This pic is the closest I can get to Ping'an, the first village we stayed in, in Longsheng. All the houses looked similar to these, except all wooden but were on a steep sloped hill. Repace mountains in the background with rolling green hills with terraces of rice fields on them. The village was amazing. Really getting a true taste of how most Chinese live. And our hostel. wow. Was like a retreat. Youd imagine people coming to China just for this. The views were amazing. I thought the Chinese people here looked different to others Ive seen. More Asian, like darker skinned, a liiitle Vietnamese looking. Nicer. Also all the people in the fields were wearing those big traingular hats, that you see in Vietnam. Was so peaceful that evening, all of us writing postcards or in our diary, listening to music outside. Byron was also very happy as he got yoghurt and hunny. I had a full body massage as well by a local village woman which was really good, almost asleep by the end of it. Next day we walked about 18 k which is what like 6 miles? In the POURING rain. At first I was totally up for it, the views were gorgeous, but as the hours passed, and it became very difficult to see any views due to the torrential rain (Im not exaggerating! Ive never seen so much rain in my lfe!) I wansnt in such a happy mood. I also had a few tumbles off the path. One was right near the end of the journey when I just kept rolling. Luckily it wasnt in a bit where there was a massive drop at the side, and with some help from Paul and Chris I was hoisted up. Although I didnt have it as bad as some, like Byron, who was walking in flip flops (he had trainers, but didnt want to ruin them gievn he was right at the end of his trip-at Hong Kong he finished his 6 months of travelling and has gone back to England). The flip flops broke about an hour or two away from our destination, so he had to walk bare foot up and down the terraces. When we arrived, I discovered EVERYTHING was wet, including my passport! We'd been told to bring all our valuables with us and just leave main rucksacks at Ping'an. Also almost all my spare clothes were wet. So yeh not nice. But there was a fire downstairs and some yummy food that we all shovelled in very quickly! The evening was nice, playing cards, chatting and more food. The following day we walked back to Ping'an via a different route. Was so much nicer!!! It was sunny and warm and the views were fabulous. Quite proud of myself for keeping up with all the guys at the front while clambering up all the long steep hills. (James was leading so was quite a fast pace!) We were pretty hot and drenched in sweat so when we came across a mini lake, Duncan, Byron and I didnt wait around. Was so nice. Had a water fight for a bit and generally flopped in the water, totally submerged, to cool down. Although again all my clothes were soaked it was well worth it!!! So refreshing. Think Paul got a picture of us there, so am gonna try and get that when I get back to the UK. We did see the results of the previous days extreme weather. There were heaps of landslides that we had to climb over and when we got back to Ping'an some of the buildings were very badly damaged. One was actually held on by cables, attached to the hill side. Half the building was missing. We also found out that the hostels food supplies were very depleated as they were totally cut off the day before and the electricity was out all of yesterday and most of that day. Makes you realise how remote the place really was. That evening is now notorious. Etched in our memories forever, sorry Dunacn! Ok, so yeh, Byron and Duncan thought itd be a good idea to start drinking the local rice wine (is quite alcholic but doesnt taste it) at around 3pm after we arrived back from our treck. So the hours go on, and the teapots of rice wine are downed. At around 8pm when our 'local entertainment' arrives they are happily drunk. Smiley faces and slightly glazed eyes. What none of us realised was that the local woman, as our entertainment, would sing songs to each of us in turn and then 'offer' (there was no choice it it!) us a cup of rice wine! Ok, so one round was fine. The guys still with it, having a ball. Then it goes on! The ritual lasted for at least an hour. And generally it was Duncan, Byron and Paul who were targeted. Kal then told us that if we sing back to them then the woman has to drink it instead. But when one of us finally mustered the courage to do this-James, he was cut off and offered the drink anyway. And so it continued. The guys were also Gam Baying all their drinks too. Hmmmm... Kal finally said wed had enough to drink and so the games began! First was like some sort of dance where we paired off and the others would make an arch way for a couple to dance under, and through. Not too difficult. Then we all made a big circle, holding hands, while one local woman was blindfolded. We moved around as a circle, and she ended up picking Byron! This meant that they were married, if he could find her...blindfolded. So yes after a lot of drunken swaying and crashing in to pillars and tables he picked a woman from the circle. Im not sure it was the right one, but was a miracle hed got anyone at all! Then came this game where there were loads of planks of wood laid down length ways and the women would be moving them at the ends to a beat. While holding hands, standing opposite anohter local woman (there was no way any of us could be doing this on our own) you moved down the path of moving planks, in the spaces between them. Lindsey was the star, very good, but I was absolutely hopeless. Byron gave it a fair go and did pretty well considering. The eveing ended with us trying to sing songs to the women, which included a wonderfully hilarious rendition of Elvis (cant remember which song) and Romeo and Juliet by Byron, with a lot of actions. Hes so so so funny drunk. Becomes the life and soul of the party. Duncan was also very jolly at this point and was still able to juggle, to my amazement. (Duncan brought 5 juggling balls on the trip and juggles pretty much everywhere) The night wore on further and at around midnight I went up to pack as we were leaving the next morning. Sadly I missed the grand finale, where Duncan threw up everywhere! Oh dear. was so bad that the lodge staff refused to clean it up and Chris and James had to. So yeh, he was not looking all that hot the next morning! Next stop...Yangshou...