Fatback in the Karsts (3/6/09 - 3/8/09)

Not eager to jump on long train rides, I went for a short bus-taxi-bus medley to Dehang, a couple hours north of Fenghuang. It's a small, small Miao village tucked in between towering columns of rock and dense vegetation. As an entry point to Jiulongxi Jingqu and Yuquanxi Scenic Areas it is marauded by Chinese tourists by day, but by evening when I arrived, it was all mine!

After staking out a great little room on the river (not many choices) I grabbed some food only to be quickly pulled into a party of about 25 people toting around a 10 gallon jug of some sort of sweet wine. They quickly pulled up to my table and wanted to take 'shots' of the wine with me. However, 2 caveats quickly became apparent: the 'shots' were out of bowls and you had to take three of them everytime with the person with whom you were drinking. One of the ladies then sang me a song (couldn't tell you what, but it sounded nice) and then they jumped me and spread ashes on my face as all the other guys had done to themselves. Eventually we all ended up around a bonfire with the jug. I impressed them with my 'jumping through bonfire skills' and they showed me their version of roasting marshmellows - sausage on bamboo - it was fantastic. I retired after another hour or so, stumbling through the unlit village walkways - good times.
I spent the next day and this morning exploring the scenic areas consisting mainly of karst topography filled with upthrusting columns of rock cut by rivers and waterfalls everywhere. I took tons of waterfall pictures, but decided to use some discretion on how many I would post here because the pictures just don't do them justice. Liusha Falls was however the most impressive being the largest in China at 216 m. Breaking away from the crowds I scouted out a narrow, winding trail to the top. With out a soul up there, the views were amazing. Naively, thinking I was at the top, I followed the trail a little more, only to find a small village on top (on top of the cliffs) with terraced gardens as far as I could see. Ridiculous.

I did a few more hikes and could not take enough pictures - I took more pics here than I had in the previous week and a half. The village also had a few other things to offer. Being a tourist spot, like Fenghuang, it was pretty clean and they also offered daily shows with dancing and singing - good stuff. I'm still in the Hunan province and you can tell by the food. The food is excellent but served up with loads of spicy cayenne like peppers. Apparently, the international symbol for 'just a little bit' means 'a fistful'. However, it is totally redeemed by the fact that nearly everything has large chunks of fatback in it - I'm in heaven! I requested an all veggie dish this morning - yup, fatback!

After a morning hike and no less than a dozen requests to have my picture taken with chinese tourists, I headed out for Yichang (near three gorges dam). However, "no train today" so I'm stuck in Jishou for the night. No biggy, for ~$14 I got a queen size bed, my own bathroom, my own 5 gallon water dispensor (weird) and a computer in my room! Tomorrow, Yichang.

Happy Birthday Mom!