Zhaoxing - Yangshou

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We were up very early and surprisingly Ollie was ready first; maybe it was the thought of McDonalds that had stirred him from his slumber! After packing up all our assorted mess, we checked out and headed to McDonalds for breakfast! By 8.00am we were aboard our bus and heading off towards Yangshuo. After only 40minutes we stopped at another bus station and ushered from the vehicle, much to Ollie's disgust as he had just fallen asleep again!

By 9.00am we were successfully travelling again, but on a differnt bus. After about 3 hours we were all busting for the toilet and the bottles of empty water we had become an increasingly attractive option> Luckily, we pulled over at a rest stop for the toilet and some 'risky' food for lunch. As the afternoon wore on, the bus stopped again and agin we were told to get off but we appeared to be in the middle of no where! With the bus conductor as our guide we weaved our way through all the traffic which for some reason was at a stand still! Several hundred metres up the road we stopped by a bridge. We were unable to see or understand what had happened but asuumed the bridge has collapsed or there had been some sort of crash! Anyway, we were lead back to the bus, all the while being ogled by the other bus passengers and vehicles that were stopped. When we arrived back to the bus, the driver turned us around and we were on our way again, in the same direction we had just come!

We eventually arrived in Yangshuo at 6.00pm and unsure as to whether to trust our map and not knowing where we had been dropped off we aimlessly wondered for a while. A man approached us and began hassling us; he claimed he was the manager of a hotel and wanted to take us there! After repeatedly saying no and even being followed by him on his scooter, he began to turn angry! After some exchanged obseneties, he told us "we were not welcome and should go back to where we came from!" However, undetered as always we jumped in what we believed was a taxi and managed to get to where we wanted! The main road was closed to traffic so we wondered a few hundred metres amongst bussling shops and restaurants until we found the hotel we were looking for! Although the mood was slightly apprehensive, the room was very nice and we had a balcony view onto the main street! After a few cold ones on the balcony, the mood lightened and we found a nice little restaurant for dinner! A very pleasant evening!

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