What is in the forest?

There is a you and a me. . . Hmm. How interesting

A Beijing girl's trip to the virgin forest

Strictly speaking, Maolan karst forest is not a tourist spot, but its primitive and mysterious nature has attracted some foreign explorers and travelers since the 1980s, but it is rarely known by Chinese people. Crossing it is still a challenging adventure. The local people are talking more and more about this forest. Some people say it is like a maze. A few years ago, foreigners got lost in it, and finally no body was found. Some people even say that there are monsters that eat people in the forest ... The forest is becoming more and more mysterious, and we can't control our curiosity and decide to go through the forest to see its true colors.

Looking for a guide

Starting from Mawei, Guizhou, after three hours' drive, one hour's electric tricycle, half an hour's motorcycle and one hour's walk, we finally came to Yaosuo village on the edge of Maolan forest. A local warmly invited us to stay in his house. When talking about the forest we want to cross, the Buyi male host of this family said: "Although crossing the forest is not an impossible thing as people outside say, it is really easy to get lost, and there are often things that wild animals hurt people. Therefore, although many local people have lived on the edge of this forest for generations, they have never experienced going deep into the forest, let alone crossing it. " He suggested that we play casually at the edge of the forest and don't take risks. Later, we insisted again and again, and he finally agreed to help us find a guide.

After many twists and turns, we finally found two eighteen-year-old boys to be our guides. The two boys are brothers. My brother's name is Azhuo, and my brother's name is A Mu. Their sister married to the village on the other side of the forest a few years ago, so Azhuo and A Mu crossed it two or three times, and they usually like hunting in the forest, so they have accumulated a lot of experience in field life. It's really the best guide for us. My brother is quiet and looks shy and steady, but he is as active and excited about our forest trip as we are. The day before he left, he joined the third guide, a Buyi boy. He is not so much a guide as a companion, because he has no experience of crossing the forest, but is moved by our trip and insists on following. When we left, we brought a simple tent, three wooden knives, a bite of aluminum pot, enough rice, some bacon and some spices from the guide's house, and because there are wild animals such as wolves and wild dogs and pheasants in the forest, we also brought two guns.

Awaken the forest

After several villages, the number of people gradually decreased. After climbing several high mountains, the trees became denser and denser. On the afternoon of the first day, we slowly entered the depths of the jungle. Looking around, there are more and more trees that are difficult for four people to hold together. The data shows that trees grow very slowly under this geological condition. Small trees with a diameter of only a few centimeters at breast height are about fifty or sixty years old, while trees with a diameter of thirty or forty centimeters at breast height have gone through centuries of vicissitudes. I really don't know how many years of wind and rain these DBH one or two meters old trees around us have experienced.

Those big trees are mixed with young trees and shrubs, so dense that even birds can hardly walk through them in some places. Bryophytes on the ground are very lush, and they extend to three or four meters high on the trunk. Under the reflection of flashing lights in the forest, the green forest looks very strange. Vines that grow at the top of the jungle and in various inexplicable places are as thick as some people's arms and as thin as the stems of morning glory. Some of them are entangled in trees, others are hooked on the ground, and often trip over our ankles. At the same time, because of the humidity, the fallen leaves and branches accumulated all the year round gradually rot, giving off some damp rotten wood smell.

The deeper you go into the forest, the more bizarre things there are. On the ground, I often see some big trees that don't know when and why they fell. Everything looks damp and dark, nothing unusual. However, due to thousands of years, some trunks with a diameter of more than half a meter have rotted to the point where you step on them and immediately break into tofu residue. Many times, I fell down because I stepped on the air. Looking back at that big tree, there are still some water drops rising, which looks like a fairy tale.

Animals are fierce.

The most common is wild monkeys. Because people are rarely seen, when our rustling disturbs them, these smart guys usually hide far away, but on both sides of the sidewalk where some hunters often walk, a root plant that has just been pulled out by monkeys can be seen almost everywhere, and the tooth marks on it are still fresh. Occasionally, I was lucky to see some little monkeys who were unfamiliar with the world running away from the branches not far away.

I often see pheasants, and my vigilance and reaction speed are very poor. We startled them when we were on the road. When they saw us, they even flew to the road and ran away. At this time, Azhuo and the A Mu Brotherhood dropped their other things and went after them with shotguns. They only heard a gunshot, and soon A Mu would be embarrassed to come back with some pheasant feathers, help us put them in the hat, and laugh at their marksmanship, saying that their guns were only one meter away from the pheasant, but they still missed.

You can clearly hear the howling of wolves in the middle of the night. We put the fire so big that we didn't dare to move at all, and there was a cool breeze in our backs. Sometimes the guide can't sleep all night. He always looks after the fire carefully.

Primitive experience

We actually lived in the forest for four days and three nights. The local boys are very skilled at making fires, and the wet branches in the forest burn easily in their hands. When they leave the camp, they will also put out the fire thoroughly and carefully, leaving no sparks. It can be seen that they are also very careful to protect this land that has lived for generations.

We stew bacon and vegetables-some are collected from farmland on the edge of the forest, some are dug up wild vegetables, and all the fresh fungus and mushrooms we collect from the trunk. In less than half an hour, the meal was ready, simple but delicious. It's a pity that we didn't catch the pheasant, otherwise we could taste the real game.

Last Rampage: The Escape of Gary Tison

After three days and nights of camping and trekking, we finally walked out of the forest slowly. In our previous impression, the forest was always like a secret palace or cave, with a clear boundary with the outside world, just like a door opened and towering old trees greeted us. In fact, I walked into the forest unconsciously. After climbing several mountains, the farmers disappeared and the trees became thicker and thicker ... I don't know when, but when I looked up, I realized that I had reached the depths of the jungle.

On the day of our return trip, we experienced a real "night March". At night, the evil wind swished in the forest, and the forest, which was not bright, was darker now. When we climbed the ridge, we suddenly found a few small lights flashing at the foot of the mountain. The moment I saw them, my heart was full of complicated feelings such as joy, gratitude and nostalgia. I want to see the lighthouse in Wang Yang and the oasis in the desert, which may be the feeling! That little light, so faint, can turn into such great hope in our hearts.

After returning to Yaosuo village, the story of our two girls crossing the forest spread. People often come to chat with us, and the topic is often dragged to the "big city" they yearn for. They asked me to talk, and I was speechless. Back to the city, the karst forest always grows luxuriantly in my heart, and my personality seems to have changed, calmer, more tolerant and stronger … I think this must be the power of the forest.

tourist handbook

routine

It takes about seven or eight hours from Guiyang to Mawei Town by train.

There are two ways to play ponytail to Libo:

A. Take CMB to the Seven Small Arch Tourist Area. 45 kilometers, about 1.5 hours. After a day or two at seven small arches, take CMB to Libo.

B) Take the local CMB (ask clearly before boarding, you can save tens of yuan by passing through the Seven Small Arch Scenic Area, and you can see some scenic spots along the way, including the Seven Small Arch Bridge and the aquatic forest), and go directly to Libo. The price is over ten yuan.

From Libo to Lihua, there will be no CMB after Libo, but there will be motor tricycles driven by local people. As long as you talk about going to the karst forest, you will basically take you to Lihua, 3 ~ 5 yuan alone.

There are many motorcycles from Lihua to the entrance of karst forest. Generally 10 yuan/person can take you to the entrance of karst forest, which takes about half an hour. Go straight up the mountain along the mountain road that enters the mountain. There is only one road. Walk along the widest road and you won't get lost. About an hour's journey, you will see a village with about 30 ~ 50 families scattered in green fields. This is Yaosuo Village.

Tip: Local people are very polite to tourists. Ask someone who doesn't understand. They all know the way and are happy to tell you.

board and lodging

Yaosuo village is relatively more like a Jiangnan water town surrounded by Qingfeng. There are many underground river exits and skylights in this village, and the running water is gurgling under your feet. Waterfalls and deep pools with a drop of several meters to ten meters can be seen everywhere. The local Buyi wooden houses and diaojiao buildings are distributed between farmland and small bridges.

Although the scenery here is beautiful, there is no hotel. The locals are very hospitable. You can find a farmer for the night. Some people even ask you to live in their own home. Usually, they will give you the best room to live in and give you bacon that you usually can't bear to eat. Accommodation is all-inclusive, and locals generally don't take the initiative to charge you. At that time, we ate and lived together for more than half a month. Apart from giving them some small things, we only gave our host 300 yuan money, and they were still very happy.

equipment

★ The local temperature is hot except in summer, and the climate is suitable all year round, with 5 ~ 10 degrees in winter. But no matter what the weather is like, you must prepare long-sleeved shirts and trousers, because it is very easy to scratch your skin in the forest, so you'd better prepare a pair of gloves.

★ There are many local mosquitoes, so it is necessary to prepare anti-mosquito drugs. Because there are few local pharmacies, you should bring enough common medicines and give them to the locals when you leave.

★ You will spend the night in the forest, and even if you don't spend the night, you will drill a cave, so you'd better bring a flashlight or a headlight. Of course, you can do without it. Local tour guides will bring a huge charging lamp, which is really difficult to carry.

★ If there are many people, bring your own tent. The tents provided by local tour guides are simple and heavy. Stoves and pots can be omitted, and the ability of local people to make fires is very high. You can prepare some compressed biscuits, chocolates and the like just in case.

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