Yuangyang - Wednesday 30th November

So off we set at “not-quite-night” for a 45k trip to Duoyishu‘s renowned rice terraces.  It gradually lightened, revealing a grey, misty morning, though the rain did stop before we reached the viewpoint.  We were very lucky to get a glimmer of sunshine as we watched the changing light across the truly amazing panorama of paddies below before the misty fog swirled round again.

We tromped down to the first levels of paddies for yet more photos and a fun, if damp, walk across to a lovely hill-tribe village which is pitching for World Heritage status.

 

 

So ‘elf and safety have installed nice new street lights on sympathetic wood posts, and lovely paved streets – except it’s the locals have who to supply the labour.

Next stop was te local market in a villge on the way back to the hotel. Quite extraordinary, with a sight at every turn - so many lovely ladies of all ages, either in the brightly coloured tunics and silver bum-flaps of the "pattern-waisted" Yi people or the subtle indogos and darker braids of the Hani. One of the Yi tunics is on the way back to 133 as a wall hanging. 

After our browse around, we were happy to head for  delivious noodles a the local gran, mom and babe diner.

Then a time-out back at the hotel to download photos and write journal – which I might add was lost completely recently going over a bump in the road as I typed, so we are now backing it up every few mins - lesson learned!

We ended the day at the local BBQ restaurant in Xinjie, with the plate of meats of our choice – I forwent the chickens’ feet and ducks’ tongues. With steaming spicy noodles and delicious veggies, washed down with a shot of the local firewater, we dined superbly and rolled home happy.