After 30 days in Nepal, we were due to depart from one of the best countries that we have visited. We were sorry to have to leave and not see more of the country, however our Visa was due to expire, our Indian visa had begun its 30 day countdown and we were ready for some relaxation and nice beaches (hopefully)!

After saying goodbye to Joshua and Amata and departing from Pilgrims we headed for the airport. Our flight to Mumbai was not on any of the boards and for a second panicked as we thought we had the wrong day. Alas the flight was scheduled but maybe for security reasons it was not listed. After around 7 checks of our passport and documents we boarded the 3.5hr flight to India. A swift and easy baggage collection, checkin and transport to another terminal we waited in Mumbai for our internal connection flight to Goa.

Another swift and pain-free departure of Goa airport we hired a taxi without an issue! This was all too easy, we thought India would be chaos! We paid 1400rs to get us to Palolem in a private taxi, arriving at 8pm. Our hotel of choice was full but by the look of the streets of Palolem, neon lights, tourist tat, restaurants galore, a hotel would not be hard to find and a “man with a hotel” walked us to his establishment. The room was basic and we opted to try a fan only option for 700rs per night. An average indian meal of tandoori cauliflower and vegetarian kebab sufficed before we could get our bearings the following day.

Palolem appeared to be very touristy and was not the small local village on the beach that we expected. The beach looked nice enough in the dark of the night and we retreated to bed quite quickly. The following day gave us the chance to see Palolem in the cold hard light of day which confirmed our suspicion that the village was geared towards tourists with very little cultural aesthetics. However for beach relaxation and plentiful food options it was in someways what we were looking for after our Himalayan exertions.

We opted for a great cafe breakfast which overdosed our fruit cravings and set us up for a day at the beach. Queue plenty of reading and lazing on sun-loungers with cold drinks and cold beer a stones through away. Awesome! We also began planning our journey onwards and booked two south-bound train tickets with a local agent, one to Kannur (to stay for two nights) and another to Fort Cochi.

On the 28th we walked to Patnam beach for more relaxing and beach hut food. Our sleeper train to Kannur was due to depart at 11.25pm however it didn’t arrive until 12.25am, luckily we met some other backpackers to pass the time with and then boarded our first sleeper train since Thailand!

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f2.0, 18mm f4, 90mm Tele-Elmarit f2.8, Olympus PEN, 17mm f2.8 processed in Lightroom 3)

• Day 17: Morning hike up to Gokyo Ri 5360m

We were up fairly early and opted to have some breakfast before heading up to the peak. Most trekkers leave for the views before sunrise and enjoy the sun rising up over Everest. We had heard it can get pretty packed up on the top and so we wanted to leave it a little later so we would get up there and have the views all to ourselves.

We took it very slowly and we were all feeling the altitude slowing our bodies down. We passed many trekkers making their way down from the sunrise, some of which had started out at 4am and exclaimed that it was freezing for the most part. Even though most days the clouds close in as the afternoon arrives it’s usually pretty clear in the mornings and we were not disappointed by any means when we woke up to bright sunshine and clear views.

There are many paths all intertwining with each other as you start heading up the so called hill that is Gokyo-Ri. We took around 2 hours to reach the top and as we were on our way up we kept looking out across the lakes, the glaciers and to Everest. When we reached the top we felt emotional, this was the ultimate part of the trek, the highest we would go and we’d taken 17 days to get here. Before long the 3 French boys whom we’d travelled with on the bus out of Kathmandu had arrived to join us in our little moment of triumph. They had been to Everest Base Camp, trekked up to Kala-Pattar, crossed over the Chu-La pass and were now on Gokyo-Ri, all of this they’d done in the exact same time as we’d taken to get here! They were mountain boys though after all and we felt like we’d achieved what we wanted to. Still it was very ironic for us to be up so high with those guys and we timed it right, for over an hour we were on the top enjoying our time with no other trekkers or groups around. For a little while we weren’t sure which one was Everest and felt stupid when it was confirmed by the French lads as we’d been looking at peaks much further away!

We were a little trigger happy as the prayer flags were blowing all around us and we were just in awe of the views out across to Everest (In the below image Everest is the highest peak with very little snow). The four of us tied our prayer scarfs onto the line of hundreds that were already there and relished the moment. We even took time to enjoy a mars/snickers break.

It took us an hour to get back down to the lodge where we chilled out for the rest of the day. We were happy to be in Gokyo at our little lodge with our quirky lady owner entertaining us! Later on we were joined by a loud group of American, Brazillian trekkers with their highly accomplished guides and porters (their head guide had summited Everest 12 times). They spoiled our little haven but we were amused by their bragging stories of guru’s, buddhism and the Vietnam War.

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f2.0, 18mm f4, 90mm Tele-Elmarit f2.8 processed in Lightroom 3)

• Day four and five: Sete to Junbessi (rest day) with a high point at Lamjura La 3530m

The upwards slog from Sete continued for a long long time. We knew these past two days of steep uphill trekking was going to be tough but we were always welcomed by fantastic views. After a sturdy porridge and ginger tea breakfast we made our way through some of the higher villages on the climb including Goyam where we stopped to enjoy some hot lemon and were entertained by the hyperactive children.

When we left Goyam we went higher still and eventually we came across snow and ice on the path. At Lamjura-La (3530m / 11,581ft) which was for both of us the highest point we’d ever trekked to, we were greeted by a large Yak or Nak and a fantastic Stupa dressed in prayer flags. It was really cold on the pass, misty and atmospheric with a lovely dog following us all the while. Just before the pass descended we stopped for some noodle soup and poorly made chapatti at the last tea house on the pass. We were ripped off when she told us our bill was 900 rupees! Ah well she was an entertaining chef to watch.

This was a long day of trekking, we were on the go from 7.30am until 4pm and the long downward walk to Junbessi felt like it took forever. We did pass some fantastic mani walls and stones and the weather was nice and moody by this point. We certainly welcomed the sight of Junbessi though and with school children singing their way up the valley on their way home we were enchanted by this beautiful place. We already knew at this point that we would have a rest day in Junbessi.

Thanks to KEEP (Kathmandu Environmental Education Project) we’d made some notes prior to the trek whilst we were staying in the capital. They have notes from trekkers recommending places to stay on the trek, gear, porter and guide advice and so on and we’d jotted down a few of the recommended tea houses and lodges. In Junbessi we wanted to stay at the Ang Chopka as it sounded rather special from the write up. We were welcomed in and actually stayed in Sir Edmund Hilliary’s room, which was so far the nicest room we’d come across.

The family are really welcoming at Chopka and on our first night we were joined by Joshua and Amata who we’d met the day before in Sete. Little did we know they would be our trekking companions for the rest of our trip. We enjoyed some fine food in the family kitchen and by the time our rest day came along we were well and truly fitting in with the furniture. Even more so on their sunny veranda! This is where we spent most of the day in fact, washing clothes, eating, drinking tea, reading and chatting with our new buddies. More trekkers joined us that night including the Singapore lads and a few other solo hikers. There was a good little vibe going on at Ang Chopka.

• Day six: Junbessi to Nuntala with a high point of 2930m

By this point we felt like our bodies had enjoyed a good relaxing day in sunny Junbessi and after a fairly early start we journeyed off with Amata and Joshua for the day. This was perhaps one of the easiest and quickest days of trekking as we pretty much chatted the whole way and time just flew by.

We enjoyed an excellent Nak cheese and crackers stop at the first official place where Everest can be viewed from. The only thing for us was that Everest was in cloud, still we had a really good taste of the vast peaks awaiting our presence in the distance. Plus the little lady at Everest View was very sweet, how could we not buy cheese from her?

Along the trek we stopped in Ringmo for lunch as the wind blasted by us and each of us picked up a mars bar for a later treat. We enjoyed this straight after the pass on our way to Tragshindo. The monastery at Tragshindo is a nice place to stop for a little while along the way. We picked up on the fact that we were probably a little slower trekking with our new friends, mainly as we were chatting about food…A LOT! And we were taking in more sights (and mars bars).

We got to Nunthala at 5.30pm and stayed at the Shangri La Lodge. It’s American/Nepali owned and one man runs the place which did mean that the food service was slow, especially for those ordering momo’s. Our fellow Singapore trekkers were also staying there the night. It’s a pretty over the top colourfully decorated place.

• Day seven: Nunthala to Bupsa

By this point we were undoing a lot of the uphills we’d been trekking earlier in the trek by going down! Much of the trek was averaging at around 2-2500m but on this day we hit a low of 1676m, lower than our starting point in Jiri! However all of the training and going up and down was great for acclimatisation and we knew it would be helping us later on in the trek. After leaving the bizarre Shangri La Lodge we carried on along the easy to find path and criss-crossed through more terraces, tribal villages and donkey trains. We enjoyed more of the wonderful Nak cheese and milk tea before stopping for lunch at the top of Kharikhola.

Kharikhola is a lovely largish village with many options for accommodation. We wanted to continue further though to Bupsa which we could see perched on top of the hill in front of us. So we went up from 2072m to 2350m in a one hour or so hike steeply uphill. We had another long day of trekking and arrived at The Kwangde View Lodge at 4.15pm to the sun going down all around us. It was a lovely golden light across the valley.

Our hosts here were super friendly although the macaroni dishes were a little poor, should have stuck to the Daal Baht! Joshua gave us a great tip about using duct tape in the boot or on the back of the sock for Dave’s bad blister that was taking quite a battering from all the walking in his boots. The evening’s were getting pretty cold, perhaps at around 2C (36F) or so and our down jackets were getting lots of use. Dave also worked out for us that evening that we would be trekking around 170-190km on the trip and by the end of it all of the meters climbed would equate to over the height of Everest!

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f2.0, 18mm f4, 90mm Tele-Elmarit f2.8 processed in Lightroom 3)

We woke up early to the sound of eager cockerels the first going off at around 4.30am. It wasn’t the best night’s sleep with a very hard mattress indeed and snoring echoing throughout our eco-shack. We had a cooked Laos style breakfast in the form of noodle soup, eggs and fruit, Helen was getting her appetite back and starting to feel a little more like herself again. We left the village at 8.30am and began to trek once more through forest land, past more karst peaks and made our way up and down a hilly terrain which required a little more effort than the flatness of the day before. We had a few descriptions of plant-life and the area and we walked for a good 4 hours before arriving at the second village for a home cooked lunch. We sat inside someone’s home at the back of a shop and chilled out awaiting more food, it was really kitsch inside with old wardrobes, bright wall colours, retro tiles and clothes everywhere. It was a good little stop for photographing! More rice, more soup and stir-fried egg and we were all ready for a nap. No time for this though as we were waiting for a pick up to take us to the Blue Lagoon.

On the usual itinerary there is a tractor ride involved whereby you get pulled along on a cart by one of their home-made style tractors; not like ours at home. This didn’t happen for us because there were 8 in our group and the tractor wouldn’t cope with all of the western weight. So we had a mini-van take us to the lagoon instead with music blasting out of the over-hyped stereo. It took around 15 minutes to drive to the lagoon, packed in on a bumpy ride. The lagoon lives up to its name and is a very intense copper sulfate looking colour, it’s hard to believe that the lagoon is natural as it seems more like a chemical phenomenon. There were no scientific descriptions available from the tour guides only spiritual ones. It’s quite deep and plays host to shoals of large fish. Most of the group plunged in for a cooling swim after we walked around the edge of the lagoon, we both decided to photograph and observed from the sidelines. We hope the photographs show the intensity of the colours and the subtle reflections that glowed.

After a group photo we continued in the minivan to a point from where we walked a further 2 km to meet our pick up trip. At around 3pm we met our pick up back to Tha Khaek and we were back in the town at just before 5pm with an en-route detour to the bus station so that we could book bus tickets for the next day of travel. Back in Tha Khaek we checked into the Travel Lodge along with the rest of the group and settled in for a relaxing evening of food, chat and planning. It’s a really good spot for meeting other backpackers and they have a good outdoor seated area. We would recommend staying there and the dorms are good value for money if you’re on a budget, we paid 50,000 kip for a double with shared bathroom.

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f2.0 & Olympus PEN, 17mm f2.8 & 100mm f2.8, processed in Lightroom 3)

We were picked up at 8.30am or so from our guesthouse and much to our delight there were an extra 4 people booked on the trip and so we received $10 refund each off the original trip price. We were able to take our main bags and leave them at the Tourist Office securely whilst we would b out on the trip, after dropping them off we went on our way to the first stage of the trek.

There were 8 of us in total and we were a good mix of people with 2 cheeky tour guides carrying our food from place to place. We took a Song Thaw for about an hour towards the national park and stopped at a wooden bridge, this presented us with a problem; we couldn’t go any further in the vehicle over the bridge with all the food and people packed inside of it, so we off loaded, carried the food and walked to the village around 1km away. When we got there Mii was waiting with a scooter and took the food from us in preparation for the lunch-time spot.

After a short introduction to the village and our guides we walked for around an hour and a half and landed at our first cave of the tour. It wasn’t so big in size but was good enough to explore with head torches. Onwards from there we continued to walk through forest and farmland and ended at the lunch time spot which was at another cave, here there was also a lagoon going into the cave and so everyone stripped off and went for a swim. Helen wasn’t feeling up to getting into the water and was still surviving off re-hydration drinks. The lunch was served on a long picnic bench and we fought off the flies whilst eating barbecued fish, chicken, sticky rice and vegetables, it was okay but the flies didn’t help! We stopped at this spot for over and hour and then continued to walk to another cave. This cave was very impressive, for 15 minutes we all sat or snoozed letting the lunch settle in the peacefulness of the cave. Dave went off to explore a little and photographed the rest of us snoozing away. The tour-guides then led us through one part of the cave guided by torch-lights and out into another much larger section of the cave. There was water and a sand-bank that led towards a large exit point. At one side of the cave there are steps leading up to a Buddah shrine and fantastic views across the cave to the other-side where we snoozed. We were told that once a year there is a festival that happens in this cave and around 3000 people go there to celebrate for 3 days, as always in Laos style, we could only imagine what this would be like.

After leaving the cave we walked another 5 km to a Stupa and then a further 1km to the village where we were staying that night. The village farmed tobacco and we were surprised at the presentation of the village homes in comparison to those we had seen and stayed at in Cambodia. There are around 90 people living in this village with mostly young children under the age of 11. When we asked where all the older children were the response was that in the dry season they go to the town or city to work and send the money back to their family, coming back in the wet season to farm. The children were good fun to photograph but we got the impression they’re used to westerners coming into their village as they showed off, grabbed at the cameras and were quite cheeky. Still it’s all good for the purpose of photographing.

Our accommodation comprised of an eco-style hut with great views from the village of the surrounding mountains and we enjoyed chatting on the balcony of the hut whilst the sun went down. The bed’s were made for us with mosquito nets and bed covers provided. We will say one thing though; always carry a sleeping bag liner or inner sheet as they don’t clean their bed linen very well and we noticed a few bugs crawling around!

We played Putong with the locals (boules) and managed to beat the French couple from our group, one of whom plays it every summer with his brother!! Not bad! The locals cooked us dinner and we all ate together along with them on the balcony of the guesthouse. Later that evening we participated in a traditional Laos Bacai ceremony, this involved the group sitting around a circular table with a candle and flower arrangement in the middle. For each person there was a portion of sticky rice and chocolate bar that we would accept as a gift.  The head of the village came to each of us one by one accompanied by his two deputy leaders, he prayed for us, spoke of good things to come and all of us were predicted we would ‘live long liiiife’. He placed a cotton bracelet on our wrist and the gift was in the pal of our hands. Following him his deputy’s did the same so we ended with 3 bracelets each and many many wishes of a long life!

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f2.0 & Olympus PEN, 17mm f2.8 & 100mm f2.8, processed in Lightroom 3)

People in this part of the world get up early, so you get up early too. We awoke at 6am and decided to watch the sunrise from our floating house looking out across the water. The sunlight colour and luminance changes so fast that its a photographers dream to be somewhere so unique and interesting. Breakfast was provided by our guests and we happily ate yet more fried eggs, bread, jams and fruit which would set us up nicely for another day of boat travel and beach time. This time we headed back on ourselves from the following day and docked at beach 6 which was again very isolated and offered the chance of some snorkeling action. The water was relatively clean, not crystal by any means, and there were a few fish around the rocks which made it interesting. After all feeling the power of the sun on our skin yesterday we had a slightly more sheltered day under the trees on the beach front when not swimming or exploring the beach.

Lunch was again provided by our guide and the boat driver which was amazing again. We think they had learnt that we eat quickly and therefore fill up quickly and they did not produce as much food as yesterdays lunch which was a relief to us all. The boat left at 1.30pm and we made our way around the island, past the homestay and onwards to the Mangrove forests which we did not arrive at until nearly 5.30pm. We walked through the forest along a raised wooden platform exploring the trees and their amazingly alien like roots. Sunset arrived swiftly and we departed for Koh Kong where a tuk-tuk was awaiting our return. We felt the tour was amazing and our guide and driver were great, so we tipped them a few dollars as it was well deserved. The tuk-tuk drove us back to the tour operators and we grabbed our bags from the Dugout hotel as we were moving to a cheaper hostel. Big thanks to the Dugout for allowing us to leave our bags, whilst we were away, however on our return arrogance and rudeness seemed uncalled for, as well as asking for a tip for the girls who apparently looked after and carried our bags, but if tipping was not our thing, don’t worry about it. Even though it is in many review books, we are not sure how long it will last with attitudes like that and at $16 a night in a tired room we did not feel a tip was warranted.

We moved up the road to were Ali and Carl were staying and we got a great room for $7 and then $10 the following night as it was Chinese New Year. We freshened up and all met for some evening food. Ice cream followed from a great place on the water front and then an early night before heading off in the morning on a bike ride into the Cardamon Mountains Conservation Corridor to find the Tatai River and Waterfall.

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f2.0 & Olympus PEN, 17mm f2.8 & 100mm f2.8, processed in Lightroom 3)

Up early and out the door with our baggage we headed to the Ocean Tours office. We were able to leave some bags at the tour office to lighten the load whilst on our trip to Halong bay with our new friends Justin, Jules, her brother John and his wife Lisa. The six of us piled into the tour bus with the other adventurers and began our 4 hour journey to the bay. We arrived at midday after a stop at a service area which sold assorts of tourist paraphernalia including huge tapestries which were made in the shop by a bank of ladies at sewing machines.

Once we arrived we boarded the Junk boat and set sail into the bay which had some nice views if a little cloudy. The boats have accommodation for up to fourteen people so they are nice and cosy. Due to the limited space we were staying on Cat Ba Island for the first night and on the boat on the second.

We were served some very good food on the afternoon which included some fresh seafood which we all loved. After some more sailing and relaxing on the top deck we dropped anchor and a boat arrived with some kayaks for us to venture into the bay under our own power. They were double person kayaks so we both jumped in and paddled around into bays and caves. Even though the weather wasn’t the best we loved the kayaking and the water was a decent temperature, there was even talk about going for a dip in the water at some point!

We boarded another junk boat that had docked with the first boat and the six of us headed off to Cat Ba Island for the evening. The sun poked through the clouds and it made the whole area just that little bit more magical. Our tour guide was chatting to us, supplying us with information on the area and answering any questions, he was very knowledgeable and helpful. Upon docking at the island we headed to our evenings accommodation via push bikes for a few km, maybe taking around 20 minutes to get there (our bags were taken onwards via motorbike). The village is very small and quiet with a new custom built area for the tourists to stay in basic but practical bungalows with en-suite bathroom, hot water and a double bed.

To save some money we purchased a little present from Hanoi in the form of a bottle of Rum priced at 90,000 Dong (£3). Justin and Jules had the same idea, so out came two litres of spirits which got the night off to a good start. Dinner was served and again the food was very good, they even catered well for the vegetarians and also wheat intolerance. We were informed in Hanoi that there would be AC heating in the room, but this was not the case, however more blankets were supplied and this kept us all fairly snug.

Breakfast was served at 8am which included some very good apple pancakes and omelettes. After some relaxation time and packing we all got together and headed off for a hike up the nearby karst peak (around 300m in height). Its quite a climb and you will need some good footwear, boots recommended, to manage the rocks and steep assent, apparently the record is around 35 minutes but we managed it in around 45/50 minutes. At the top there are some great views over the whole bay and down to the village below, however it started to rain so we headed down which was made more difficult by the slippery rocks underfoot.

We also ventured out to a nearby cave before heading back to the village for some lunch and then we jumped on the bikes to ride back to the dock to rendezvous with our evenings watery accommodation. The double rooms on the boat were very well presented, clean and comfortable, with hot water from the showers. The temptation to take a plunge in the water was just too much for some and after stripping down and braving the now chilly air, Justin, Jules, John and Dave all jumped in. It was chilly to say the least, but bearable for a few minutes, in the summer it must be lovely. The boat headed off and dinner was served including seafood and a plate of chips which all went down very well.

You can have a go at Squid fishing from the boats edge, however it was a quiet night in the ocean and nothing was caught, good job we weren’t fishing for our food, otherwise we would have been very hungry. After some card games and an offer for Dave to play some Texas Holdem poker with the Vietnamese boat staff, which we declined when we found out they were playing for money, I’m sure we would have got shafted, we headed to our cabin for a night at sea.

After a good sleep in our cabin, breakfast was served on deck and we were informed that due to bad weather we had to move to a safer bay which took us too far away from the Amazing Caves that we were due to visit. This was unfortunate but out of anyones hands, government orders apparently, so we set sail back to port. Upon arrival at the port we had lunch at 11am, so we were all feeling pretty full after two meals in the space of a few hours. The food wasn’t as good as on the boat but it was ok. Generally speaking the food on the trip was very good indeed, often at times we felt like each meal rolled into the next, you certainly wont go hungry if you book with Ocean Tours!

The journey back to Hanoi was uneventful and we arrived safely back at Ocean Tours at around 4.30pm. We had a sleeper bus booked for that evening so we were glad we had the time to get to the hostel pickup point and grab some food before our departure of Hanoi. Street food was a quickest option and we had some rice dishes. Helen’s vegetarian option was sticky rice and pickled cucumber, which was tasty but basic, Dave’s was a type of salami, a fried boiled egg, rice and sauce which was very tasty, almost like a mini full English breakfast.

At 6pm we were picked up from the Rendezvous hostel via mini bus and taken to the sleeper bus for the journey to Hoi An via Hue, a 13 hour journey to Hue and then 4 hours onwards to Hoi An.

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f2.0 & Olympus PEN, 17mm f2.8 & 100mm f2.8, processed in Lightroom 3)

Boxing Day is traditionally a time for eating the left overs from Christmas day, watching some great films and playing games with family and friends. However this year we wanted beach, sand and sea with some lovely sunshine, especially after coming from the north of China! Lamma Island was our choice as it has good reviews a nice walk from one village to the next and has a good reputation for being a million miles away from Hong-Kong’s manic streets. During the morning we sorted out or next tickets for traveling back in China, Shenzhen to Guilin on a 10 hour sleeper bus which would be our first sleeper bus journey!

The boat over to the island takes around 20/25 minutes. If you want to buy a ticket you need change for the entrance barriers, there are change machines if you don’t have enough coins with you. You can walk from Yung Shue Wan to Sok Kwu Wan in around 90 minutes or so and it’s an easy walk along a custom concrete path. There are shops and restaurants in the villages and we found a great little organic shop which even sold flapjacks and wine which was very reasonably priced, even cheaper than on Hong-Kong Island. We found a beach, ate our packed lunch of sardines on Rivita bread and bought an ice cream for dessert. One caveat however, when there is beauty there is quite often some unappealing elements, such as a coal fired power station just across the bay. It’s a pretty big eye sore but you would hope that the waters are safe, people were swimming and everywhere was pretty clean. If you can ignore the beast on the horizon then this is a little gem of a place away from the shops and manic life in the city.

Continuing our walking we headed over the hills and towards the other village. Its a nice little walk with some great views out to sea (when looking away from the power station!) and the sun was slowly turning our skin golden even in December so plenty of suncream is required. Another beach called Lo Shing off the beaten track can be found and we had it all to ourselves pretty much, a nice jetty with a BBQ area was occupied by a family cooking all sorts of fish and meats. We settled onto our towels and Dave dragged, well carried, Helen into the sea against her wishes! Dave got his punishment after slipping on a rock and slicing off some layers of skin on his heal which stung quite a bit, that was the sea fun over with for him!

After some anti-septic wipes and a “little” bit of sympathy from Helen we hobbled off to the village to head back to Hong-Kong Island. Stopping on the way at a restaurant called Shark Fin Seafood Restaurant we had some awesome fresh fish and prawns, the best fresh seafood we’ve enjoyed on the trip so far! We don’t like the name but it was damn good food.

We made our way back to the guest house, bought some essentials for the next part of the trip, toothpaste, earplugs etc and after the first real sun and beach in months we were knackered! We snuggled down in bed and watched a new episode of E4′s MisFits. A great boxing day, one to remember!

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f2.0 & Olympus PEN, 17mm f2.8 & 100mm f2.8, processed in Lightroom 3)

We went out for a bike ride with one of the Chinese girls’ Sylvia who was staying in the dorm with us, she was friends with another of the girls working at the hostel. It was good to have her with us as she could help us to find our way by asking the locals which way to such and such a place. She wanted to go to a specific village called Xixhou which is about 20km away from Dali old town. We wanted to cycle through some of the villages closer to the lake so we could explore the farmland, the most direct way would be to cycle along the high way for the entire ride but that’s no fun, so we compromised and spent some time cycling to the villages and some time catching up and taking the highway to the furthest place.

The farmland in Dali is very lush and extremely beautiful to photography. During our stay in Dali the sky was a perfect blue and it was a very comfortable temperature indeed, only being cold in the shade. By night it dropped significantly but we had electric blankets to cope with this!

So we took in the scenery around us, some farmland, some lake and some road. It was stunning. We got to Xixhou at around 3pm and ambled through the village market before stopping for some very good value soup rice noodles. For 3 of us to eat it cost around £2.80, and the food tasted really good. The only bad thing was a local guy pestering us for left over food and drink, he wouldn’t leave us alone and eventually got what he wanted. Still the setting took us away from this. We continued out of the village and took the road to some older parts of the area. Once more fantastic views, terraces and buildings surrounded us.

We decided to make our way back at around 4pm and set off for Dali. We were going quicker than Sylvia on her lady-like bike so we waited for her every so often, plus the drivers on the road aren’t the most reliable often overtaking two cars in one go so we wanted to make sure we were all with us. When we got back Sylvia joked about how fit we were compared to her and she said she’d only ever ridden a bike once before in her life. Considering this fact she did very well indeed.

When we got back we ate at an Indian restaurant down the road from our hostel and enjoyed more chai. Back at the hostel there were a few more travelers, Helen got chatting to Jane who she’d seen at various other places around China. It’s very easy to bump into people when you use Hostelworld for recommendations on where to stay. Many people also choose to travel through South China from Vietnam as it’s a good route and the weather is pretty good in Yunnan.

So it was our last night in Dali and we really loved the town and the hostel had a nice vibe too. We decided to nip back to Bakery 88 the next morning to get some take-away sandwiches with very good cheese and meat! Yum!! We also sneaked in a few more granola slices.

The bus back took the scenic route as part of the highway was closed but this wasn’t a bad thing as it meant we got to drive through some more beautiful countryside and villages. It was quite a luxury bus with only a few of us on board, and we got back to Cloudland at around 7pm. We had some food, chatted away and got ready for our flight to Guangzhou the following day.

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f2.0 & Olympus PEN, 17mm f2.8 & 100mm f2.8, processed in Lightroom 3)

We left one big bag behind at Cloudland hostel as they offer a free luggage storage service for 3 days (thereafter its 3yuan per day). So we took advantage of this and packed most things into one main rucksack and had the smaller ones for cameras and so on. The bus left from the one bus station in Kunming which is way out of town, it takes around 45 minutes to get there and will cost 50 yuan by taxi. We were lucky as two girls from the hostel were making their way to the bus station so we shared the taxi ride with them. They were also going all the way to Yuanyang so it was good to know there were more travelers making their way there.

The bus left at 10am but it was a chilly start to the day, much cooler than previous days and all the way to Yuanyang this weather seemed to stick with us. There were a few stops along the cliff edged roads, one of which led us to some interesting outside toilets others were drop offs for extra parcels and passports the driver seemed to be transporting. There was a bit of a traffic jam coming into Xinjie where the main buses will stop at for the terraces and we eventually pulled up at 4pm. Greg from Sunny’s Guesthouse was there to meet us, he’d been staying there for some months helping out and as their English speaking guide for the guesthouse. His English was perfect and this in itself was very helpful in negotiating the mini bus fare back to their village. The two girls we had met on our way to the bus also joined us, so all in all we had managed to save a few yuan by sharing taxis and so on.

It was pretty foggy which we’d heard is very common at the terraces as they are set at altitude so often the mist settles into the valleys and takes a day to clear. We stopped at a few vantage points along the way which gave us a hint of what to expect when the weather clears. Sunny’s Guesthouse is one of very few accommodations in the Douyishi village. It is run by husband and wife and their sun Frank, they are currently doing some renovation work (as is often the case in off season China) and they are limited when it comes to heating, but it has amazing rooftop views and is located at the foot of the rice terraces in the village so we were spoilt for choice! We opted for a double room mainly due to body heat, it was freezing!! We did have an electric blanket though so there was comfort in that. The mist didn’t clear but we got a few shots of the landscape before dinner and two of the other guys staying there turned up from a stroll so there was a good group of us around the table. Dining takes place in a separate outer building from the main guesthouse, Frank is the chef and he kept churning out top quality home-cooked organic dishes one plate after the other. We also enjoyed the red rice which is grown in the Yuanyang rice fields. The family ate at the table next to us which is great in itself as they really do welcome you to their home. We stayed up and chatted next to the little fire in the communal area and then settled in for the night in anticipation of a good sunrise the next morning.

We woke early but the fog was still with us so we stayed in the warm bed a little longer before getting up to join some of the others for breakfast. They were disappointed as the whole time they were there the fog was too! Still even the fog offers some great opportunities pictorially. For breakfast we enjoyed an eggy bread style theme; egg pancakes with jam (very tasty) eggy french bread (good) and fried egg…it did the trick but was a little too stodgy! Still it was hot food and the air was cold. Nathan from San Francisco had arrived at 5am so he joined us and we chatted about plans for later on hoping to catch the sunset if the fog cleared.

After breakfast we went for a stroll into the village. Still foggy, adding atmosphere to the surroundings, we wandered past the pigs, chickens and cows roaming around people’s houses. There is very much a sense of community here and we learned that the rice terraces belong to the villagers and they share out between themselves what they grow, we figured it must be the same for the animals. The houses are very simple, many with straw roofs and it’s a very basic way of living (although we’re sure they have large flat screen TV’s tucked away in some of them!) It’s a very picturesque place and making our way down to the terraces was really rewarding even in the fog. You can walk into them quite far on the small paths, the terraces can be quite abstract too with left over rice plants sticking out of the water. At times the sun peeked through the cloud and offered some strong reflections, but the fog would soon swallow it up again.

We arranged to meet Nathan, Frank and one of the girls at 4pm to head out in search of some better weather later on. This meant we had the day to catch up on editing, the electric blanket was turned on, we wore all the clothes possible and every so often we would pause for a run up onto the roof terrace to catch the views before going back down again. Helen got pretty cold so along to the Chemical Brother’s Push the Button album she had a boogy in the room to warm up!

We met up with the others at 4pm to go in search of a sunset, Frank had heard that the sun was out in a few areas of the region so we went off to find them. Some of the best views were found at roadside platforms where we could catch the terraces for free, the bigger more well known viewing areas are all charged on entry so we had to toy with the plan…if the weather isn’t going to be good over there let’s see what we can find for free rather than getting there, paying and having no views. When we originally came into the Yuanyang region we managed to avoid the entrance fee by sitting in the back of the mini van and being unnoticed by the gateway keepers. To access the villages alone there is a 60yuan per person fee for tourists, but if it’s foggy, the weather is bad or you can hide behind local drivers then you will miss this fee. We were nearly charged on the second day but Frank managed to talk us out of it.

Finally we reached an area that had clear views and strong sunset colours reflecting off the water filled terraces. It was quite a special moment, we could see the fog coming in on different sections of the terraces. Wow! The terraces go on for what seems like miles, and this was only one section!

We did have to pay Frank for ferrying us around but it was only 30yuan per person so that wasn’t too bad at all, he also took off some money for us as he didn’t take us all the way to other viewing areas, this was mainly because the weather wasn’t as clear there anyway so it did us a favour. Back at Sunny’s we enjoyed another family meal, perhaps not as good as the first night, but there was plenty of choice and we were joined by some more guests. We stayed up with Nathan and Greg sipping on hot tea and chatting away until it was bed time. We were leaving early the next day but had vowed to be on the rooftop for the sunrise.

6.30am and we were on the roof watching the sun rise over the mountain tops and Dave shot some more slow shutter imagery on the Olympus Pen. If we’d have had more time we would have loved to stay for that day as we knew the weather was getting better, but we had other plans to go further north from Kunming and we were happy with what we had seen.

A quick breakfast and we were all squashed into the mini van to take us back to the bus station. This time we shared the journey with 4 others so once again costs were reduced. The bus left at 8.30am and along with Nathan we made our way back to Kunming. It was a much warmer day all round and we arrived in Kunming at 5pm, Nathan shared our taxi and covered the costs as a work expense which we were very grateful for. We said our goodbyes and landed at Cloudland at around 6pm in time for dinner.

A few hellos to other travelers we had met in Shanghai and we went out to one of the local eateries for some great cheap local food. This was followed by a quiet night at the hostel and arrangements to take a bus to Dali the following afternoon.

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f2.0 & Olympus PEN, 17mm f2.8 & 100mm f2.8, processed in Lightroom 3)