Journey to the World

After spending half a day in Xijian village I went on a bus for a long trip of thousands of steep curves between Leishan and Congjiang. Only after the bus has arrived in Rongjiang, the curves calmed a little. Overall it was a five and half hours in a minibus.

At 10:00 in the morning I walked out the hostel to investigate the Southern, less interesting side of Xijiang. A few art students sit on the mountain’s slope. They came here to practice their expertise. The brown wooden houses, so typical to Xijiang are seen everywhere. I climbed for fifteen minutes from the village till I reached the main road. This is where tourist groups come on buses to watch the view of the village and the river crossing it. The village is covered with fog during the day. It’s not easy to take a picture from a distance.

After a two and a half hour tour I’ve returned back to the hostel. The owner is a lovely person (see picture). I highly recommend to go there. Even though the rooms are simple, made out of wood, and the beds are not soft, but the price is worthy (20 yuan) for a clean room which includes lighting, electrical sockets and slippers. Outside the room there are toilets and a shower with hot water. This place is called Leslie’s House. It is the second or third hostel when you start walking from the bus staion. Check it out.

The bus station of Xijian is located in a parking lot. You can see there the minibuses and the tourist buses. A wind and rain brdige symbolize the end of the village. Wind And Rain bridges are a central symbol in the Meo villages of Guizhou province. As their name imply, they are supposed to be wind and rain proof.

Outside the village you can see rice fields.

I took the 13:20 minibus. The one after leaves at 14:30. The ride got longer due to stoppings in small villages on the way. There was no ticket man for a change. The driver had to completely halt the minibus for a while to charge money from the new passengers. We arrived in Leishan after one and a a half hour, instead of one hour.

It wasn’t that bad. The bus leaving Kaili towards Congjiang (and stops in Leishan) delayed as well in half an hours and arrived in Leishan at 16:00.

Leishan – Rongjiang – Congjiang : An exhausting ride

The bus ride from Leishan to Congjiang was the most difficult ride I’ve ever had in China. Five and a half hours on a minibus is not so bad. The problem was in the road passing through so many small mountains. Between Leishan and Rongjiang (four hours drive) I have not seen a single part of a straight road. It is made of endless curves and bends. As the minibus got out of one curve it entered anohter, and anohter. A woman on a bus was throwing up all the way because of all the shaking. This ride is not recommended for people who have a sensitive stomach.

After Rongjiang there are less curves so the ride is getting a little better.

Congjiang By Evening

We arrived at 21:30 in the bus station of Congjiang. The main street near the bus station looks bad. There is a substantial number of hotels but prices are expensive (100+ yuans). Other than hotels, there are places renting rooms for locals. They look like hostels, but they are actually not. I entered one of them – a room costs 40 yuan including toilets and a hot shower.

I couldn’t find any internet access in that area. You can eat grilled meat and barbecue in one of the stands on the street, and in a nearby alley.

 

This article was published at 18-10-2008 Time: 11:51 and belongs to categories Far East Travel Journal 2008 - 2009, Villages, Leishan, Guizhou Province, China, Congjiang, Rongjiang, Rice fields, Xijiang. You can follow comments to this article using the feed RSS 2.0. You can post a comment, or trackback from your website.