Early rain on 26th July made me reluctant to get up. I went and met Klarie for breakfast, and we decided to hold off on the hike until it dried up. Back at the hotel, Klarie’s friend Evelyn said she wanted to join us for a bit of the hike. Evelyn had managed to almost flush her purse down the toilet and was understandably preoccupied with cleaning and drying it!

By 2 pm the rain had stopped and we headed east down the main valley before starting up a nice grassy ridge which appeared to lead towards a sharp peak that I’d seen (and taken bearings of) from the other side of the valley.

The ridge narrowed and steepened. At this point Evelyn turned back, and Klarie and I headed on upwards.

As we got higher it became clear that the ridge circuit that I hoped we could do was indeed feasible and would take us over the highest peak on that side of the valley.

Near the top of the first peak on the ridge we came across a boy and a girl who didn’t speak English but wanted to accompany us for a while. They were carrying paper “offerings” which they threw into the air – this is related to the prayer wheels – prayers written on pieces of paper and thrown off mountain tops are more effective apparently.

In addition to the paper prayer slips, there were long sticks with cloth prayer flags in stacks on several of the little peaks that we passed. Eventually we reached the highest peak and looked back. I took several bearing with my compass to help me make my map more accurate.

The sun started shining a little and after a rest to admire the view, we continued round the circuit, heading along and down the ridgeline to the east of the one by which we had ascended.

As we neared valley level we came down a ridge that was above some dwellings, and we ended up descending virtually into someone’s back yard. An elderly lady saw us and invited us in to her house for some tea and bread, and was very welcoming despite the language barrier.

Eventually we headed back to the hotel. Diana and Rachael were there with another Australian called Leone. Diana and Leone had apparently been stopped and searched by an over zealous policeman, who said he was looking for terrorists and smugglers. Leone’s bag had been searched for contraband, and Diana had been asked some silly questions to find out if she was a terrorist..!

Rachael thought she might have a fever and, and when I lent her my thermometer we found out she had a temperature of 39.5 C. I told her to go straight to bed, hydrate, and take paracetamol or ibuprofen, which she duly did.

In the morning (27th July) it was raining again, resulting in a slow start. Rachael’s fever was down which was a relief, though she had lost her appetite. I wasn’t feeling quite right inside either. After a light lunch, two Swedes turned up who I had last seen in Yangshuo – when everyone travels with the same guide book, it’s inevitable that you keep meeting people you know.

Later I went with Maria, one of the Swedes, to investigate reports that there was an acrobatic show that night at a little theatre not far from the hotel. We got some tickets for us and the others who had requested, and then went for a wander to take some more photos of the locals…

The acrobatic show was really rather good – it had some dance routines and what seemed to be some very risky acrobatic moves. Their props and costumes were so simple, yet they were very talented and kept the audience entertained. They clearly operated on a shoestring budget.

At the end of the show Diana plucked up the courage to wander down and say hello to the performers. Their manager spoke a bit of English and invited her on to the stage as the audience departed. They saw I had a camera and all immediately formed up for a photo (which Diana almost managed to avoid being in!)

Then the manager told us how they toured round, relying on people’s goodwill as much as the money they earned from tickets. They were all rather thrilled to have an international audience that evening!