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Published: January 16th 2010
Cave Map
Read some of the features. I wanted to go to Not Going, but it wasn't allowed. Our third and final day in Yangshuo we reserved for visiting one of the caves. Naturally, the sun came out and Sunday turned out to be the warmest and most pleasant day. Oh, well.
Sunday morning after breakfast we caught a hired car to take us to the Moon Water Cave. We thought we were visiting the cave through which one took a boat. And sure enough, after donning hard hats and wielding torches, we set off on a small boat, Jonny, myself, Kim, Michelle, and a guide. But the boat ride lasted barely two minutes. We hit gravel and debarked into the darkness.
The cave was poorly lit and even with our torches the various stone formations that our guide pointed out were difficult to see. The cave was warm, much warmer than the sunny day outside. Then, as we ascended many stone stairs, the cavern changed from warm to sweltering. I was wearing three shirts and a thick sweatshirt and soon I had sweat running into my eyes. Michelle resembled a drowned rat within minutes. Some of the passages were so short that we had to walk through them in a squat. Others were so narrow that
we had to squeeze through sideways. The highlight of the cave was the natural mud bath. Unfortunately, being in the dead winter, it was too cold to play in. Part way through the cave Jonny tuckered out. We were making a steady and steep ascent into the mountain and the heat was getting to him, I think. Our guide assured him that we’d be coming back that way so he waited for us there.
It was quite the hike. By the time we began descending back out my legs were vibrating with the heat and fatigue. We exited the mountain on the other side to a path overlooking terraced rice paddies. Then we only had to walk around the outside of the mountain, down a long flight of stairs, and back to our starting point. We were pooped. We boarded a minibus back to Yangshuo for our last dinner then walked around the town a little more before retrieving our bags from the hostel and catching a bus back to Guilin.
At the train, Jonny said a short but sweet goodbye and we went to our separate cars. Our car was stifling all night. After a day in
Pre-cave
not sweaty the hot cave and a night on a stuffy train I felt wizened and exhausted the next morning when we arrived in Shenzhen. I didn’t realize just how depleted I was until later in the afternoon when Kim and I went to Yantian for cheap pedicures and cheaper DVD’s. By the time I returned home late that evening every square inch of my body was in agony. I took my temperature and discovered it was 101ºF (38.3ºC). Not to worry though. I took some Tylenol and drank a liter and a half of water and felt back to normal the next morning.
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