The limestone Karsts of Yangshou

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We got a dilapidated bus from Guangzhou to Yangshou which was supposed to take 10 hours but took 12 as we got a flat battery!! At one point having to bump-start the bus before we found a garage that stocked the correct replacement battery. As we got closer to Yangshou, the scenery got better. The town is famous for its limestone karsts and while the light was there, it made the journey more interesting!

Despite telling the bus driver we wanted to get off at the main bus station as we would know where to go from there, he dropped us off somewhere else where a tout was waiting for us!! As it was dark and we didn't have a clue where we were we decided to go with him, even though we didn't believe that we were 'lucky as he was from our hostel and on duty that night'!!! We ditched him when he tried to take us down a dark alley which we knew was no where near our hostel despite his insistence that it was!! We eventually got our bearings and found our hostel (about 10 minutes up the road from the dark alley and about 2 minutes from the bus station). Bloody touts!

The main area of Yangshou centres around West Street (so called because of the foreigners who stay there), a nice cobbled street full of hotels, restaurants and shops. On our first day we went on a cruise up the Li River to see the spectacular scenery. Unlike the rest of Asia which has easy tours set up, we had to get a public bus an hour to a town called Xingping and then a taxi to the boat. The trip was good but only lasted about 45 minutes.

The following day we walked around town and through the park watching ladies doing Tai Chi! That evening we went to an English school which advertised free beer for foreigners that would help the students practice their English. We obliged and had a good evening chatting with the students!

The following day we got a bus to Guillin (the next major town) and a flight to Chongqing.

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