week 2

Rafting!

we got a little wet....

the houses on stilts in the villages look like this for the most part

us losing at basketball, miserably

botanical gardens in Jinghong

dentist in the market

playng basketball, again

riding the tractors

Chinese bandit

after a long day of hiking in the dust, we all looked a lot like this

ingenious water heaters

Italy?

opponents our skill level

Monks with a sense of style

On Tuesday morning, we got up early to begin our 3 day trek into rural southern China. We packed a small pack with all the things we would need for 3 days, not much because we would have to carry everything on our hikes, and stored the rest of our stuff in the hotel lobby.
We hopped back into our trusty buses and headed to Xiding for another market. We spent a few hours wandering around seeing what we would see, the highlight being the dentist pulling out people’s teeth out in the middle of the market. After the market, we had lunch, then back to the buses for a short drive to the next town where we were to stay the night. This town was mostly populated by Akha people, noteable because of their beautifully embroidered clothes. The majority of the town’s population were farmers who mostly grew tea or raised hogs. The SYA basketball played another game, but this time our opponents were a little less formidable and we easily won. We had the whole afternoon and evening off, so we spent most of our time exploring the large town and trying to translate the propaganda slogans into English. Most of them told the locals that having a boy and having a girl were both good, stuff like that. We ate dinner with our host families and turned in early. We would need a good night’s sleep for our long hike the next day.

We got up early in the morning and headed out, but not before all of our host families loaded us with hard boiled eggs. I kid you not, I was given 5 or 6 eggs to take with me, and I have no idea why. After trying our hardest to give away our eggs and failing, we hopped back on the buses for another short drive. At a small no name town, the buses could not go any farther, so we caught a ride with some tractors. The ride was bumpy and not over soon enough, but the amazing views of the mountains made up for the choking dust and bumpy roads. When the tractors couldn’t go any farther, we went the rest of the way on foot. The hike lasted around 6 or 7 hours through mountainous terrain and beautiful views. By the time we got to our village for the night, we were more than ready to stop.

Covered in dust, tired, and hungry, we set off to find the most important part of the village, the showers. Most of the homes SYA students were in had a shower, but not mine, so I had to barter with my friend to get a shower. I think toilet paper for a shower is a fair trade, don’t you? Anyway, clean (well, sort of) and refreshed, I spent the next hour or so talking with my housemates and watching dinner being made. Lets just say that dinner was fresh, really fresh. Anyway, no one really did anything that night but talk with a few locals and go to bed, exhausted.

The next morning, we prepared for another hike. That day, our hike lasted 6 or so hours through the same terrain, but toward the end of the day, the terrain flattened out a bit. We hiked all morning until we got to a road where our buses were waiting for us. After a quick lunch, we buses to our last village of the trip. This village is know for 3 things, paper making, roof tiles, and a really cool monastery. We spent the afternoon exploring the village. I lucked out, my host family made paper for a living so I got to watch the whole backbreaking process. Let me tell you, it doesn’t look hard until you try it. I played some more basketball, this time with opponents of matching skill level, little kids. They were actually pretty good at shooting for being so short and I enjoyed being one of the better players on the court, for once, but certainly not the best.
That night, we were treated to a chanting ceremony at the monastery. Most of the monks at this monastery were really young, as well. The chanting was really cool, and I enjoyed myself listening to them chant. Afterwards, we had a free night to explore the village more and talk to a few locals. The people in this village did not have as thick of an accent, so talking to them was easy and enjoyable.

The next morning, we got up and bused back to Jinghong, where we would spend the rest of our trip. Like I said before, I LOVE Jinghong and the people there are so nice. We spent our last days there attending a school, which I will talk about next time.