Just a quikie...spent past few days in the countryside in very rural villages. After a five hour trek was greeted in the largest Miao village in China by our hosts at the guesthouse...there were fire crackers going off, rice wine being forced down our necks and songs being sang!!! Really lovely atmosphere and again quirky wooden houses and mozie rooms. Later on we had a traditional performance of songs, dances and wood pipe playing...even dressed up in local dres...

Just a quikie...spent past few days in the countryside in very rural villages. After a five hour trek was greeted in the largest Miao village in China by our hosts at the guesthouse...there were fire crackers going off, rice wine being forced down our necks and songs being sang!!! Really lovely atmosphere and again quirky wooden houses and mozie rooms. Later on we had a traditional performance of songs, dances and wood pipe playing...even dressed up in local dres...

Well I survived my night in the ghetto...just...woke up this morning to more bites. Our old guide Lucy recommended Tiger Balm to calm and avoid bites. I bought a pot yesterday so dosed myself in it this morning to stop me itching. I seriously look like i've got some skin disorder. We met everyone else at the airport at 2ish...really sad to see the others missing but new Brit girl is lovely so thats cool. We had an hour and half flight further south, on which we...

Spent yesterday in Guillin waiting to take evening sleeper train to Shenzhen (just ouside of Hong Kong). Paul and I had a slap up meal as lost the will to live with hunger, rain and boredom...ended up spending 3 times as much as we normally wood but eevn then that was only about 7quid!!! On the sleeper trains they have lights off at about 10 so we all vacated to the dining cart for a beer and banter and this morning our train was delayed getting in by 2hours whci...

After leaving Gullin at abouit 9am we had a not so compfy local bus journey up to the Longji region where there are rice paddy terraces scaling the heights of the mountains and where traditional dress and values still very much remain with the local people. Our first stop over was in the village of Dazhai. Lucy our guide from yesterday was escorting us and we had a 45minute steep climb in the pouring rain up to our simple, stunning wooden guesthouse on top of the...