Weary...

I left Zhaoxing in the morning and eventually arrived in Basha. Basha is a small Miao (minority tribe) village, and one of the hillside enclaves in Basha called Wanjiazai is one of the most traditional Miao areas left in the region -- they got running water and electricity only within the last year. There are nice rice terraces here; I got lost on one of the trails and ended up in Wanjiazai, and a Miao family invited me to sit with them to warm up in front of their fire.

On the way back to the village center, I ran into some kids that just got out of class, and took some pics. (They asked me to print and send them to their school -- I have a long list from this trip of families that I need to send pics to!) The Miao boys in this village still will grow their hair in a top knot until they turn 15, and then they can decide whether to keep the top knot or to cut it off.

By that time, I was losing steam and, for the first time on this trip, getting tired; tired of taking pics (some of my equipment fell into the muddy rice fields), tired of taking the same pics of the seemingly same poor people, tired of walking uphill, tired of being cold, tired of bad weather, and decided to go back down to Conjiang for the night instead of staying in the village (where no-one has heating).

But it was dark by the time I wanted to get back to town; the taxis stopped running and the guys with motorbikes didn’t want to take me because it was too cold. So I was waiting by the side of the road, hoping to catch a ride down to town, feeling pretty miserable, when a guy from the village store tapped me on the shoulder and invited me in his house to warm up in front of the fire (pic above).

I chatted with him, his family and his neighbors for awhile. They fed me oranges, offered me smokes, and when they found out that I’m still not married, they offered to find me a Miao wife. Actually, one of the gals sitting with us was really pretty -- she’s 20 and single, and is considered an old maid, because Miao girls get married as early as 14 or 15 -- but I think one of the other guys there has his eyes on her, so I was careful not to unleash my massive charm. (But I think Miao women can take on multiple husbands, so maybe I can be Number 2.)

I was about to have dinner with them when the older brother of one of the guys came by to give me a ride into town. As I was leaving, they insisted that I come back and spend Chinese New Year with them, because I had told them that I’d probably not see my parents this Chinese New Year. They said it was unnatural that I spend Chinese New Year alone, and insisted that I come back to join them. In fact, they said I should stay with them in Basha until Chinese New Year, which is about 3 weeks away. (That's pretty cool, to be on the farming clock vs. the daily billing clock.)

There were times on this trip when my big city guarded nature told me that people are not being nice for the sake of being nice, but because they are after something, be it to sell me trinkets or whatever. Time and time again, like today, I've been proven wrong on this trip. Just as I was slipping down hill toward my usual cynical and faux world weary self, the warm charcoal glow of genuine friendship saved the day.