Guilin was just our entry point to explore the Longji Rice Terraces in the Longsheng County about 90 kilometres away. The private driver showed up as we were finishing our not-so-much English breakfast. The day before, we tried to organise the Longji Rice Terraces by public or private buses. Unfortunately, both options were impractical. So we spent 450 yuan for a very comfortable 3-hours drive to the Ping'An terrace fields - one of the most fantastic scenery in China or indeed the world?
We checked in at the `Baike Hotel` and quickly freshen up to start the 13 kilometres trek. The hike takes from 6 to 7 hours to complete.
We climbed up to the first viewpoint, 'Nine Dragons and Five Tigers'. The vantage point offered a breathtaking view of the endless rice terraces cascading down into the Ping'An valley. Most tourists will stop there and return the Ping'An. We didn't. We caught our breath, admired the spectacular panorama and kept on walking.
We wandered on a natural stone path through the beautiful scenery for another 5 hours to reach the small village of Tiantou. We couldn't stop taking photos of the steep terraced hills. At every turn, the landscape was more mesmerising.
The trails were not well marked, but we relied on the map downloaded on Map.me beforehand and on the locals which were always happy to show us the direction. We did a detour for one or two kilometres but tell no one. We are so bad with a map...
The second section of the hike was shorter and in less than 2 hours we reached the more touristic Dazhai village. Hotels were growing like mushrooms to support the booming Chinese tourism in the minority village.
Shortly, we arrived at the end of the hike on a large car park. Most will drive up here and take a cable car to climb up the top of the rice terraces. We looked for a private car as transport was problematic. As we were asking around, the lady from the gondola ticket office pointed to a public bus.
As we tried to board the bus, we got mix feelings whether it was going to where we wanted. People on the bus sounded to disagree. The driver confirmed so we hopped for the best and boarded the bus. After half an hour's drive, we missed the exit for the Ping'An Village. We stayed put in the bus - slightly worried.
Suddenly, as we crossed with a bus going up the hill, we stopped. So did the other bus. A woman shouted this your bus for Ping'An. So we rushed out and hopped on the vehicle. What did just happen? Not sure. But it seemed our bus driver called the bus going to Ping'An to make sure he would stop to take us to our final destination.