A Day in a Remote Village

Thursday, July 3, 2008--Jishou to Dehang

I arrived at the mini-bus stop in front of the train station at 9:00, and I only had to wait about 15 minutes for the bus to fill for our departure for Dehang, about an hour away. Dehang is a Miao minority settlement up in the karst mountains and is in a national park area. My room overlooks an old stone arched bridge, the small stream going under it, and the narrowing canyon beyond that is topped by the ragged tops of the mountains. From my window, I can see a boy fishing in the street, a woman and a man washing their clothes in the stream, a woman on the sidewalk frying and selling crab kebabs in a wok, and the old tiled roofs of the houses built in clusters along the stream. It's a fascinating view.

This is such an idyllic place. It would be easy to stay here for days just taking an occasional hikeon one of the trails and eating good meals. I took two hikes today. This morning, I followed the Nine Dragon Stream Scenic Trail. It goes from the bridge where my room is up the stream I can see out my window. As it continues, the canyon narrows leaving behind the rice terraces that are along it at the beginning and leaving just the lush greenery of the mountains topped by the sheer faces that lead up to the jagged peaks. Butterflies and dragonflies are everywhere along the trail. At one point, about 10 huge butterflies were fluttering in a circle around me as I walked. The dragonflies are irridescent blue, light blue, and orange. Occasionally, there is a local person, often an older woman dressed in a native costume that is based on the appearance of the butterflies (which the local people believe they descended from). The trail ended at a waterfall with a big pool beneath it. It was possible to hike further by going up the mountains, but it was hot and close to noon. I just returned to town.

I ate at my lodge. The woman cooked me a dish that was made with small slices of smoked pork (skin, fat, and meat), garlic, ginger, and peppers. On the side, she gave me a dish of stir-fried green beans, a dish of seasoned cucumber slices, and rice. It was too much food! And it was definitely too much fat!!!

After napping for about 2 hours, I went out again on the Yuquanxi Scenic Area Trail. It followed another stream in much the same way. There were many rice terraces at the beginning. Then it became more rocky. The trail crossed the stream back and forth at least 8-10 times and climbed higher and higher. By 18:00, I was almost to the end of the trail and decided I should turn around to make sure I could make it back to my room by dark. I ended up walking back with some Chinese people who had been on the trail, too. One, a government employee working on a philosophy degree, spoke some English and visited with me.

I was too full from lunch to eat again, so I just rested in my room. I watched TV some--a typical communist entertainment program where huge groups sang songs while making movements with either fluttering fans or streamers. As Arne used to always note about the communist programs we could see in Denmark, all the participants had religious-like smiles on their faces almost as if they have been hypnotized. Anyway, by the time I turned off the TV and went to bed, it was unbelievably dark in the village. It's a great place for looking at the stars!

Friday, July 4, 2008--Dehang to Fenghuang

I was up early and caught the mini-bus back to Jishou. A young Chinese lady who is an English major at university sat beside me. She, too, was headed to Fenghuang. It took us quite a while to get to Jishou. One of the small towns in the area was having its weekly market, and people were everywhere. We could hardly move through the crowds, and the bus kept stopping to drop off and pick up more passengers.

We had to transfer to another bus station to get our connecting bus. We took a taxi and arrived just in time to get the last two seats on a bus leaving then. It was another hour to Fenghuang. The station there was outside of town, so we got another taxi with two others who were on our bus (about 15 cents each to get into town that way).

Fenghuang is an old town built along a river. The houses are built on poles out over the river. My room is in one that is beside the covered bridge that goes across the river. As I look out, I see the boats carrying tourists on the river, the old wooden houses on poles across the river, etc. It is very atmospheric. And it is filled with tourists.

I was tired from getting up early and traveling all morning. Once I got my room, I just napped again. After coming out, all I have done is walked some to see what can be seen. The old town is very large with lots of shops and nice old buildings. I wandered through it heading to the newer part of town to find a cyber cafe. Tomorrow, I will really explore the place, since I plan to remain here for two nights.