Description : Breathtaking mountainous scenery and sinuous roads full of rice terraces, tea plantations and minorities villages

Comments : For experienced travelers only : little English, bad roads, dusty & slow buses and basic accommodations all the way, but what a way !

What to do : Try to look at the amazing view from your bus / Visit remote villages / Scare the kids by taking their photo with flash / Spend some time in the small local police station thanks to the kids you scared / Enjoy being one of the only few foreigners who went there

What you may not like : Being told by the local police not to take any more photo / Being crushed and bumped at the back of a bus / Having to spend the night in one place waiting for the morning bus / Being asked 10Y for a 20mn ride from Luoxiang to Zhaoxing at the back of a truck while the local pay 1Y / Being asked to get down the truck because you refuse to be extorted /

How long ? Difficult to keep a program there : this is not a road to take if you are in a hurry. Allow at least a few days to go from Sanjiang to Guiyang via interesting villages and beautiful roads.

<< Discover a great Dong village...

Where to stay ?  Each of the villages offer at least one hotel where foreigners can stay. The basic rooms with very basic bath facilities  should cost between 5 and 15Y a night. 

Backpacker's Tips : Blaise Fiedler, France (July 05)
« Kaili: An excellent place to buy your plane tickets is the CITS in front of the hospital. Mrs Lung speaks perfect english and is very helpful. Phone: 0855-8229441 or 8221045. Mobile: 13984451528. A good internet place is next to the hospital, about 50 meters, on the same side of the road. It's on the 1st floor and costs only 2y/h. There must be 100 PCs there.

Xijiang (Around Kaili): The hotel recommended in the LP is terrible and depressing. It smells of damp. There is a much better place to stay - it's called the Lizhen Guest House - the owner also has a shop in the main street - look for the sign. They only have 3 rooms and it's a traditional Miao House by the river and paddy fields. The rooms are 40Y for 2 with shared WC. You'll eat with the family for 10Y per person and even get some songs. Tel: 0855-8861974, mobile:13885510020

Zhaoxing: A fantastic little village well worth the ride to get to!  The best hotel in town is the Cottage Inn next to the post office. It's a splendid wooden house where English is spoken. They have a map for sale for Y6. you'll need to buy tickets for the area for Y15. There is a nice walk to Tang-An through Xia-ge. As we were there they just opened a nice eco-museum in Tangan (1.5 hours walk). There is good food to be had at San Xiao - it's the same street as the Cottage Inn hotel but closer to the crossing. They have an english menu there. Beware: in Zhaoxing a lot of dog meat is served.

Chong'an: Now this must be some sort of practical joke from the Lonelyplanet. Referring to Xiaojiangnan Luyou Fandian hotel the author writes that it's the best hostel in Guizhou. IT'S TERRIBLE. The hotel is not easy to find: around 300m out of town following the main road keeping the river on your left. In the courtyards are 2 terrible pekinese dogs barking their jaw off as they see you, eager to bite. The room has crumbling walls and smells of damp, the bathroom is incredibly dirty and moldy and to take a shower you have to cross the road and walk 50 meters! It costs 30Y for a double room. Oh - and there is nothing to do in this horrible modern town...» 

Backpacker's Tips : Stefan Westerheide, Germany (Jan 05)
« Diping: Basic hostel, 40 Y, dirty, people friendly, average value recommend staying in Longé, next town on the road to Zhaoxing, looked a lot nicer than dusty Diping, only sight in Diping was 200 year old Dong bridge, which was destroyed by flood in september 2004. Bus to zhaoxing (2h, 8Y, 7.45 am, rough but scenic road)

Zhaoxing: Lulu's Homestay Hotel 40Y dbl, shared bath v clean, friendly, excellent food. Excellent value. Trek to Jitang and Jalun villages splendid views. Recommend buying town/region map at "information centre" directly a bus stop (ca. 5 Y) Bus to liping (4h,14Y,very rough but scenic road)

Liping: Jin Ye Hotel (dbl 60 Y, ac, hw, bathing tub,clean), excellent value at big roundabout go into the small alley opposite the main shopping road, located on the left side at the end of this alley. Liping is a friendly town, nothing to do there but nice stopover to rest after the tough trip through south-eastern Guizhou. Bus to Kaili (8 h, 80 Y, comfortable bus, good road)

Kaili: Yunquan Binguan (previously Zenhua Zhaodaisuo #23 on LP's map) 120Y ac dbl hw clean, average value, I can highly recommend breakfast directly opp the hotel, step off the crossway into the café. Porridge plus 10 dimsum 3Y. Soup + dimsum 2.50Y, people very unfriendly in Kaili, lots of staring, impossible to get sleeper ticket to Kunming from here, recommend going directly to Guiyang, nice big city, English spoken at railway station. Luxury bus to guiyang (2.5h, 40Y, train would be only 12 Y hard seat). » 

Backpacker's Tips :   Stef Derluyn, Belgium (April 04)
« In april 2004 we did the trip Guiyang-Kaili-Rongjiang-Congjiang-Zhaoxing-Sanjiang-Guilin
Guiyang: stayed at the Sports hotel, next to the bus station: 138 rmb, not a very nice hotel but good location. It's 50 rmb fixed rate from the airport to downtown guiyang.
Kaili: very nice city, stayed at the Xihu Dajiudian, for 120 rmb. There's also a fitness near the central roundabout. It takes 2hrs 20 min with 40 rmb deluxe bus from Guiyang to Kaili
and there's a bus every 30 minutes, the price is 30-40 yuan according to the bus type.
We tried to get to Congjiang over Leishan but the road is closed between Leishan and Rongjiang so we had to return. Bus takes 1hr10min from Kaili to Leishan, every 25 minutes, 9 rmb. So took the bus via Sandu to Rongjiang (5 hrs, 45 rmb) and then from Rongjiang to Congjiang, 1.45 hrs, 16 rmb, last bus at 17 hr. There are 4 buses to Congjiang from Kaili, at 8, 9, 11 and 14hr. There is no sleeper bus.
Congjiang: we staid at the Tenglongge Hotel for 80 rmb per night. Friendly boss, nice enough rooms. Avoid the Yuelan hotel opposite of the Tenglongge, there's a very noisy disco at night.
Gaozeng, Xiaohuang are 2 villages around Congjiang. Gaozeng is very nice. Xiaohuang is not so nice ( more brick buildings ) , but we found some old women who wanted to sing their famous traditional folk songs for us. One can eat and stay if needed at the tourism department in Xiaohuang. We paid 50 rmb for a rickshaw for the whole day. Congjiang-Gaozeng is 3 rmb pp
Luoxiang: from Congjiang there are 3 buses per day at 7, 8.40 and 9.40 hr, takes 1hr 45, 10 rmb pp. Very nice market in Luoxiang if you're lucky ( every 5 days )
Zhaoxing: 3 yuan pp in the back of a truck from Luoxiang. Zhaoxing is very nice, with beautiful villages aroud. We stayed at Lulu's Homestay for 40 rmb per night. She recently opened a new wooden house. You can have breakfast there as well. Her husband can guide you if needed. All other hotels cost 40 rmb per night. There's a 15 rmb entrance fee to Zhaoxing for all foreigners, collected by the hotel owner. There is a chinese/Western restaurant (Hai Xiang restaurant ) in Gaoxing and a bar ( called If - Ruguo ). We visited Tang'An, Jitang and some other villages around Zhaoxing. Definately worth visiting!! »

Backpacker's Tips :   Anonymous (Oct 01)
« Kaili is no longer that nice : lots of construction work ! Stay at the Minority Hotel : cheap and quiet. The village of Matang, in the area, is however worth visiting. Other villages as well...»

From Congjiang     

From Luoxiang