ronald worked) which was in a great location, but no rooms. We settled for a small hotel in town and booked in for two nights. The view out of the room was good and it was only a short walk to West Street where it all happens in Yangshuo!

We left the long house after saying goodbye to the families and left them moving bricks for the building of their new kitchens at the back of the wooden structure. The women were doing the labouring but still wore traditional clothes, but obviously their old ones! Three of the children came to see us off too.

As we drove along the valley there were lots of little wooden villages. It made us wonder how many more were tucked away in the mountains that have no road access, there must be hundreds of them. To visit them you would need a guide, your walking boots and a long visa.

Around every corner there is another picture that you want to stop to take, however we need to move on at a reasonable rate or we will never get to Malaysia. We followed the Xun river for a while.

Even here there are new bridges being built and new roads going in. It is hard to imagine what impact this will have on the way of life of the Miao and the other ethnic minority groups in China.

Further up the road people were picking rice. Others carrying it back for drying.

We continued on to the rice terraces of Longsheng (Ping’an). After a long and windy road we arrived at a carpark where you leave your car to walk into the village on the hill. No cars are allowed past here. Spring walked on up to the village to stay in a guest house and we slept in the camper looking out over the valley.

Temperatures are suddenly so much higher … no need for the second duvet … barely need one!

In the morning we headed on towards Xijiang which was supposed to be the biggest Miao village. On the way we saw a local cattle / buffalo market.

 
Outside the main area a man was showing off his prize buffalo ….. judging by the crowd around him it must have been a good one. His face was beaming as the crowd admired the animal.

After that we continued the 17 km to the village, which may have been nice, but once Graham saw the theme park looking entrance and ticket booth, we decided to turn around and visit one of the many working villages. However if you want to see nice buildings with craft shops, restaurants and lots of tourists, this may be just what you are looking for!

After retracing our steps to the road that runs from Kaili to Rongjiang we found a steep track that went up to a village square. It was much more of a working village and we did not see any other tourists. Better still it was market day.

The first part of the market was live stock.

The lady selling the pigs thought it was funny that I wanted to take pictures of the pigs. They were sweet and a bargain at 160p.

The lady selling clothes on the stall was also wearing traditional headgear. Not sure why but nearly all the Miao ladies all have really nice strong white teeth!

We walked behind the village and up the hill a little to see the traditional Miao houses.

A lady invited us in to one of the houses and introduced us to her father in law. He was Han Chinese and had a great face!

We left the village and drove on down the road, which is twisty, bumpy and dusty. It was probably the roughest road that we had been on in China. The sights along the road were similar to most roads here, with people going about their lives very much in the open. The businesses all have roller doors at the front and people wander around and chat to each other. Very sociable.

As we drove we saw a girl who had dressed up (maybe for a wedding party?).

After a long day day driving we pulled into a Miao longhouse that had been built to house 22 families who were all related. It sounds like a recipe for disaster but seems to work well for them! When we first arrived they were all out at a wedding down in the next village, but after about an hour they all started to come back. It was lovely to see them in their traditional clothes, not for a tourist show, but because that is what they wear for formal occasions.

I stood with the old lady as Spring was taking a picture. The lady thought it was so funny that I was so tall compared with her. She was tiny!

It was a nice quiet spot for a sleep. After two bad nights, just what grumpy Graham needed!

Today was another long day of driving, covering over 500km on the freeway. The weather was mist and rain all day ….. Unusually no photo stops!

We dropped off the freeway to stop in a small town that had grown up around a railway station and found a friendly family that were happy for us to stay on their drive and for Spring to sleep in their guest room. What we had not realised until after we negotiated with the family, is that there is a railway line just behind the house. During the night trains moved coal to the power stations …. another train every 10 mins!

We went down the road to a local restaurant and met an interesting Italian man who lives in China and is cycling on a tricycle from Shanghai to Dalli. He has had it converted to sleep on/in by making a tent platform that folds out at night. He is really nice and very creative. His website is http://www.soundinner.com. Have a look.

We needed a good nights sleep but  ……… the trains!!!!!!!

We woke up to a misty morning and set off through a small village on an increasingly steep and winding road. One young local was being trained on the wheelbarrow.

The mist gradually turned to heavy rain and we made a stop for lunch outside a firework factory. The road was covered in mud and was very slippery. Two km up the road we saw a lorry hanging on the crash railings with only a few bits of grass and shrubs between it and a straight 800m drop to the valley below. They were very lucky indeed!

The road was high and we were glad of the barriers!

We saw a total of six accidents including another lorry which had hit a power line post, which had again saved it from a massive drop down the mountain. Finally we arrived at a bad crash and had to follow a local car down tiny roads to join the road after the blockage
The rain started to ease to drizzle and the views improved. People were emerging and carrying on with their harvesting.

The whole area was terraced here and in between the crops were more tombs.

We continued on and crossed a huge bridge over the Yangzi river. It was very hazy and difficult to see over the high guard rails on the bridge. We didn’t stop.

Finally we got to the freeway and it felt good to be able to relax a little. Nowhere near as much fun, but it is tiring and much more dangerous on the small roads. Mainly because of the better off car drivers, who often have fast cars but little experience.

First stop on the freeway was a lady selling walnuts. Funny the ones she showed us opened easily, the ones we bought were hard as granite.

One thing that is surprising in China is that the police seem intimidated by wealth or status and road rules seem optional for some. Expensive cars drive with either no number plates or they are covered with camouflage cloth. They may have more money but they treat other motorists as though they should move aside for them, often using hazard warning lights to say “hey I’m important, you are peasants, …. move aside”! The slightly more modest cars are more discreet about their attempts to fool the speed cameras.

Don’t get me wrong, the normal Chinese people are really friendly, generous and smiley, but the so called ‘new rich’ can be pushy and arrogant to the extreme! They seem to have forgotten where they came from.

We stopped for the night about 100km from Chongqing in a town. We parked outside Springs guest house and had the noisiest night of our trip so far…… no sleep. Graham was grumpy in the morning …. and Marjool worse!

In the morning we walked up the steep paths to the terraces above the house where all sorts of vegetables were grown. It was a good place to view the village and river below.

The farmer in the house above was dryng out his maize in preparation for grinding into flour.

We said goodbye to the family and left them a few odds and ends and 20 yuan ( 2 pounds) as a thank you. Like everyone one else they refused several times before they finally accepted. Even when we asked to buy vegetables from the farmers, we had to force them to accept payment. Amazing when they have so little.

The buildings were slightly different as we continued along the valley. The houses had random slate roofs, held on by their own weight.

There was still lots of maize grown here but more and more rice fields were appearing. Here there are few farm animals to feed through the winter and the rice stems are dried and burnt and the ash raked over the soil.

We passed through the odd little town and although it is tempting to look around, there are people moving everywhere. Nobody looks before they cross the road, motorbikes swerve out without looking. Mothers and children, or children on their own, step out in front of you …. it is chaotic and so you need to concentrate!

It was a lovely day and flat spots to stop for lunch are hard to find. People thought we were mad when we stopped here to cook omelette and rice. We soon had twenty or so people sitting watching us from the road. They stayed until we had finished lunch and washed the car!

There were lovely country scenes along the road.

Corners need to be taken slowly as around each bend you can find missing road, rocks in the road, broken down trucks and people walking or cycling in the middle of the road.

We were so lucky that the sky was clear! The view looking back from the windy road was fantastic.

We found a nice camping spot at the side of the river. Spring cooked dinner and we sat around the campfire until late.

That night it started to rain ….. if it was heavy we’d have to move!

We set off in the morning and took the freeway to Ankang. Soon after leaving Xian we went into the mountains and the freeway just carved a route straight through! There was just one tunnel after another, and if was not a tunnel it was a raised section of road, often up to 1 km in length. The tunnels got longer and longer and one was over 18 km! Only the Chinese would build a road here. The most amazing thing is that the whole of the country is criss crossed with freeways, and many must be the same in terms of the difficulty in building them, as it seems that most of the country is mountains. It is civil engineering on a massive scale.

We had decided to leave the freeway at Ankang and try the provincial roads that just wind their way through the  mountains, often clinging to the sides, with vertical rock above. The scenery was lovely and it was much easier to stop and take pictures.

Most of the rivers have dams to provide water for the local villages. The bigger ones have hydro schemes.

Because the roads are cut into the rockface they require constant repair and clearing from rock slides. Every so often you have to wait to get past a blockage.

As we travelled I could understand why the guide had recommended taking the big roads. Delays could last days if there was bad weather and as most self driving groups shoot through China due to the guiding costs, there is probably little opportunity to use these roads. A journey that takes a few hrs on the freeway would take us more than two days! It is worth it though …

One advantage is that you get to see people close up, and they are happy to have their picture taken as long as you show them. Baskets are used for everything.

Only slight problem is finding places to stop for the night as land is either very steep or, if flat, is used for crops, even the tiniest piece. Even the verges are often used to grow food. There are a lot of mouths to feed here! We started looking for houses with a flat drive and asked them if we could park on it. Spring the guide often slept in the house.

Lots of people keep a pig to fatten up. In another market later on we found good size, young pigs for 16 yuan (160 p). This was our host’s pig.

Older Chinese people are prepared well in advance. Another thing stored at the back was granny and grandads coffin. I asked what the nice boxes were thinking that they were some kind of storage boxes …. in a way they are! The old lady explained that they like to know where there are going next. She had also picked a spot on the hill for the tomb.