ridiculous scenery
This is going to be a tough blog update for several reasons. One is that I can't actually get to my own blog and see what I wrote last time, and the other is that I have done so much in the last few days that it is hard to remember it all. I'll try to get the highlights.
So I met up with Sofia in Guilin and I think I wrote about a day there, in the caves with the crazy Chinese tour groups. Actually, maybe I updated the blog from Xingping now that I think about it. Ok, so we woke up in Xingping and it took us 30-40 minutes after breakfast to bargain a fair price to a nearby fishing village called Yu Cun. We were fairly proud to get them down from the original asking price of 100RMB to our final price of 40RMB. This was on a bamboo raft with two reclining chairs on it. There's a motor on the back and we cruised down the river about 30 minutes before debarking on a non-descript and somewhat empty beach-like area where there weren't really any other boats. We were planning to head to Yangshuo by boat later after checking out this village, so we considered a bargain with our boatman but the price seemed too high, and our bargaining failed so he left. We wandered around this tiny village for an hour or two which has a few tables with people trying to sell various trinkets and fruit, but mostly just homes, old buildings, occasional rubble, and a ton of chickens. Also, this giant green fruit whose name I still don't know, but it is kind of citrus-like and tastes pretty good. So the real adventure started when we headed back to the beach to find a boat to Yangshuo and there was nobody there. We befriended a few locals on the beach, and eventually this one guy had two small bamboo rafts which he actually tied together while we waited with bamboo cross-beams and wire. He then attached a motor, put a few boards over the top upon which he placed two chairs, and we had ourselves a ride. It was kind of amazing and while we sat around waiting for him to do this, his family members offered us fruit (for free!) and chatted with us in Chinese as best we could. The ride was beautiful of course, and we made it to Yangshuo in one piece.
Today we rented bikes and rode out of Yangshuo into the nearby villages. Our first stop was actually a giant attraction called Moon Hill which we biked to and then hiked up. The bike rental was 10RMB per day plus a deposit in case the bike explodes or something. The best trails came after Moon Hill when we got onto small roads with no cars, often rocky and full of stones, gravel, sticks, loose dogs, chickens, and more often than not giant cow-like beings. I don't know what they are called. It's not a bull but it isn't a cow either. I have to look into this more. They stare at you in a very disconcerting but calming way. We rode around for hours eventually finding our way back, but not before we had to cross a river by loading our bikes onto a bamboo raft that was only 6 bamboo logs wide and being poled across. The driver uses a giant bamboo pole to push us off the bottom in the direction we want to go. The scenery the entire day was completely surreal and defies description. I took a bunch of pictures which I'll upload eventually, I hope they do it some justice.
We're going to check out the local vegetarian restaurant tonight, I'm kind of excited about that. Last night we tried but they were closed so we did ok at a different place with some spicy tofu and vegetables and whatnot. Yangshuo is touristy as expected, but has a certain charm as well. Many pedestrian streets with no cars, generally narrow, tons of cafes and shops that are all a little bit charming. The place we're staying is a hostel with a bookstore on the first floor where backpackers buy, sell, and trade books so there are sections for just about every language you can think of. Anyway, things are good, hope all are having fun and doing well.
So I met up with Sofia in Guilin and I think I wrote about a day there, in the caves with the crazy Chinese tour groups. Actually, maybe I updated the blog from Xingping now that I think about it. Ok, so we woke up in Xingping and it took us 30-40 minutes after breakfast to bargain a fair price to a nearby fishing village called Yu Cun. We were fairly proud to get them down from the original asking price of 100RMB to our final price of 40RMB. This was on a bamboo raft with two reclining chairs on it. There's a motor on the back and we cruised down the river about 30 minutes before debarking on a non-descript and somewhat empty beach-like area where there weren't really any other boats. We were planning to head to Yangshuo by boat later after checking out this village, so we considered a bargain with our boatman but the price seemed too high, and our bargaining failed so he left. We wandered around this tiny village for an hour or two which has a few tables with people trying to sell various trinkets and fruit, but mostly just homes, old buildings, occasional rubble, and a ton of chickens. Also, this giant green fruit whose name I still don't know, but it is kind of citrus-like and tastes pretty good. So the real adventure started when we headed back to the beach to find a boat to Yangshuo and there was nobody there. We befriended a few locals on the beach, and eventually this one guy had two small bamboo rafts which he actually tied together while we waited with bamboo cross-beams and wire. He then attached a motor, put a few boards over the top upon which he placed two chairs, and we had ourselves a ride. It was kind of amazing and while we sat around waiting for him to do this, his family members offered us fruit (for free!) and chatted with us in Chinese as best we could. The ride was beautiful of course, and we made it to Yangshuo in one piece.
Today we rented bikes and rode out of Yangshuo into the nearby villages. Our first stop was actually a giant attraction called Moon Hill which we biked to and then hiked up. The bike rental was 10RMB per day plus a deposit in case the bike explodes or something. The best trails came after Moon Hill when we got onto small roads with no cars, often rocky and full of stones, gravel, sticks, loose dogs, chickens, and more often than not giant cow-like beings. I don't know what they are called. It's not a bull but it isn't a cow either. I have to look into this more. They stare at you in a very disconcerting but calming way. We rode around for hours eventually finding our way back, but not before we had to cross a river by loading our bikes onto a bamboo raft that was only 6 bamboo logs wide and being poled across. The driver uses a giant bamboo pole to push us off the bottom in the direction we want to go. The scenery the entire day was completely surreal and defies description. I took a bunch of pictures which I'll upload eventually, I hope they do it some justice.
We're going to check out the local vegetarian restaurant tonight, I'm kind of excited about that. Last night we tried but they were closed so we did ok at a different place with some spicy tofu and vegetables and whatnot. Yangshuo is touristy as expected, but has a certain charm as well. Many pedestrian streets with no cars, generally narrow, tons of cafes and shops that are all a little bit charming. The place we're staying is a hostel with a bookstore on the first floor where backpackers buy, sell, and trade books so there are sections for just about every language you can think of. Anyway, things are good, hope all are having fun and doing well.
posted by Dan at 3:47 AM
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