Among the Miaou
Trip Start
Apr 13, 2006
1
7
10
Trip End
Apr 22, 2006
Xijiang, Guizhou, China
Thursday, April 20, 2006
We slept very well in this comfortable hotel, and got up to go to the station to organise our tickets. I have an upset stomach, the probable cause being the things on sticks - too much lard and bad oil, we suspect.
We were not able to book the train we wanted and the official was not very helpful. She wanted us to come back tomorrow, but we insisted that we must buy the tickets now as we will be in Xijiang tomorrow. The only train we could book in advance is one that leaves at 8:47 a.m., arriving, as far as we could gather, at about 5 a.m. the next day. This seems to be a slower (and cheaper) train than we wanted, but we had no choice. She wrote out some slips of paper which allowed us to go down to the ticket office and buy the tickets, a middle and lower bed, for just under Y500. The only alternative, if we wanted the more convenient train, seemed to be to buy a ticket on the day and hope to get a sleeper after boarding the train, too big a risk when we have to be back in Hong Kong by Sunday at the latest.
We have just bought our tickets for Xijiang, by direct bus. It leaves at 10:30 a.m. We plan to stay the night and come back to the Xinlong Hotel tomorrow for a bit of comfort before the long train trip. We will leave our bags at the hotel and just take the small backpack, thus travelling even lighter than we have been so far. Yoong is having a noodle breakfast near the bus station and I am back in the hotel. I dare not eat anything until after the bus ride.
1:30 p.m.
Before Leishan the bus turned off onto a narrow dirt track up the mountains. Despite the lack of rain lately there were patches of mud and it was a slow careful ride. We arrived at Xijiang in just under two hours and have found a room in a local house for Y30. It's very basic but full of character and with a lovely view over the village. The lady has just boiled a thermos of water so we will have a coffee before we go back to the village in search of food.
Miaou houses are built high above the ground and are made of maple wood, supported on several wooden pillars. There are usually three levels, with living quarters in the middle section, storage above and pigs and chickens under the house. No house is built directly in front of another so the ancestral spirits returning home do not have their access blocked. The one we are staying in has a concrete extension, where the family stays. The bathroom is also in this section, a bit far from our room.
8:00 p.m.
We spent the afternoon wandering the village and climbing the steep paths for views across the valley. There are a number of small restaurants which can cook up a delicious home-style meal. Opposite where we had lunch were some outdoor meat stalls and given the number of flies buzzing around and settling on the meat we had no difficulty deciding to go vegetarian in this village. We watched a dog grab a big chunk of meat from one of the tables and drag it away until he was stopped by one of the vendors. We didn't see whether it was put back on sale.
At about 3 p.m. there was a performance in the village square. A number of chairs were set up in a crescent shape facing a red backdrop, and there were boys in blue-black costumes playing the lusheng, a tall bamboo instrument, and colourfully costumed girls with silver headgear milling around waiting for the tour group. This time it was a local Chinese group from Guiyang, capital of Guizhou province. They immediately signalled to us to sit down, giving us the best seats, right in the centre. When the show began the girls approached the audience with bowls of rice wine, which they proceeded to pour down our throats. At least we've now tasted the local alcoholic beverage. The show was pleasant and the Miaou costumes very colourful, though with noisy recorded music and nowhere near the expertise of the Dong show we saw in Zhaoxing. One of the leaders of the tour group distributed bottles of water to the audience, including us, a gesture that was very much appreciated. It was a pleasant way to spend half an hour or so, courtesy of the tourist industry.
At dinner, in yet another tiny restaurant, we started off being the only customers, but were soon joined by about a dozen young people, some of whom were happy to share our table, one of only two. They were a group of art students who were staying for about five days painting landscapes of the area. Some of them made valiant attempts to use their little bit of school-based English and took turns pouring tea for us. They all ate big bowls of noodles for Y2 each, while we had our usual rice meal with two dishes of mixed vegetables. It was not bad, but a bit too oily, probably because the sudden influx of customers cancelled out Yoong's usual instructions to limit the oil, salt and msg.
It was a bit tricky finding our way back to our guesthouse along the dark rice-paddies, but we made it and managed to pay our Y30 to the lady so we could get away quickly in the morning. We are relaxing in the airy living room next to our bedroom. We are the only guests so it's like having the whole house to ourselves. There are three young English teachers in the guesthouse just down the road and we think this place is probably the overflow from that one. Anyway, it is very pleasant here in the evening, with the sound of rushing water below the balcony. Despite the rustic nature of the wooden houses here, the lighting is very good so we can read and write and continue to attempt the cryptic crossword we brought with us, of which we've only managed to find seven words so far.
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