Day 8

Here we are again, up at 6:30 so as to be out at 8:30. Having to be completely packed up for another internal flight later today is a pain but in order to see so much of the country it has to be done. It was a  2 hour drive to begin with and then another 30 mins on a shuttle bus before a 30 minute walk. The rice terraces were spectacular and from a distance it looked like an alpine village. 

The rice is very nearly ready to harvest and I'll certainly think about where we've visited next time I'm cooking rice. Interestingly the females in this area use the left over cooking liquid from the rice to wash their hair. They reckon it keeps their hair healthy and shiny. Also, the females in this area only ever cut their hair once at the age of 18 before marriage. The hair is kept together with all the hair from their brushes and this is used to form a top knot on the top of their heads. Their hair is twisted and wound around their heads like a turban with the top knot in the middle. 

After walking along the terraces we had lunch, which was superb, even if it doesn't look it. The rice was cooked in bamboo canes and was very very sticky and difficult to get out., especially with chopsticks. Susan and Henry are cheating with forks but both John and I are pretty proficient now.  We certainly haven't gone hungry. 

Today it is very hot so I'm sure these peppers and corn will dry very well. 

A couple of girls walking ahead of us with heavy loads. 

Not sure whether I've put a photo in the emails before of an electric scooter with a canopy. This is normal. It is also normal to see mum or dad riding a moped/scooter with a child standing in front of them. We've seen children who look barely able to walk being driven this way. 

We arrived in plenty of time for our flight and were ready to board at 6pm and nothing happened. Eventually our guide was able to find out that the plane had a mechanical problem which they were trying to fix. We were all uneasy by this stage because nobody wanted to be getting on a plane that had just had a problem, even if it was fixed. Thankfully, after an hour they found another plane and we left a couple of hours late. The downside is that it's going to be very late when we get to our hotel. A Chinese airport isn't somewhere that you want to spend any time. It is the noisiest place imaginable. Everybody seems to shout to make themselves heard and on top of that the announcements seem to be on a continuous loop. Over and over again we heard the same flights called and then when the girl for our flight needed to make an announcement she had to shriek at the top of her voice. Now we are part way through our flight and have just been served an inedible chicken and rice dish. It wouldn't have been too bad if we could've picked up a sandwich at the airport but sandwiches are something they don't do. So we've swapped a noisy airport for a noisy flight. The drop down screens have been playing rubbish for the duration but with the volume at full blast. Stupid cartoons and now car adverts!!!! Roll on bedtime and a glass of whisky.