Yesterday morning we had to get up pretty early for our transfer to Guilin by public bus. It took 2 buses to get to the nearest town with a railway station - where we left our big rucksacks in a storage centre for a couple of days while we went to the Longji Rice Terraces. It took another couple of bus journeys through the hairpin bends to get to our destination, and even then it took another 40 minute walk with our daysacks up the hills to get to our hostel in the clouds. The weather was incredibly muggy - but still spectacular scenery. This location was home to one of the ethnic minorities in China, more famously known as the home to the longest-haired women in the world. According to Bobo the symbol of long hair was beautiful, and after the birth of their child they would cut it, and let it grow again. They obviously played upon this tourist attraction though and they didn't hesitate to try to sell us postcards, handmade souvenirs and even locks of hair… which isn't really what you need after 5 hours travelling.

We met our Longji Terrace guide, a tiny little man who was incredibly enthusiastic about walking miles and miles. He suggested we go for a trek after we arrived at the hostel, but everyone was more interested in having a nap before the walk tomorrow, then spending a couple of hours playing cards. Since being in China we've both become adept at various different games, Cheat, Rummy, Switch and Spoons to name a few. We've also got into the habit of christening every dog we meet 'Bruce.' Not really sure where this came from, but all dogs around here tend to look like a Bruce.

This morning, the rain was pouring, and pouring, and pouring……… The farmers we wearing wellies, and you couldn't see far because of the mist, so needless to say not many of us were in the mood for a 4 hour trek. We'd been assured if it rained, the walk wouldn't be on, but despite this the enthusiastic little guide still pressed us to go. 40 minutes in, soaked to the bone (including Liam's feet; his walking shoes had split so he'd had to wrap his feet in carrier bags) Lucy had stopped as she suffered from heart palpitations, and was feeling quite ill. Bobo said a few of us could go a different way for a shorter walk to catch a bus to the next hostel. Yes please! And we didn't regret our decision one bit - upon arrival at the next hostel, the few of us who'd changed route enjoyed a beer or two waiting for the others, and when they did catch us up, they were muddy, wet, and in no better state for seeing more mist.

Everyone was pretty exhausted so we spent the afternoon chilling out, some people slept and others just watched the massive thunderstorm. We were so high up you would open the window and cloud would actually blow in our rooms! That evening was a paid-for show by Intrepid - the Ethnic Minority Cultural show. And it was brilliant! A group of local women performed dances and sung local songs (see videos), and then suggested we contribute to the performance. On the spot, Alastair suggested we sing Old Macdonald Had a Farm, which seemed to go down well - Oink Oink - and then they performed a marriage ceremony where a chosen groom (Callum) had to find his 'bride,' blindfolded. Luckily he grabbed Emma, his girlfriend, then had to drink rice wine with arms entwined and do their own 'performance' - the Robot dance. Finally, we were all invited to have a go at dancing over moving bamboo rods, a lot trickier than it sounds! The photos of us falling over show it all really!