Apples from the rugged orchards of Zhaotong
(North-eastern Yunnan province)
When we first came to Zhaotong, people who were eager to proudly introduce us to their home-town repeatedly bragged on these apples and urged us to try one fresh from their orchard.
This was a fascinating place... each leg of the journey up the mountain brought a new surprise.
We started by taking the city bus to the edge of the city. From there we rode a little "bread truck" further away from the city and into the country... when the bread truck could no longer make it up the winding dirt roads, we got out and rode on motorcycle taxi's up up up the mountain. My sweet little dog rode tucked inside my coat!
Finally, after the motorcycle dropped us off at the orchard, we hiked a little ways up to the farmers house - which was made from mud bricks, concrete and a hand-made clay roof.
To my left are Heidi and Lisa, my fun-loving friends who provided almost all of our adventures the two years we lived in Zhaotong.
Having mud-brick walls, they put this plastic wrap on the walls to keep dirt clumps from falling and making a mess everywhere! Also, as you can see, they needed to have something that pictures could be hung on!
Here (above) Lisa manages to steady me because I almost took a stumble into the ditch while trying to pass by a tree.
Our LOOT! So many apples... the next month we had lots of apple pie, apple cobbler, apple butter, apple sauce... and mostly just plain apples.
And you know? The locals are right-- they were the best apples I'd ever eaten.
No comments:
Post a Comment