Kailli
Been a lot of hassle since last writing. What looked an easy enough trip from Fenhuang ended up in taking 3 different buses and all of the knees in the chest, crowded uncomfortable type. The first leg at least pleasant scenery winding our way thru the villages along a narrow road. After that an expressway so quick but boring. But very long connections meant we didn’t arrive into Kailli until dark.
So Kailli, Guizhou Province. Was here a couple of years ago and one of my favourite provinces except then I decided to leave the villages around Kailli for a later trip. Lots of great villages, colourful ethnic groups, friendly and in many ways like north Thailand, Laos, N Vietnam but still relatively undiscovered. L.P quotes a Chinese proverb for Guizhou as “without three li of flat land, three days of fine weather, or three cents to rub together”. And when I told Chinese people I was going there the reaction seemed to be pretty similar.
And then it all went wrong. None of the hotels/guesthouses would let me stay as a foreigner. Its the first time on this trip it has happened and rarely except in the most politically active places like Xiahe – which turned into a major riot that night so understandable – on the last trip. After about 10 attempts had to stay into a totally overpriced groggy place mentioned in L.P. Then next morning set out with the intention of exploring/staying in local villages, first stop Xijiang, a Miao village which gets a glowing report in L.P. First they hit me for a 60Y entrance fee, a bit steep to see an ethnic village and wooden houses. Worse the place a building site, basically being turned into a shopping mall for Chinese tourists. It was awful and not even friendly with the people listless and no character and when I checked out a room and they wanted a 100Y to sleep in a shed it was time to get the next bus out. L.P could have been right and I am sure it was very nice before but this was Chinese rebuild job going badly wrong in my view. Maybe in time it will be ok but for now in reminded me of Dali in Yunnan, another place I hated. So anyone thinking of going there I would say don’t , many and much better places elesewhere.
Next stop was Langde, not a bad place but nothing to get excited about and not worth a night. So went back to Kailli and after being refused at a couple of other places tried to get an overnight bus to Guilin. Nothing being available until tomorrow I had to go back to the previous grotty hotel. Kailli itself I quite like but if that is the attitude of the local government regarding foreign tourists they can shove it up their ….
So tomorrow head for Guillin/Yangshou, at least that is a great place and expect it still will be and then Vietnam sooner than planned.
Tags: 1, Xijiang
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