Quite a lot of rain overnight and the occasional clap of thunder, woke up to drizzle this morning and a bit of travel fatigue! As a result, we took ages to decide what to do, but eventually decided to make the most of our last day here, as we're off to Ping'an tomorrow, to see the famous 'dragon's backbone' rice terraces. Apparently our hotel there is built in the traditional style of the area, (which means it's made of wood and 30 minutes walk uphill from the nearest car park.) So we went back and hired 2 pink bicycles again and rode off to find the alternative 'quiet' route to the Dragon bridge on the Yulong River. Rode along a very smooth concrete road for a bit which then turned into a bumpy mud & gravel track, but seemed to be heading in the right direction. We passed a lot of people working in the fields, or knee deep in mud and water in the rice paddies. The land here seems to be very fertile, with lots of different vegetables growing, as well as wonderful orange groves.
We stopped at a place called 'The giggling tree' for a noodle lunch, and got some very detailed directions to the famous bridge, which were very helpful and we managed not to get lost at all. We bumped our way along through some old villages, where most people waved and said hello (some in English), some ignored us, and one small boy rushed out brandishing a stick! There were lots of water buffalo, hens and cockerels pecking about everywhere, and lots of dogs (most of them Chows, with their funny purple tongues). When we reached the bridge, it was a hive of activity, with Bamboo rafts everywhere. They are punted down the river, then loaded up in an enormous wobbly stack on a small truck, then driven back to the bridge, ready to start all over again. We saw one rather large American couple sitting on a raft on tiny wooden chairs, and they seemed completely obliviious of the fact that their raft was not particularly buoyant, and they were nearly ankle deep in water! As we were a bit short of time, we decided just to ride back the way we'd come, returned the bikes, which were spattered with mud, but otherwise undamaged, and I headed off for another session of acupuncture with Dr Lily Li. The elbow is doing well, but after today's cycling, I think I could have done with some on my knees and coccyx! I'm not sure if there'll be Internet up in the rice terraces, so the next one may be from Hong Kong. Goodnight.......