Lounging in Longji
Trip Start
Sep 01, 2007
1
46
58
Trip End
Oct 22, 2007
Ping'An,
China
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
We had a free morning so wandered back up to viewpoint 2 which, without any day-trippers, was a breathtaking way to sit and watch the world. A few people did come and go but mostly we just sat on our own with a few of the local storekeepers and a local Zhuang lady who was doing some tapestry while waiting for photographic clients. It was clear that we were just there to enjoy the scenery so the only communication between all of us was to say hello to each other and the only trade was when Annie bought me a cup of coffee.
At one point we wandered along the path to where the group of long-haired Yao ladies were waiting for the next group to offer their wares for sale and photographs of them singing and letting down their hair
Breakfast Al Fresco
. We had fun with them and again I got the treatment of them crowding around me, touching my hair and lots of "beuuutiful". This time Annie decided it was worth a photo of "Jonathan and his girlfriends" ;-)We stayed up at the viewpoint for quite a long time but, when it became apparent that the day-trippers were starting to arrive in their droves, we headed back down the mountain. On our way down we spoke to a few more people trying to sell their wares, smelled the exceptionally spicy chillies drying on the side and smiled at some toothless old ladies. We also passed a hairdressing salon where two long haired ladies were sitting outside drying their hair. To everyone's amusement I went and showed them my long hair which does not really get over my head in the way theirs does :-)
Then it was back to our guest house to help the old ladies hoist their baskets laden with our luggage onto their backs and send them off down the hill. We explained my lack of depth perception and slowness on stairs otherwise they wanted to walk behind us. The many stairs down were getting busy with day-trippers, porters lugging bags up and down the hill, workers carrying very heavy looking water pipes up the hill to cater for the increased number of visitors and their water demands, and men carrying people who are unable or unwilling to walk up the hill on rickshaws balanced on the shoulders of two men much like those used in the days of the Raj in India. Along the way we looked at more views, passed shops selling all the usual tourist trinkets, had a taste of dried Chinese mango (delicious), stopped to say hello to some baby ducklings (aaah) and also some shy young Chinese children and finally made it to our mini-bus where our luggage ladies were waiting patiently (I think) for their payment. We were still feeling bad about the weight they had to lug so overpaid them again before setting off back down the many hairpin bends of the windy road heading out of the rice terraces. We did have our driver stop once more for a last look and photograph before settling in for the next few hours of driving to Yangshuo.
