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Published: October 19th 2010
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After an amazing time in Longsheng, we were headed off to Yangshuo which is one of the most popular tourists sports in all of China. Now that is saying something given how big and how much stuff there is to see in China. After a long bus ride from Longsheng, we arrived into Yangshuo and were greeted by a traffic jam that seemed like it went on forever and sidewalks that looked like Times Square during rush hour. Although it was packed, it definitely had a good vibe going on.
We checked into our hostel and met the owner Larry who turned out to be a pretty sketchy because the whole time we stayed there, all he would do was wander into our rooms and try and book trip/activities for us while we were in Yangshuo. Right when we but our bags down he was laying out an itinerary for us for the whole three days. Thankfully, Nick had been there before and had a feeling for what the going rate was for tours and attractions. This dude was just an absolute hustler. I mean he sold us bus tickets for 180 quay when they were only 150. In US
dollars that’s only about a 5 dollar difference but still it’s the principle of the whole thing. I jacked a cool poster of the rice terraces off his wall that’s now hanging up in my apartment as payback for being such a panzee. Anyways, we showered up and headed to West Street, the main street in Yangshuo. It is very similar to Las Ramblas in Barcelona. It was aligned with clubs, bars, tourists shops, jewelry stores, they had it all. You could spend all day on that street. Many of the Chinese tourists who were traveling were in awe when they saw 6 white dudes walking down the street and more than a handful of families asked us to stop and take group shots with them. Being the nice guy that I am, I never declined. Plus, it’s always nice to get that ego boost!
The first night we met up with some British friends that we had made back in Guangzhou who are also teachers and live by Tim and Mark. Being that it was now a group of about 15 bros combined with a few bottles of beer and then a shitload of tequila we all got
real hammered at a bar called ‘the alley.’ It was unreal how much business we gave the bar that night, it seemed as if everyone had bought a round of tequila shots, and there was 15 of us, so you can do the math! After the bar closed we cruised back down to west street to fuck around at the Chinese clubs. I love going to those clubs because I can just dance like a complete idiot and not give a shit because I am halfway across the world and even if I am dancing like an idiot the Chinese kids don’t have a clue and they probably think I am doing some cool dance moves from the USA or something.
Next day I was hurting but had to rally cuz I was on vacation. We all decided to go rock climbing. First I had a big fry (fried eggs, bacon, sausages, banana bread, fruit, orange juice) at the ‘minority café’ which felt great because I never eat breakfast here cuz Chinese people don’t have breakfast food! We headed off in a taxi van to Twin Peaks to do some rock climbing. I’d like to call myself more of
an indoorsy person so it was good for me try it. It was a lot harder than it looked and half the time I wanted to stop and come down but I didn’t want to quit either. I really wanted to get to the top and it was a great feeling when I did. Shitty part about it was that the shoes were too small for my feet and it left my big toe sticking out of the shoe and ripping the skin off. It kinda put a hault on my rock climbing for the day. It was all good though, there was a river right by the rocks and a few of us just kicked it down there with water guns and sprayed tourists coming down the river on the mambo raft tours. It was seriously the best free entertainment I have ever had. We headed back into town on some tuck tucks, showered up, and met at ‘the alley’ for some drinks and a nice juicy hamburger and fries. It was such a luxury being on vacation and eating western food, I didn’t realize how much I missed it until I saw it again.
At the end
of the night, Nick, Simon (British friend), and I decided to go get massages. A full Chinese massage for an hour for only $6. Hard to beat that. And No, for all of you with those dirty minds, there was no happy ending. Not to say I wouldn’t have enjoyed one. Would of made for a good blog entry at least. But yeah, it was my first one and it felt great. We walked in, they brought us upstairs and laid us down on the massage beds and I pretty much zoned out for the entire hour. At first it was really sore because I was probably so tight but then my muscles just turned to jello. The hour went by so fast but made for a great night’s sleep after it was over.
Next day a large group of us, Brits and Americans, all went mountain biking. I got my money back because my handle bars came lose an hour into the journey and were giving me problems for some time until we came across a little village that had an Alan wrench and were able to tighten them up. Pretty dope to spend a whole day on
someone else dime. Halfway into the journey we stopped for lunch and I got a burger and indulged myself with a milkshake. Its vacation right? After that we rode down to some secluded beach where nobody was and went swimming and cliff jumping. I bet in 10 years it will all be done up and commercialized with apartments and restaurants on the waterfront. After that, we decided to hike to the top of the TV tower to see the view of the whole city and watch the sunset. Sounds kinda gay when you doing it with 6 dudes but it was actually pretty cool.
We were trying to get to the top before sundown, so we had to hustle. With a whole day of biking and swimming under our belts, within in 5 minutes of hiking I was winded. I felt like the fat kid in PE class who can’t run a lap without stopping to walk because he got a cramp in his side. That was one of the most tiring things I have done since having two a days for football back in high school. Yes I am a complete has-been. If the other guys were not
there I would have quit and kicked at the bar or something. I pushed myself to the top and got a great sunset of the Karst mountains and view of the city. In the end it was completely worth it and a great way to cap of an amazing day.
Next day, I completely relaxed before our bus at eight. And when I say relax I mean it. I like to consider relaxing as one of my best skills. In other words, im pretty good at it. I slept in, got a big breakfast, surfed in the internet, was up and down west street at a snail’s pace just poking in and out of the shops, played some pool, tried about 3 different milkshakes at various places, and then got some more food, etc. You get the idea. It was a great first vacation, it really made me want to travel and see more of what China has to offer. Glad I got to experience activities that I don’t normally do. Lastly, I got to give a shout out to nick for pretty much planning the entire trip from accommodation to transportation. Made it a lot easier on all of
us and it worked out perfectly. Good looks man! Talk to you guys soon!
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