Waking after a restless sleep, and early - the villagers obviously waking as daylight enters through multiple 'windows' throughout the Tulou. But what a view to wake up to:
We went across to 'Backpaker Station' (a hotel across the road with a toilet!) for breakfast and a meeting with yet another Aussie - seems like we can't escape them - who slept in the same Tulou as us and (like us) had thought he was alone.
After filling up, we walked into the tourist Tulou village where we spent the next few hours exploring. In complete contrast to the Tulou outside the tourist village, many of the Tulou inside came complete with souvenier shops! Despite the tourism, we were spellbound by the sheer size and variety of Tulou.
We went across to 'Backpaker Station' (a hotel across the road with a toilet!) for breakfast and a meeting with yet another Aussie - seems like we can't escape them - who slept in the same Tulou as us and (like us) had thought he was alone.After filling up, we walked into the tourist Tulou village where we spent the next few hours exploring. In complete contrast to the Tulou outside the tourist village, many of the Tulou inside came complete with souvenier shops! Despite the tourism, we were spellbound by the sheer size and variety of Tulou.
As many of the Tulou are constructed with wooden beams jammed into the earth, stairways and flooring there is always a risk of fire. We therefore took notice of this stern warning (Mumbles have you been here educating the locals?):
Making the rounds we passed Zhencheng Lou (with inner and outer circles, as well as a large ancestral hall), Kuiju Lou (a square Tulou dating back to 1834), and Rusheng Lou (the smallest of the village with only 16 rooms). We also dined in Hong Tulou Hotel, by far the most commercialised Tulou we came across - but an experience nonetheless, especially when we we overcrowed once the tour buses arrived! We had been shocked as we wandered through the gorgeous village, that we were some of the very few tourists - until the tours arrived at lunch time, en masse.
The lowlight of the day was the final breaking of our camera, after a fall! Adam likes to keep positive - now at least our plans of purchasing a camera in Hong Kong are validated. However, this means no photos for at least the next five days, though we'll try and buy a disposable so at least we have a record of the next few days... Luckily the fall happened after we got lots of photos of the village, and tonight we head to familiar territory as we head back to Guangzhou - the starting point of our Chinese adlibing tour. The culprit of the 'camera incident' will remain nameless, though he is feeling rather stupid!
Back at our Tulou we packed up ready to return to Yongding, and ventured into yet another downpour of rain. After only waiting 10 minutes (remarkable by Chinese standards), our bus arrived and we farwelled our gracious and wonderful hosts.
In Yongding we headed straight for the computers - luckily after the camera incident we can still download the photos we have already taken. Now it's a case of food, and finding something to do until our train arrives at 10.55pm tonight, to begin our 12 hour journey back to the beginning!
Adlibing it amongst the Hakka people.
Making the rounds we passed Zhencheng Lou (with inner and outer circles, as well as a large ancestral hall), Kuiju Lou (a square Tulou dating back to 1834), and Rusheng Lou (the smallest of the village with only 16 rooms). We also dined in Hong Tulou Hotel, by far the most commercialised Tulou we came across - but an experience nonetheless, especially when we we overcrowed once the tour buses arrived! We had been shocked as we wandered through the gorgeous village, that we were some of the very few tourists - until the tours arrived at lunch time, en masse.The lowlight of the day was the final breaking of our camera, after a fall! Adam likes to keep positive - now at least our plans of purchasing a camera in Hong Kong are validated. However, this means no photos for at least the next five days, though we'll try and buy a disposable so at least we have a record of the next few days... Luckily the fall happened after we got lots of photos of the village, and tonight we head to familiar territory as we head back to Guangzhou - the starting point of our Chinese adlibing tour. The culprit of the 'camera incident' will remain nameless, though he is feeling rather stupid!
Back at our Tulou we packed up ready to return to Yongding, and ventured into yet another downpour of rain. After only waiting 10 minutes (remarkable by Chinese standards), our bus arrived and we farwelled our gracious and wonderful hosts.
In Yongding we headed straight for the computers - luckily after the camera incident we can still download the photos we have already taken. Now it's a case of food, and finding something to do until our train arrives at 10.55pm tonight, to begin our 12 hour journey back to the beginning!
Adlibing it amongst the Hakka people.
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