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Day 98- 101
Guilin and Yangshuo, China
It was not a pleasant night sleep with all the snoring in our dorm room, but we managed to drag ourselves out of bed by 11:00AM the next day in time to checkout and get some breakfast. We were told while in Vietnam by a Hong Konger to skip Guilin and go straight to Yangshuo. So we decided to follow his advice (which was very good advice as Guilin is just another Chinese city with no real character). While eating we met two English guys - Stu and Leo and convinced them to come to Yangshuo with us instead of spending the day in Guilin. Our hostel in Guilin was right across from the train/ bus station and the four of us headed across the street. We had heard it was 15RMB to get to Yangshuo which is about 40 minutes away but after trying to argue with the bus people we each ended up having to paying 20RMB. It just wasn't worth the hassle of 5RMB.
We met a local guide on the bus and she kindly showed us the way to our hostel in Yangshuo- Monkey Jane's which was a
good thing bc it was located in an alley just off the main street and we might have missed it otherwise.
Yangshuo was nothing like what we had seen before in China and a definite needed refreshment. We instantly fell in love with this place. Although travelling is suppose to be a challenge at times, we needed an easy place to coast for a while after our first trying week in China. The people were friendly, spoke English and we didn't get that many blatant stares. However, we were still stopped a few times and asked by Chinese tourist to take photos with them - but they are always very kind when asking and smiled with much gratitude. The town was extremely touristy with mostly Eastern tourist but we did see a handful of Americans on big tour groups walking through the winding cobblestone streets with name tags, white sneakers/socks, fanny packs, and the excited tour leader waving her big red flag.
We settled into our dorm room and it was definitely not that nicest place (the room was strangely damp - actually wet would be a more appropriate term), but it was okay for only 25RMB (little
over $3) and had a really great atmosphere. We went upstairs to the rooftop bar which had spectacular views of the city and the karst scenery while we waited for happy hour which began at 6PM - 2 for 1 beers.
The four of us - S, G, Leo, and Stu - spent the better part of night up on the roof till happy hour ended, playing beer pong no less (college flashback for the two of us) and then wandered the crowded "West Street" that are filled with stores selling all kinds of souvenir crap - from airbrushed t-shirts of Osama Bin Laden to playing cards to communist propaganda posters. We got a quick bite to eat and all went back to the hostel to get some much needed sleep.
The next morning, Friday April 17th, we had a nice lay in and then walk around town. The scenery is just spectacular. It reminded us of Vang Vieng but the town was situated right in the middle of the karst instead of just on the outskirts. There are tons of souvenir stalls along the river and G picked up a nice gift for her mom while Steph
Hard Bargain
G was more interested in her than her flowers she was selling.got sucked into buying a silk scarf (the women started off at 200RMB and went down to 25RMB, how can she resist that?).
We then spent the rest of the afternoon trying to sort out how we would get to Shanghai in time for our train to Lhasa. We opted not to take the 24 hour train since we had a 49 train ride to Tibet. We decided to fly instead since it was a reasonable price. However, all the agencies in the city took cash only and we wanted to slap this bill on our credit cards. So we had to book online through Ctrip.com, which was such a headache. We had to scan or fax in our passports, credit card (both sides) and download and fill out and scan back this form. None of the internet cafes had printing capabilities and we realized that our frustration with China had followed us to Yangshuo. We eventually found a hole in the wall place that had printing and faxing. But the fax number didn't work and neither did the telephone help line for Ctrip (or the women didn't know the correct area code). So G went next door to
S
All ready for our bamboo raft ride. a hotel that agreed to let her scan in the documents. This took ages as the connection was slow, but we eventually got it all sent and assumed we were good to go to Shanghai on the 19th.
After the ordeal, we went in search for food and came across McDonald's. We both looked at each other and without hesitation walked right in. It actually wasn't filled with just Westerners, there was a fair amount of Chinese as well, so we didn't feel to guilty. It was nice to not have fried rice but of course as anyone knows after eating McDonald's, you get a bit of food coma so we went back to the hostel to rest up from our fast food binge.
That night we chilled again on the hostel's roof top bar for happy hour and G taught everyone "Up Chickens, Down Chickens" drinking game which kept us entertained for a while. The strange thing was that beside Stu and Leo everyone else was American. For once, the amount of Americans outnumbered any other nationality. Even Stu and Leo were surprised. There were two American girls that were studying in Hong Kong and were on
Limestone Karst
Reflected in the Li River a break from school. And a guy, Arun from California that has been traveling around Asia.
A few of us were hungry so we went out into the streets for some dinner and spent the rest of the night drinking beer on a bridge till about 2AM. Surprising enough the clubs on West Street were still going strong and we thought about going in but decided not to since we were going on a bike tour the next day at 9am.
In the AM, we met up with the women from the bus in Guilin and she took us out to the countryside for a bike tour. Most people probably attempt it on their own, but we knew the pitiful map of area was not going to cut it. Plus we got lost on an island in Vietnam, so we knew the chances of us getting lost in China were pretty high and we weren't sure how much English would be spoken in the countryside. Plus it was only a few bucks and she was a lovely women. Just a few minutes into the trip there was a fork in the road and we both knew that right
there we would have gotten lost, so we thanked Buddha for her.
She led us to the Li River so we could go bamboo rafting. It was a bit expensive - 150RMB per per person, but they drive your bike to where the rafting ends. We coughed up the money and got aboard the raft, which was literally just a bunch of bamboo tied together with string and a guy in the back paddling and navigating. It wasn't the nicest day - overcast and grey - and it started to lightly rain while on the river. The mist and the fog, actually added to the eeriness of the scenery. It may not have allowed for the best pictures but still it was a really breathtaking ride. We met up with our guide - Xu, who then took us to the "Water Cave". Again, it was a bit expensive to do everything in the cave, so we opted to see the hot springs instead of the mud bath. We paid the admission and then we were driven a couple kilometers towards the caves. We entered via a boat and were given a short tour of the famous stalagtites and stalagmites
Prayer Flags . .
are placed on sticks above burial mounds that dot the countryside. - but it was in Chinese so we have no idea if anything interesting was being said. We were the only ones on our tour to then go into the hot springs but it was nice to have the area all to ourselves. The hot springs were gorgeous - but not authentic. The pools natural cave tiers that had been lined with concrete to protect the rocks, but the water was naturally cold. Hot pipes were providing the luke warm water which was still relaxing. We then waited for what seemed like ages to get out of cave via boat and back to the ticket office.
Our last tourist stop was Moon Hill, but with its 836 steps, we decided not to climb it - besides the view from the ground was nice enough. We stopped for some food - food that never came. They forgot to make it even though we were the only customers. While we waited for the phantom food we had a great chat with our guide. She is a single mom with two children, a girl that is 17 and a boy that is 8. She is from the countryside around Yangshuo but moved
Village Home
Dried corn, heather, and chillis adorn country homes. into the city to be closer to where her children go to school.
We biked through some villages while making our way back to town. They were mostly empty and looked like they had been bombed in the recent past. The roofs of many of them were non-existent with brick pillars protruding from the top. It wasn't until we got to the main road that we saw anybody in these towns. Perhaps they all work in Yangshuo during the day......????
It is inevitable that one of us is going to fall when bikes are involved - given our past experiences in Cambodia & Vietnam. So who do you think took the spill this time..... the clumsy Steph? Nope it was G. We are 1-2 on bike rides, but Steph is still the winner at falling in general. G didn't actually fall on the ground, just her bike did, she was able to jump off of it in time luckily and had no injures - although there was a really naughty word shouted in the process.
We got back around 6:30PM and were completely exhausted. Steph stayed in that night since she had another early wake up call
Famers Equipment
G wandered into someones home to get this picture. the next day to go rock climbing. G went out with the gang to Lizard Lounge and strolled back into the hostel around 2AM after a fun night. There were two others in our dorm - Seth (American) and Benji (Aussie). Seth came home just after G, but Benji didn't come home till about 4AM and he wasn't alone. Seth and G later admitted they didn't hear anything and weren't woken up with Benji coming home. But Steph woke up and heard more then she ever cared to hear. After turning up her ipod as loud as she could and laying with her back to them, she still could hear the noises coming form the other top bunk. At around 6AM she had enough and stormed out. She tried to get a new room but they were all full. So one of the girls that works there let her stay in her room. So at 6AM Steph got her pillow (and chapstick) and went to sleep with some Chinese girl. But Steph didn't leave the room without letting the two of them know how she felt. We won't repeat the obscenities now but it wasn't the kindest words. But anyone
that knows Steph, knows never to mess with her beloved sleepy time. Needless to say G was woken up to S ranting about body odor and sex noises. G fell right back to sleep - i guess that is what beer does to you.
Tired as hell, Steph made it in time for rock climbing and had a really great day. She met a lovely Swedish couple and German guy that has been teaching English in Yanghuo for a year. It was much more difficult climbing then in Laos, but S managed to do pretty well. The only climb she didn't conquer (got about halfway then her arms strength just ran out) was the 5.9 one. G unfortunately had a frustrating day in town trying to sort out her flight. For some reason Ctrip cancelled her confirmation. So G spent the whole day one the phone with Ctrip - it was such a headache. But she finally sorted it out and they confirmed her on the flight to Shanghai for that day leaving at 8PM.
Steph got back from the countryside and the two of us headed back to Guilin to catch our flight. We allotted enough time
Stone Carving
painted stone carvings mark streets and act as landmarks in Yangshuo. to take the public buses and shuttle to the airport since it was the cheapest way to go but we haggled with a taxi driver to take us directly there for the same prices. S was so tired after the nights fiasco that she fell asleep - mouth open, head back on the bus. G has a very hilarious photo if anyone wants to see. . . .
So we got to the airport with plenty of time to spare and decided to get something to eat at one of the 3 restaurants in the airport. There was a French Bistro Cafe, Irish Pub, and a Chinese Restaurant. The first menu at the French Cafe didn't look that appetizing as it was all surprisinglg Chinese food, so we tried another place - The Chinese Restaurant, but they had the same exact menu. We were resting our hopes on the Irish Pub - thinking Irish Pub wont sell Chinese food - but they too had the same stupid menu. It was kind of like being in the twilight zone. So we were stuck once again with vegetable fried rice and vegetable fried noodles for dinner.
Our flight to Shanghai
Stupid Airport Menu
An actual item on the infamous airport menu. was uneventful and landed around 11:30PM. There were only a handful of taxis and no shuttles. We also didn't realize that you should always agree on a flat fee from Pudong airport, needless to say we went on the meter and ended up paying 250 RMB to get to out hostel in the center of Shanghai - Etour Mingtown.
Our hostel was by far the nicest place we've stayed in so far, but it was at the top of our budget for 55RMB a night for a 6 people mixed dorm. We quickly settled in and passed out from our long day.
We'll post our Shanghai blog soon....till then...loves
S&G
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Mamma Jean
non-member comment
Good pixs!
China's not so bad. Have some of the same pix from the Li river!