After a longer than expected night train, we arrived to Guilin after dark. Luckily, our hostel, Green Forest Hostel, was only a 10-minute walk away.
Following our 29-hour train-ride, we decided to grab a few beers to unwind. After one or two, I was content, but Josh had the urge to go out on the town. A guy that works at the reception desk agreed to accompany Josh, while I went to bed early.
Josh only got back at around 4 or 5 in the morning and was struck with a stinging hangover that left him incapacitated for the following day.
While Josh was bedridden, I took the opportunity to explore Guilin and its beautiful karst landscape.
A short distance away, I passed Elephant Trunk Hill: a supposed elephant-shaped limestone hill that charges an unreasonable admission charge considering it is just a hill. I took its picture from the Li river and was content with that.
From there I walked to Shan lake, home to the beautiful moon and sun pagodas.
After getting my fill of pagodas, I continued north on Zhongshan Zhonglu to Folded Brokade Hill.
Folded Brokade Hill is a multi-peaked karst hill that provides beautiful views of Guilin and the Li river landscape.
It was unfortunate that it was pretty overcast, but still beautiful none-the-less. I explored its many peaks, reconstructed pavilions and admired the view of Mulong lake Park and its lovely pagoda (what can I say, I love pagodas!).
I then walked along the Li river, briefly scoping out the prospect of visiting Seven Stars Park, but I ultimately decided to skip it.
Just as I was nearing our hostel, it started pouring rain until the point where the side-walks were flooded. I sought shelter and waited for it to pass.
When I got back to Green Forest, Josh was still in a semi-comatose state, so I ate dinner and went back to visit the sun and moon pagodas at night. They are illuminated and quite stunning by moonlight.
I later discussed the possibility of visiting the Longji Rice Terraces or Dragon's Backbone with the hostel staff. They said it would not be possible as a day trip, but I took that as a challenge rather than a warning. Josh had decided to sit this excursion out, so I would be doing it solo.
I left the hostel before 7am and took a city bus to the bus station, where I caught another bus going towards Longsheng.
It took nearly 2 hours through fog-obstructed mountains to reach the junction at Heping. From Heping, I boarded a local bus headed towards Dazhai, my starting point for the trek.
Once reaching Dazhai, I started my ascent to the first scenic point (creatively called No 1 viewing spot), providing incredible views over the golden-and-green terraced rice fields. Since I was virtually alone on the mountain, I set up my camera to snap a self-portrait.
The signage up to this point had been rather helpful until I started looking for the No 2 viewing spot. At a certain point, the signs just stopped and I asked a local boy who spoke incredible English where to go from there. He pointed me in the right direction and I was on my way.
One of the biggest problems with the rice terraces is that there are literally hundreds of farmers' paths on the route and no real way to distinguish them from the hiking path.
I tried to follow the boy's directions but continually went the wrong way: slipping on loose earth, walking through painful thorn-bushes cutting up my legs and reaching countless dead-ends.
When I finally reached a proper sign directing me to scenic spot 2, I had taken wrong turns totaling nearly an hour. I started my ascent and was climbing for around 45 minutes before I reached a little rest area, but no lookout in sight.
The path continued so I decided to follow it. After descending for another 45 minutes, I felt like I wasn't going the right way. There was a construction site nearby so I asked if they knew where Ping'an was, the village that I was hiking towards. They looked at me with a bewildered look and laughed at my predicament. One nice lady tried to help, but it was obvious she didn't know either.
My last and only logical option was to climb back up the stairs and try to find another path. After nearly an hour of continuous climbing, I was back to the original sign which pointed me in the wrong direction.
I had only stopped once to admire the solitary peaks at the rest point. I had only brought 1.5L of water and 2 snickers bars to sustain me for the whole day and my hydration and hunger levels were fleeting.
As opposed to other sights in China, I was hoping to see someone, anyone to assure me I was going in the right direction. But alas, I was alone.
With some searching, I finally found a sign that pointed towards Ping'an. I followed it and was soon face to face with something I hadn't seen in hours: civilization! There were a few hotels, a handful of tourists, and lo and behold, scenic spot No 2!!!
After a brief pause, I saw a sign that directed me to Ping'an, leading to a fork in the road. I asked a man with a donkey and he pointed the way.
I was now a man on a mission: I would make it to Ping'an, even if I had to sleep in the rice terraces.
Around an hour later, I crossed paths with a couple from eastern Europe who assured me I was headed in the right general direction but they too had been lost a few times. They said it was still another 4 hours until Ping'an, but they looked out of shape (i.e. fat) so I was hoping I could half their time.
I picked up my pace and crossed paths with a group of backpackers who told me it would only take 1.5 hours to reach Ping'an. There was no stopping me!
I eventually reached the village of Tiantouzhai and literally asked 20 villagers if I was on the right path at every fork in the road (and there were many!)
At one point the path ended and I arrived at what looked like an abandoned dam and the only people around were a chicken farmer and a man chain-sawing some trees. In desperation I yelped Ping'an at the men and they nodded yes.
I followed a gravel road until I saw a house. A man was asleep and I woke him and asked him where I was. He pointed to some bushes. When I went through those bushes, I saw it: the Ping'an Rice Terraces weaving below me!
I then walked to the lookouts more creatively named "Seven Stars Accompanying the Moon" and "Nine Dragons and Five Tigers". I was so tired and dehydrated I swore I could have seen those dragons and tigers. I took a brief pause to admire the landscape.
The sun had already started to set and the golden light swept across the rice terraces. I knew that my arduous, painstakingly confusing and frustrating trek was coming to an end.
As I walked down the steps towards the parking lot, I was prepared to stay a night in Ping'an, realizing that buses may no longer be going back to Guilin, but I was happy that I had made it and wouldn't have to sleep on the mountain.
With sweat caked on my face and clothes, dirt covering my arms, and cuts all over my legs and ankles, I triumphantly stepped onto a surprisingly convenient bus right back to Guilin. It didn't matter that I would spend half of the ride on a tiny bench in the aisle or that I smelled like a hockey equipment bag after a season's use, because I had proved to myself and the Green Forest Hostel that the Longji Rice Terraces could be done in a day, even if you're too stupid or directionally challenged to navigate the supposed 4-5 hour trek (it took me 7-8 hours with no stopping or breaks).
So looking back, I don't regret my decision to go to the Dragon's Backbone Rice terraces, with its incredible beauty and amazing farm engineering, but next time I would probably spend the extra 10 dollars to hire a fricken guide!
No comments:
Post a Comment