Passing the Red Reiver in the can now heading to rice terraces near Nanshan, just 148k from the Vietnam border.

We stopped for roadside mangoes from the local Hani women sellers. I ate four! Fantastic!

Driving uphill a long distabce, the van overheated, worried it had died for good! With help of 3 other guys, we had to push it uphill out of this dangerous curve where it died. Hard work even with six of us pushing!!! Ken put in a couple gallons of water in it and eventually it started up like magic!

BUT, then a mile farther up the road, it became apparent that the radiator lost all it’s water again, so we are again at a pause in driving lane on this narrow road. I’m waiting to see what magic is next! At least it’s not raining!!!!!!

The van is broken sure. We are now on a local rattletrap bus heading up a steep road through very green lush valleys. The higher we go, the denser the fog. I have been assured there will be no extra charge for this additional adventure! Our destination is a large market in this former capital town. This area is populated by Hani people, who have very fancy traditional clothing; multi color embroidery on black clothing. Most of the women here are dressed in these spectacularly colorful outfits, though in this pea soup fog it’s hard to see more than 20 ft!

We’ve transferred to a taxi for the next 23k up to the large market, that hopefully will be fog-less.

This market was smaller today due to weather, but still plenty of fruits, vegetables, ducks and pigs slaughtered onsite, tobacco, stinky tofu and many other of the usual suspects in a Chinese market.

After a market walk in the rain where we were certainly most novel thing to be seen, we had a great lunch of many plates including mushrooms and green onions, cabbage, beef with mint!!!!, pork with capsicum, and very fresh sautéed bran sprouts; a beer, shot of rice wine steeped in plums and herbs. I didn’t have the cajones to try the rice wine steeped in giant hornets…

Now in a rickety taxi van back down to the next town where we will overnight and hopefully ride among the beautiful rice terraces, similar to Longhi where I was a few years ago. That is, if this dense fog and heavy rain ever stops!