- This trip took place in April of 2010 (Easter weekend) so this is a story very much "from the archives". Where facts have been forgotten it is very likely they have been substituted with pure imagination. The order of the sightseeing in some parts is also not as per the actual itinerary, but no opportunities to detail the full experience (as memory allowed) were harmed in the writing of this story.
- For anyone eagerly awaiting the 2nd part of the Xinjiang trip, this is not it. The reason is that I am easily distracted and ...........OH! LOOK AT THE BUTTERFLY.
- While I am using a 'Blog' site to publish these travel stories they are by no means written in blog post-format (i.e. short and punchy). The site was set up as a means to let our family and friends know about our time living in China, so for most part I go into a bit of detail where I can - and for anyone who's ever read one of my darts reports you'll know I find the pen mightier than the white-out. If you find it too long to read, then I recommend the Golden Book series of kid's stories.
- I am prone in some posts to defer to the potty-mouth form of the written word. If you are easily offended please refer my previous point on alternate reading options.
Being on the border with Vietnam, Guangxi is also tropical ('ish) all year round, so while we were expecting an ever-green landscape we also packed the raincoats just in case. A number of our friends had been before and come back raving about it but since then the drought had hit the area hard. Nevertheless, even with the possibility that boats would be docked due to low river levels we had heard that the rafting business was still in full swing. The area around Guilin has the reputation of being one of the most scenic places in all of China, with its many karst peaks resembling those along the shores of Halong Bay in Vietnam or dotted around the coast of Thailand. As we later found out, this area was considered to have the best rock climbing in all of China. And if all else fails there was always the bike. Indeed, after only a few hours we all agreed that in Yangshuo there is ALWAYS the bike.
Didn't take too long to have a bike incident. Lucky it was just a slipped chain.
Shortly after we had booked the hotel and the flights a good friend of ours (Kaja) was keen to join us, so on the not-so Good Friday morning (thanks to a darts mini-hangover) we flew down to Guilin and after a quick minivan transfer organised through our hotel (The Snow Lion Inn) found ourselves in the beautiful area around Yangshuo. Unfortunately our check of the weather leading up the the trip told us that the local weather was forecast to be wet, wet, wet the entire 4 days we were there. It was already very misty and shrouded in fog and brought back memories of HK, but we prayed that the weather bureau had it wrong and we'd see some blue sky during our days there (and thus see some evidence of this 'Supreme Being' that the good shepherds all talk about) . And it worked, at least partially. Rather than raining all day, every day it only rained in the morning for the first two days and stopped in the afternoons allowing us to plan some touring by private driver on the morning of the first full day and some bike time in the afternoon.
The place we had booked was a basic yet comfortable place only 5 minutes drive from the edge of the town on the river. Friends had stayed there previously and recommended it, and while it did not have the 5 star service that some of the other places in town had it did have an Aussie Shiraz on the wine menu (cheap in price but surprisingly not in taste) and banana pancakes on the breakfast menu that have still not been beat. OK, so there was a single phone on the entire 2nd floor located in the hall and our bath leaked clean water all over the place when the shower ran, but it's not like we planned to live there the entire weekend. There was exploring to be had.
The area around Yangshou. The karsts were an impressive feature of the landscape.
The Chinese Beet-Up
After setting in and unpacking the Guihots and accompanying Baloh made use of the bikes for hire at the hotel and rode the 15 minutes into town to have a look around. We were all pretty hungry after the flight and 1hr transfer from Guilin, and having been recommended the hotel owner's sister bar in town for eating and a convenient taxi pickup place when needed we headed downtown to sit and do some people watching.
Being a westerner hangout I was not surprised to find an 'Aussie Burger' on the sister cafe menu, with promises of beetroot that would be a first in my time in China. I was curious, and after passing over the other menu optionms was eventually convinced to roll the dice for a serve of 'The Aussie' to see how it stacked up. Sadly though what came out was a burger condiment laughing stock, because while the burger looked a solid attempt on its own the VERY minuscule slice of beetroot on top made a lilliputian's belly button look like the Death Star from 50 metres. WTF? All I could do, and all I did do, was point at this sad excuse for a 'beetroot serving' and laugh at it for 5min before the waitress came and asked what all the shenanigans was about. After a simple look at the size of the beetroot relative to something like, let's say, THE REST OF THE GODDAMN BURGER, she quickly connected the dots (which were bigger than the beetroot slice) and rushed off to raid the rest of the tin.
Where's the beetroot?
In the meantime we waited and watched the locals do their thing. But as it happened there ended up being a bit of people watching in reverse, with one crafty local coming over to me while I was waiting for my "Aussie Burger with beetroot" to be legitimized and handing me a small paper cutout that he had made of my head profile. One of those craft pieces that you fold out to see many of the same cutout shapes all joined. Seems he had been watching me from afar, all the while being quick on his scissors and cutting skills in the hope of selling his art and making a buck. Unfortunately I wasn't buying on that day, but he did decide to give it to me anyway.
The side profile cutout that opportunity built.
The night brought the opportunity to wander the town, where we ran into two other couples from the Embassy in Beijing as well as overhearing a number of other Aussie accents around the place. Very apt then that the night was topped off with pizza on the top balcony of a corner hotel with a bottle of red (notwithstanding the fact we had to return the first bottle, because it tasted like it had been cellared in the yumcha steamer).
Chain Ringin' In The Rain
The 2nd day we woke up to some mild drizzle and so decided to book a car through the hotel to take us out to see some of the sites. Our first stop was to Moon Rock just outside of town, which as we soon discovered through the intrepid adventures of two cabeneered tourists offers some of the best rock climbing in China. Sporting a guide book that described the Moon Rock ascent options on one page and listed warnings and dangers on the other they were more than happy to talk as they scouted out their path. So while they started up the side of the rock before park guides wandered past we took in the vistas with some pics before heading off to take in the staple cruise down the Li River on two-seater bamboo rafts. This is an experience worthy of the effort, because the section of river used is no long, flat section. Along the travelled stretch there are a series of small dam walls that your rafting guide needs to shove you over and slide you down so it makes for a wet trip, not taking into account the additional drenching coming from the rain. And if the drops, thrills and near spills get your heart rate adrenaline going too much then you only need your raft guide to pull alongside one of the many floating bars down the river for a travelling Tsing Tao - you'll then have an instant dose of liquid courage to see you through to the end.
From the top of Moon Rock
Reece and Kaja about to head over one of the walls along the river.
Coming up to one of the mid-river pubs and pop-up restaurants.
The Li River at healthy water levels, enjoyed by Maddy and Amy.
Lost on the Li
Sunday was CHOCOLATE TIME, so after fueling up on Easter eggs we went into town, grabbed some bikes and started to check out the trails along the river. But no REAL cycling adventure is complete without getting lost, and lost we got. I vaguely remember us having a map, then realising the map didn't have the detail we required, and before we knew it we'd decided to do a loop rather than backtrack to town and found ourselves in a small village at the front door of one family's home who were offering to invite us in and cook up a feast. Food, yes, but not now. Because we also found ourselves at a dead end off we went again and 5 minutes later found ourselves riding along a very narrow (50cm) elevated dirt mound that acted as the separator between fields of rice. It was looking like an accident waiting to happen, and surely the slipping and sliding began in the wet weather as Amy first slid sideways down the mound and needed to be fetched out of the rice paddy. Then it was Kaja's turn not 50m further up the proverbial goat track that we all agreed was unsuitable for riding when you have a kid on the back. But she did a superb job, and found the deepest muddy pool on the ride to have a swim and a lie down in. Photos were taken, laughs were had, and the collective eyes of the Guihot family were averted as Kaja did a quick change of shirts in a paddock in Yangshuo.
Kaja pointing out where we ended up, after a bike offski.
It was during this eye diversion that we spotted coming our way along the path a well dressed young Chinese lady carrying a parasol. By all looks a lady of the city, she was wandering along in one-inch deep mud as one would wander through an upmarket Beijing shopping mall in Summer. Seems that she had decided to do a long walk solo, and was as eager for directions back to town as we were. Luckily for us a mental toss of the coin (i.e. a call of 'Eeny meeny miny MOE') saw us all head off in the same direction which also ended up being the right direction. A few turns and a few 'undulations' later (mountain biker's talk for long, grinding hills) we were back in Yangshuo and having to explain to the lady at the bike renting outlet that the bikes were in a state that did indeed constitute 'fair wear and tear'. Lucking we had a 11yo blond child with us (Maddy) which can often be a sweetener in such affairs so with a smile and a handshake we dropped our rented velocipede steeds with her for a sacrifical burning and headed into the KFC next door covered head-to-toe in mud. Stares were exchanged, glances were cast, and I may or may not have been mistaken at least once for Bear Grylls so much was I covered in muddy filth. But care we did not. All we cared for was something hot covered in herbs, spices and alot of salt. Mission accomplished.
Back at the hotel after the long trek we were happy to just kick back and enjoy a hot shower and dinner in the restaurant. We were well and truly spent, but with another day to go before we headed back we decided to make the best of it and planned for a loner ride down alongside the river to a small village around 20km away.
Annnnnnnd the bloody rain came back over night. By the following morning the route we took, a dirt road, was inches deep in clay'ish mud for 30-40 metres at a time in some parts. At times we again lost our way, and relied in Kaja's Chinese to ask directions from village locals who were kind enough to direct us on our way. Huge kudos to Kaja here, whose Chinese is way better than what she gives herself credit for especially when she was dealing with the southern Chinese twang to Mandarin.
Amy and Kaja feeling the humidity.
Maddy doing it Crane-style
After we finally arrived and enjoyed a hot lunch and beverage Amy and Maddy decided to opt for the river boat back to Yangshuo, so it was up to Kaja and I to ride as fast as we could to try and beat the girls back to the hotel. And I think we may have done it. We may have brought back the other half of Yangshuo's farming top soil clinging to our bodies in the form of mud but we were has happy as the proverbial pig in shit. A great way to spend the day, and a great way to end the trip as we jumped in showers, packed bags, settled accounts, explained the poor state of the hotel's hire bikes to the receptionist before absconding in a taxi to the airport before we were asked to pay for a complete overhaul of the bike wheel bearings.
A full-body mud pack, with added Chinese soil 'nutrients'.
Some of the picturesque scenery around Yangshuo.
All up it was a great weekend, and one of the best we had in China made even more fun thanks to being able to share it with one of our friends we made in Beijing.
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