Day 1
Bianca and I being stupid in the airport while waiting for our plane which was obviously delayed. You get that a lot for domestic flights. Ugh.
Yeah, it was kinda drizzling too. So we still had to wait for about an hour-ish on the plane before we could departure. Ugh. I was getting impatient and grumpy already. Did I ever mentioned before that I detest domestic flights (actually, just shanghai airlines) . The narrow seats, icky plane food, the funky stench. Eww! I totally wouldn't mind if I were taking like first class Singapore Airlines.
After 2 hours of turbulence hell, I could see Guizhou. It was just like a vast piece of mountainous green land. If I remember right, Guizhou is like 90% mountain. Which is like insane! Imagine everywhere you went was like inclined. Well, that was why we went there to hike. Duh.
Our first meal at Guizhou, was pretty icky. Everything was like soaking in oil and the tea tasted like dish water. Gross! But it's considered not bad compared to some of my other meals in Guizhou.
Then it was another 2 hours bus ride to some Han village. The long bus rides are one of the few things I liked during the trip. The view was just amazing. Large fields of green, mountains, random cows/horses rolling by. It's just so amazing. I have been living in cities every since I was born so this wasn't something I would see everyday. You'll never get sights like this in Shanghai or Singapore.
Got corn?
The next morning, we took a 15 minute bus ride to a batik workshop.
A pro at work.. So basically this is how batik works. That strange looking bowl is actually melted bee wax. A special tool is used to apply the melted bee wax onto the cloth in any pretty pattern you want. So after it's done, the cloth is soaked in a pool of indigo dye for a few days. Then it's boiled to get rid of the wax and the pretty pattern is revealed! Makes sense?
We tried doing some batik ourselves too. It was pretty fun. Just had to watch out for boiling wax! Ouch! I'm such a klutz.
We had to wait for few more days to get it dyed and like boiled and stuff. We'd collect it at the end of our trip. Can't wait for the result!
Yeah, it was kinda drizzling too. So we still had to wait for about an hour-ish on the plane before we could departure. Ugh. I was getting impatient and grumpy already. Did I ever mentioned before that I detest domestic flights (actually, just shanghai airlines) . The narrow seats, icky plane food, the funky stench. Eww! I totally wouldn't mind if I were taking like first class Singapore Airlines.
After 2 hours of turbulence hell, I could see Guizhou. It was just like a vast piece of mountainous green land. If I remember right, Guizhou is like 90% mountain. Which is like insane! Imagine everywhere you went was like inclined. Well, that was why we went there to hike. Duh.
Our first meal at Guizhou, was pretty icky. Everything was like soaking in oil and the tea tasted like dish water. Gross! But it's considered not bad compared to some of my other meals in Guizhou.
Then it was another 2 hours bus ride to some Han village. The long bus rides are one of the few things I liked during the trip. The view was just amazing. Large fields of green, mountains, random cows/horses rolling by. It's just so amazing. I have been living in cities every since I was born so this wasn't something I would see everyday. You'll never get sights like this in Shanghai or Singapore.
Got corn?We finally reached the village. Total culture shock! The villagers were staring at us as if we were aliens. But I think we were staring at them back the same way too.
We took a 10 minute walk to a small opera house where we watched a short ground opera showcase performed by the villagers. They were screaming in some strange dialect and like swishing swords and spears around. Most of them were like at least 60 so it was impressive that they could move like that.
After watching the performance, the villagers asked us to perform with them. WTF! I do not do opera. But we were a good sport and attempted to learn some moves from them. Apparently, we weren't very good...
We totally made fools out of ourselves. The villagers were all laughing at us. But whatever, we had fun. The kids were lots of fun too. Once I whipped out my digi cam, they all swarmed towards me and like starting posing. It was hilarious! They were so adorable.
We explored around the village. The villagers lived in ancient looking houses made of slabs of rocks and cos they didn't had cement in the past, they used a mixture of sticky rice and clay. The houses had really short doors and narrow windows To prevent enemies attacks or something like that. I was really paying much attention to the guide..
We spoke to this cute granny. She was really friendly. She explained to us about the black band she wore across her forehead. If I'm not wrong, on the night of their wedding it was Han tradition that the husband would pull off the hair across the wife's forehead. To symbolize ridding burden or something like that. Ouch! Thank god I'm not wedded to a Han dude. So they wedded ladies wore the band across their forehead to cover it. Black symbolizes seniority or something like that.
Well, this wasn't called a hiking trip for no reason. We went hiking around the village area after that. It was actually considered an easy hike, it was more like a trek actually. Just a warm up for the strenuous hikes to come. We weaved through the crops and strolled across streams. It was a very relaxing trek, the village was oh so calm and serene.
The sun was setting.. (So so pweety!)
And Jean was getting tired.. (So so unglam!)
We spoke to this cute granny. She was really friendly. She explained to us about the black band she wore across her forehead. If I'm not wrong, on the night of their wedding it was Han tradition that the husband would pull off the hair across the wife's forehead. To symbolize ridding burden or something like that. Ouch! Thank god I'm not wedded to a Han dude. So they wedded ladies wore the band across their forehead to cover it. Black symbolizes seniority or something like that.
Well, this wasn't called a hiking trip for no reason. We went hiking around the village area after that. It was actually considered an easy hike, it was more like a trek actually. Just a warm up for the strenuous hikes to come. We weaved through the crops and strolled across streams. It was a very relaxing trek, the village was oh so calm and serene.
The sun was setting.. (So so pweety!)
And Jean was getting tired.. (So so unglam!)
Therefore, it was time for some shitty Guizhou dinner! Seriously, the food was horrid. But I was starving so I ate like bowls and bowls of rice anyway. Yes, I know I'm such a glutton. Who cares.
Hotel sweet hotel! The best part of the day. That night we slept at a 4 star hotel (Anshun Grand Waterfall Hotel) so it was pretty good. Yay!
And of course, we had our instant noodles to satisfy our midnight hunger pangs!
Hotel sweet hotel! The best part of the day. That night we slept at a 4 star hotel (Anshun Grand Waterfall Hotel) so it was pretty good. Yay!
And of course, we had our instant noodles to satisfy our midnight hunger pangs!Day 2
The next morning, we took a 15 minute bus ride to a batik workshop.
A pro at work.. So basically this is how batik works. That strange looking bowl is actually melted bee wax. A special tool is used to apply the melted bee wax onto the cloth in any pretty pattern you want. So after it's done, the cloth is soaked in a pool of indigo dye for a few days. Then it's boiled to get rid of the wax and the pretty pattern is revealed! Makes sense? 
We tried doing some batik ourselves too. It was pretty fun. Just had to watch out for boiling wax! Ouch! I'm such a klutz.
We had to wait for few more days to get it dyed and like boiled and stuff. We'd collect it at the end of our trip. Can't wait for the result!
狗肉大王?!?!? WTF!! DOG MEAT?!?!
Another 40 minutes bus ride...
POCKY WAR!!! (If you notice, we have a lot of pocky moments during the trip)
(to be continued..)
|