Advertisement
First off, many thanks to all of you who have commented on the blog so far or sent us e-mails. It's nice to see that so many of you are enjoying reading it. Keep them coming!
We arrive in Yangshuo and are amazed by the local scenery, which is mainly comprised of limestone karsts. These are medium sized hills that spout from the otherwise flat landscape and when in groups resemble mini-mountain ranges. On our brief walk through the town we immediately notice that there is a high proportion of westerners as this is a popular backpacker stop. On first impressions the town looks busy, full of shops, cafes and bars.
We check in at the hotel and are surprised to find that bathroom and toilet in our first floor room has been designed a bit like a conservatory, insomuch that the (barely) frosted window leads directly onto the path outside. I am not too concerned by this, but Nic is understandably alarmed, and asks me to mime having a shower while she goes out and sees just how much detail a passerby might make out. Too much it would seem, as flesh tones and bodily outlines are
all too apparent! Flick, who is in the room opposite ours and had therefore walked past earlier, agrees. Nic decides to save embarrasment for all concerned and constructs an impromptu curtain by hanging towels and clothes from our travel washing line which she stretches across the bathroom. Just as she is finishing this, two workmen arrive to fit a bathroom mirror onto the frosted glass, which helps as it blocks some of the view. After waiting for them to finish and adjusting the home-made curtain accordingly, we leave the hotel to find a local cafe and enjoy a western breakfast. Chinese food is excellent at lunchtimes and in the evenings, but generally speaking the breakfasts are not up to much so a western one is a treat.
Later that afternoon we join forces with Gavin and Flick to attend a cooking class at the Yangshuo Chinese cooking school. We are collected at the hotel and taken to the local food markets to see the ingredients we will be using. The spices and vegetables are colourful, exotic looking and smell wonderful, but the other half of the market is not so appetising, as it is filled with live chickens, geese,
fish, terripins and dogs (much to our distaste), which are eaten as a delicacy in China. As well as the live animals, there are also the ones that have been butchered or cooked for sale. Needless to say this is not too much fun to see.
Once we've left the market, we go on a short bus journey into the countrysid where the cookery school has been built at an old farmhouse that looks almost Tuscan, if it weren't for the surrounding limestone karsts. The school was opened by an Australian lady who used to be a tour guide herself and luckily they are well accustomed to teaching vegetarians, so they have the appropriate ingredients for Nic.
Our teacher explains everything to us and demonstrates how to cook each dish before we attempt it ourselves. We cook five dishes in total, including pork and mint pancakes, steamed chicken with vegetables and garlic eggplant. The cooking itself is a fast business as sometimes an ingredient is in only in the wok for a few seconds before the next needs to be added. It's great fun, and after all the dishes are complete, we proudly take them up to the
open dining area on the first floor and tuck in. We have done a fine job and the food is most enjoyable, as is the surrounding scenery of fields and limestone.
We return to Yangshuo, where rush hour is very much in effect and the streets are packed. The evening is spent in one of the many local bars, during which Nic and Flick realise that they have a Barnet connection and that Flick's parents house is only five minutes away from where Nic's gran Elsie lived. It was quite a bizarre feeling to be sat in the middle of rural China saying things like "...so you go down Mays Lane and turn right...". It really is a small world. On the way back to the hotel Nic and I meet some locals playing hacky sack in the street. They are delighted when we ask to join in, although we give up after five minutes as the poor light and several beers have left our hand-eye co-ordination a little worse for wear.
The next day is an absolute cracker as the group is taken on an all day bike ride around the Yangshuo countryside with a local guide
called Farmer Tang. We are all given a mountain bike then set off through the town and into the country. You have to have your wits about you on Chinese roads as not only is there lots of traffic, but they have a random approach to driving. Vehicles appear at strange angles and different speeds without a moments warning and as well as cars there are motorbikes, rickshaws, tut-tuts, buses, coaches, lorries and many other bicycles. There are a few near misses until we get to the mud tracks that lead us into the rice fields and around the karsts. We stop at a brick factory where sweaty workers are loading bricks onto carts for delivery. Farmer Tang explains how the bricks are made and says that you need to buy about 25,000 bricks to build a house, which he in fact did.
The ride continues through increasing heat and even muddier tracks. Before long our legs and bikes are covered in mud. I have been struggling all morning with the after effects of the previous nights beer, so it is a great relief when we stop for a drink at a cafe at the bottom of Moon Hill.
Nic and I decide to have a snack as we missed breakfast and select the 'toast with garlic and butter'. This turns out to be a toasted garlic sandwich (see pictures) and although Nic enjoys hers I find mine quite disgusting. Luckily there is a fine banquet lunch prepared by Mrs Tang a bit firther on down the road at Farmer Tang's house.
After lunch we start the ride back to Yangshuo. Nic's front tyre suffers a puncture and we are surprised to find that no-one is carrying a repair kit. We follow Farmer Tang, who takes the bike on to the next village to find someone to repair it. We take a rest while this is being done and Anastasia manages to find some welcome cold beers at a nearby shop. Once the bike is repaired, we press on, but 3km from Yangshuo the repair explores with a hiss that I mistake for a snake. Gavin kindly lends Nic his bike and runs the rest of the way pushing the punctured one although he is in a state of severe sweatiness when we finally arrive back.
That evening most of us enjoy pizzas for dinner at the
Red Star cafe. We have been enjoying Chinese food very much, but a pizza is a real treat. After dinner we go bargain hunting in the local shops and try our hand at bartering with some success. Nic says it's a matter of principle to try and keep the price low, so the next tourist doesn't get fleeced, so we start with the principle of offering a third of the asking price and agreeing somewhere in the middle. I am hunting tee-shirts as the long sleeved ones I have been using through Russia and Mongolia are no longer suitable in the heat and humidity. I buy two Quicksilver ones and also some fake Columbia zip-off trousers.
We sleep very well after a long day. The next morning we do some more bargain hunting before boarding a coach in the afternoon to take us to the train station for our overnight train to Shenzen, where we will enter Hong Kong.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.076s; Tpl: 0.013s; cc: 10; qc: 57; dbt: 0.0379s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
Sian
non-member comment
Wow!
Hello! I'm catching up at last. It looks amazing! Hope you don't forget how to cook that scrummy food. Alec and I are in Headingley library (have come up for a few days to say hi to Grannie and everyone) Brendan we both reckon the garlic toast looks good (must be lunch time). Thats a groovy beard by the way - John had one once. Fantastic to see such a different landscape, agriculture, transport system etc. Enjoy! Luv Sian