Day 28 Our bus to Yuanyang was at 12.30pm and was from the south bus station which required a 2 hour public bus journey from the centre so we set off early. After a confusing 30 minutes we managed to find the bus station from where the bus randomly decided to drop us off at. To our surprise our bus was actually a sleeper bus. Now this was unexpected luxury, Eve and I were for some reason given beds on the bottom and top bunks instead of together (as one side of the bus has a double bed arrangement and one side single) but as we gradually discovered throughout our trip, in China white people seem to get priority. So the conductor ordered the poor lad next to me to jump onto the top and Eve hopped down next to me. The journey was extremely bumpy but with beautiful views and we arrived into Yuanyang around 7 hours later. Yuanyang is a county renowned for its spectacular rice terraces with several towns and villages. Nansha is the new town, Xinjie- which is where we got dropped off at, the old town and our village was called Duoyishu. We arranged a pick up through the guesthouse as there was no public transport after 7pm. After we got off a man approached us saying he was from Sunny Guesthouse which was where we were staying however he had no name. There are often poachers who say they are from the hostel when they are not and will charge you triple the price to take you and get a commission, so we were hesitant to jump in his minivan. However he rang the hostel and since he couldn't speak or write english, the women in the guesthouse couldn't dictate Eve's name and in the end he turned out to be our driver. 30 minutes later he stopped off somewhere to pick up a tourch, which worried us to say the least, and then after a further 10 mins we stopped at what looked like a dead end! PANIC! It was pitch black with no street lights anywhere, he jumped out and got our bags from the boot and then ushered us toward the mound of gravel that was blocking the road. I thought he was looking for a spade to bury us but no, he took us round the mound and he continued down the path. After a nervy 5 minute walk through back yards, farms and muddy puddles we arrived at a little house with the name of Sunny Guesthouse, however it was more like a homestay than a guesthouse. We ate dinner in their living area which they prepared and cooked for us and then we were showed to our corridor converted dorm with a curtain for a door.

Day 29 We awoke at 6am hoping to see the sunrise over the terraces- the water in the terraces reflects the clouds and sky and the colours at sunset and sunrise are the best. But no, just like Emei Shan we were right in the middle of a cloud. We took turns at 15 min intervals to see if it had cleared but no. So at around 6.45 we gave up and went to get washed, as I went to the bathroom (which was on the roof terrace) in the space of 5 mins it had cleared. I ran down to get Eve and the cameras and when we came back it was even better, the sun was more or less up but the views were still fantastic. In the distance a big cloud sat in the valley and just in front of us the terraces were glowing orange and pink. We were awestruck and sat for around 10 mins until a cloud came over the top of us and covered us in again. We were so lucky to catch that clearing of cloud as at breakfast we spoke to a French family and German couple who had been there 2 days and hadn't seen it like that. They also recommended a driver the hostel offered who would take us around the county to see the different terraces and for £26 we thought it was decent so arranged a pick up at 10am. We walked along the pathway to the road (if you can even call it a pathway) and saw the driver from the night before standing next to the minivan. With the language barrier we weren't sure if we were to go with him but we just jumped in anyway. He took us to a village market which started to worry us as there was no market on the agenda. After some difficulty we gathered that he would take us to the rice terraces afterwards and he scribbled some numbers on a piece of paper which we assumed was the time he would pick us up again. The market was clearly for locals with chickens, ducks and pigs for sale alongside the usual meat and veg and then random stalls were selling everything from electrical goods to traditional clothing. We walked back to the minivan so we could leave and see the terraces. It was so cloudy for the first hour so we understood why he had dropped us off at the market first but as we drove over the mountain to another village there wasn't a cloud in sight- not at our level anyway! We got some great photos and although the driver couldn't speak English it was certainly worth hiring him, he took us to around 15 different sights and dropped us off for lunch before taking us back at 4ish. Again the hostel was covered in cloud so he just ate our instant noodles for tea and read in bed.