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Published: December 25th 2011
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The last two days have been amazing.
Yesterday we took two bicycles that our hostel offered us for free. It's a good thing they were free because they're barely in riding condition. We headed out with the intention of riding about six miles from Yangshuo to the 600 year old Dragon Bridge which arches over the Yulong River.
About a mile or two out of town our path crossed the river and we had to pay a man 20 yuan, about $3.25, to take us and our bicycles across the river on his bamboo raft. We rode down some windy paths and through more small unnamed Chinese villages. Even though it was fairly cold and cloudy, we could see the limestone peaks that the area is known for all around us.
At one point along the path we came across what looked like a small cave. We ventured in and soon had crawled into a small cavern that was probably about 20 feet deep from where we crawled in. Enough light crept in to allow us to run around like kids and have a great time.
We cycled for a couple more hours getting lost as per
usual and finally found our way to the bridge. It was cool and we got some good shots. On the way home Nora's bike chain broke and we happened upon a lady who pointed us toward a bike mechanic whose shop consisted of a roof and a couple shoe boxes of parts and tools. He got her rolling again for 15 yuan.
Today we took a bamboo boat for an hour and a half long ride down the Li River to the village of Xingping. Our intentions were to have lunch in Xingping, then hike the 26 kilometers to Yangdi and then bus back to Yangshuo. We enjoyed the very brisk morning ride to Xingping and found ourselves in some pretty stunning scenery.
The walk was extremely rewarding. We had to take another boat across a river for 20 yuan and we walked for about four hours through many orange orchards, petting puppies along the way. Everytime the path cornered a mountain peak we were afforded more amazing views.
By dusk we came to another river crossing where a villager convinced us to pay her to take us the rest of the way to
Yangdi on her bamboo raft, as darkness was approaching. We arrived in Yangdi and as luck would have it, missed the last bus back to Yangshuo. With the help of some friendly English speaking Chinese tourists we were able to arrange a ride to a main road for 50 yuan with a local, where we flagged down a passing bus that took us the 30 minute ride back to Yangshuo.
China is kicking our ass every day and we love it. Oh yeah, and today is Christmas Eve... what a wonderful way to spend the holidays!
As always... the adventures are posted at
http://www.flickr.com/norajhess
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