Chris and I had decided to take a hike through the rainforests of Xishuangbanna. This is the most southwestern part of China and we are bordering on Laos and Myanmar(Burma). So we head to the Mekong cafe to find out some info. After we ate we met this dude form Israel, who had been trekking through Laos. His name was Uri. He mentioned to us that he wanted to do a trek, and we quickly decided to do our trek together. After talking to a local guide a couple times we eventually decided that wih Uri's experience and Chris and my chinese skills we decided that it would be okay if we made our own way. Maybe it was dumb but it turned out alright and we saved each other 600 yuan each.
The next morning we hoped a bus to Damenglong and set out, into the jungle! The first couple hours of the hike were pretty uneventfull except of course for the amazing scenery and and the local villages. These villages were the definite real deal man. The people for the most part didn't even speak chinese or if they did it was very rough and definitely there second language.
After the sun set the three of us came upon a small village with some pretty friendly locals. We talked around a bit and managed to hitch a ride on the back of a dump truck filled with shingles or something. Chris and I talked with the little man who was in the back driving with us. We managed to work out the details of where we were headed and where we would eat and sleep for the evening. This guy was really friendly and it was a great opportunity to see the tribal culture in action. When we got to his village we hoped down, paid the driver and were greated by his family at the bottem of he trail. It was real dark at this point so I didn't see too much. But what I did see was a sweet ass Stilted house made of baboo with a thatch roof top. "Tian de!". That means sweet in chinese. The man named "Agua" I think, made sure we felt comfortable and then started to make dinner. As time passed we had sorted out that it was up to us to decide how much to pay the man. Looking around this home I realized that these people seemed quite content with what they had. Full of dignity they did things the way they did and it was really neat to see. We all gathered around a candle lit table to eat. The house was divided into two rooms. A sleeping place with a small bamboo wall dividing it from the main room, was in the back corner. There was a small fire place just off the centre of the dimly lit room where the kids were gathered as well as the nearby grandmothers. I guess they came to stare at the weirdo's who just arrived. Anyways, we chowed down to an excellent meal and some sugarcane to top it off. Sugar cane is really good. After dinner we chatted for a bit and dozed off into sleep.
Cockadoodledooooooo!!!!!!!!
Huh! oh, I guess it's time to wake up. I've never woken up to roosters before. cool. We got up and hung out for a while. Paid the man before he left for work and his wife gave us some breakfast and sent us off in the right direction. After hiking for several hours we came across a waterfall.. Oh Yeah! Pat gets naked and jumps in. Shower time. Well actually I put my swimming suit on but,... for all you dreamers, I was naked for a second. Continueing on down the road Chris almost stepped of one of those bugs that looks like a twig. That thing is freaky man. We got some pictures and you really wouldn't know it was alive. Adaptation is cool. We ended up finally, (after a long 7 hour hike) in the town of Bulangshan. We grabbed a room for the night and had a bite to eat and laughed it up over some beer untill we fell asleep.
The next day we bused back to the capital of Xishuangbanna and parted ways. Uri, It was great to meet you dude. Hopefully we'll meet up in Dali. Chris have fun in Loas and Thailand.
I'm now on my own in Dali. First impression, Very cool old china city. Lot's of pictures lot's of hiking and a dam fine time.
Peace&Love
Patrick
