April 7:

Today was a rest day. We wasted a lot of time trying to access our Email and phone our daughter. We eventually accessed our Email but we never did get a call through to Katherine. I have heard you get paranoid after a few weeks in China and I believe it. Several web sites are inaccessible here and I’m not sure I will be able to post my blog. I haven’t seen a wireless signal yet. We had a cup of tea with a couple from the Czech Republic who had their map and guide book confiscated at the border because Taiwan was marked as independent.

Joan and I went for a walk in the terraced fields today. We descended about 200 steps then walked 1 km through the woods and then passed through a small village before entering the terraces. As we passed through the small village we saw 4 couples having a community meal and they invited us in. I was hungry so we accepted and sat down to eat. I must look malnourished since she gave us a bowl of rice that would serve 8 people. Then we had a choice of several unknown dishes. I recognised egg and I had some; then some meat; then some green peppers and then some unknown stuff. The food was good. However when I tried the homemade firewater, it was terrible. I’ll stick to store-bought beer thank you.