This is the view from my window in dragons den hostel, a 4o minute climb up through the longji rice terraces from Dazhai. The night sky is impenetrably black. The air is fresh. Shrill Voices, men Ealing by and snorting and spitting in that quintessentially Chinese way, canned music, insects and scraping noises from the building of an extension to the guesthouse next door mean the night is not exactly still. Nevertheless it’s peaceful here and a world away from my usual life.
I met a western boy and girl and a Belgian later, who lives in Beijing. You have to be independently minded and a little determined to get here so the westerners you meet in these places tend to be cool. The place is amazing, and only pictures(coming later) will do it justice.
Around Asia with Andrew Wood 