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Published: January 8th 2010
Happy New Year readers! I am sorry this has taken me a while to write, but as some of you know, I have been a bit poorly since we arrived home from our fabulous trip. I have been stuck in bed with acute gastroentiritis and have been off work for a whole week. I don't think I can remember ever being this ill or being off work for a week! I haven't actually eaten a proper meal for a whole 7 days now, it is bizarre, but a great way to start my New Year diet! I should be back at school on Monday to the joys of assessment week, hurray!
Well, here is the final part of our trip. Firstly, I am afraid we weren't quite as snap happy in this second part, mainly due to the weather becoming less friendly. We were feeling adventurous and decided to climb a mountain!! Well, maybe not a mountain, more like a hill, although I know we felt like it was a mountain. So we climbed the (over, I am sure!) 720 steps up MoonHill. we had been promised spectacular views and we were not disappointed. Once we got over the hyperventilation
and the sweatiness, the view was amazing.
The climb down was a little less strenuous, apart from a few jelly legs! Sophie insisted on me singing the whole way down, no, no-one became deaf on the journey, it was fine. I decided to take this moment to educate her on the origins of pop music and the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. Seeing as I am not a huge Stones fan, Ian had to sing some of these to her and at that point, there were some close calls with the deafening of the locals!!
Anyway, our next exciting adventure was that evening when we went to see the Li Sanjie light show. It was New Year's Eve, what better time than to celebrate the New Year with the most amazing (sorry, dead brain from poorliness, can't think of any new adjectives right now!) show on earth. It was an outdoor show on the water's edge where around 600 people performed with singing and music and lights and so forth. Sophie spent most of the show grilling some poor woman about it and then taught us all the facts later as it was sadly all in Chinese. Apparently,
there were some 300 children involved and it shows twice a night in high season. The show was about an hour and a half long and it flew by. The backdrop of the Karst mountains lit up, with boats coming in lit up by fire torches and then a mix of material being splashed about in the water, mixed with lights on costumes....I just can't manage to describe it. Just great...a must see if you ever visit Yangshuo.
It was a little chilly to be honest, so when we got home, the children were snuggled up in bed and once asleep, we ventured out into the courtyard to huddle round a fire and wait for the New Year. It was a lovely evening, just chatting and chilling. The array of nationalities was interesting, we had Olliebollien from The Netherlands and Turron from Spain. At midnight, we had brought out M&S Cava with us and supped away. We even managed to have everyone crossing arms and singing Auld Lang Syne! Certainly, a very different New Year!
Well, New Year's Day was a very quiet affair as the weather really did close in. We went into town for lunch but
then settled into the DVD room with the open fire and chilled. The kids watched DVDs and we read. A lovely way to spend our last day. We had a fantastic time in Yangshuo and hope to return in the summer months. I just hope I don't catch another bug like this next time!
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Emma
non-member comment
Happy New Year!
Sorry you have been poorly, what a bummer. Sounds like you had a lovely time. More exciting than us, we were in bed with a cuppa at 10.30! Rock and roll. Lucky you, having oliebollen - haven't had those for years. Too many calories! Lots of love to you all. xx