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Published: April 7th 2010
The evening prior Elyse and I meet up with some fellow CTLC teachers at Monkey Janes Rooftop Bar. It was just down the alley way from our hostel. The bar sat atop the seven story structure and had panoramic views of the river and surrounding stone outcrops. There was seating both inside and out. Given the weather conditions we opted to sit inside. Jane the owner of the bar and hostel did slightly resemble a monkey in the face.
A poster hung immediately next to the stairwell that informed the patrons that they if so chose could order a live snake to be delivered to the bar, at which time its heart could be cut out and eaten while still beating. Afterwards a delicious snake blood shot and snake stew would be prepared. And all of this for 100 kuai; incredible. Although tempting we passed on the offer. Instead we had a few beers and I played a round of Beer Pong.
After spending a few hours in the bar the thought of waking up at 8am for a six hour bike ride did not seem as appealing. I instructed Elyse to send the following text message to our
would be bike guide Ying; “bu yao bikes, no why”. The sentence is a mixture of Chinese, English, and Chinglish. Many of our students respond to a why question with a no why. It makes sense if you spoke and understood Chinese.
The following morning(Easter) we awoke at 10am and headed out to grab some breakfast. It was drizzling out but we were committed to riding bikes. We ate our Chinese Western breakfast chocolate and banana pancakes. Then sought out a place to rent some mountain bikes. We found a reputable looking operation at the end of West Street. We rented two bikes for 40 kuai and left a 200 kuai deposit. I was happy since it came with a lock and a map of the adjacent bike tails. Our hostel raised the prices of renting bikes since it was Easter Day, so we gave them no business.
Elyse was skeptical of my navigation skills and suggested that we hire a bike tour guide. Rubbish, today I would be the guide. After all I knew our first goal of Dragon Bridge and its location on the map, plus I recently reviewed the directions chapter in my Chinese book.
As far as I was concerned we were set. Dragon Bridge then south to Moon Hill.
We immediately were lost but not because of my map reading skills. The woman at the bike rental shop instructed us inaccurately as to how we would find the trailhead. I asked a local man in my best Mandarin where the trail began. I understood bits and pieces of what was said but got the gist of what he told me. We immediately were headed in the right direction. The start of the trail was essentially a road. We both thought that we had a nice leisurely day of bike riding ahead of us.
Some twenty minutes later we were at a fork in the road, not a figurative dilemma of sorts, an actual fork in the road that didn’t appear on our trusty map. It so happened that there were a few woman standing at the fork selling straw hats, water, and flowers. Asking in Mandarin I questioned our location on the map, told them where we wanted to go, and asked how to get there. Rapidly speaking she pointed directly in the middle of the fork in the road towards
a pasture. I asked again and she pointed in the same direction smack in the middle of the pasture. At that same moment a white guy came biking up so I waved him down. He informed us that we wanted to stay to the right and that he too was searching for Dragon Bridge. It happened that the paved road turned into a gravel and mud path so he decided to turn back.
Some thirty minutes later we pulled into a small restaurant that sat on the banks of the river. Bamboo boats and pilots of these crafts lined the banks at this locations. Screaming bamboo, you want bamboo? No bamboo, bathroom, I need a bathroom. The last thing I wanted was to have was an “accident”, aka crap my pants, on the bike trail. We were both a little cold and damp from the drizzle so we opted to sit up stairs and have a coffee.
Downstairs was packed with Chinese vacationers clearly on a guided bike tour or possible bus ride. I know because they were all wearing the same obnoxious hat and some lady had a brightly colored flag in the corner. This is a
tell tale sign of a Chinese tour group. Upstairs we overlooked the river, I drank my coffee and we made small talk with a Dutch guy. It so happened that we were the only three upstairs, all being foreigners it would have been rude not to make small talk. Its weird that I find myself doing this in Long gang each time I see a foreigner. Each time the people seem very receptive to strike up a conversation. I suppose its because we are living in an area with a population of 2 million people in which only 60 are foreigners.
There was only one time that my small chit chat was viewed as unwelcomed. It was at a local Hunan restaurant next to our house. I approached a table of four men, three of them being white, and asked what they were doing in Long gang. The only one to respond was the Chinese guy saying that they were looking at vacuum parts at a nearby factory. The other guys sat there in silence not interested in conversing. I asked where they were from and the Chinese guy said France. I thought it was odd that out of
three international businessmen not a one of them was capable of speaking English. I conceded defeat and walked away. Chalking up the experience of the guys simply being French and being douche bags.
After our brief pit stop we were back on the road. A short while later the paved section gave way to a gravel road which winded though a small village. The road twisting and turning through the village eventually turned into a muddy trail which kicked up mud with ever turn of the pedals. Every quarter of a mile or so we passed through a similar village. After an hour or so of not seeing another biker Elyse asked how much longer we would continue. It then dawned on me that we may be lost and that we were heading further and further from where we needed to be. I had been lost in the moment as we traveled along the countryside trail on our way to some historic bridge. I asked two men that we saw shortly thereafter as to the whereabouts of the Dragon Bridge. Something, something, something, road intersection, something, something, stay left and don‘t go right, something, something. Got it, we were
still on the right trail. Looking down at my pants I was caked in mud yet Elyse had somehow managed not to get a single speck of mud on her pants. It was miraculous, how the hell was this possible.
Minutes before arriving at the road we were passed by two other foreigners. We quickly caught up to them at the intersection. They were studying their map as I asked where they were headed. They were going to Dragon Bridge. I guessed from their accent that they were from New Zealand. They were happy that I guessed correctly. I pointed out on the map where we were and what we needed to do to get to the bridge. They were very fortunate as they found me since they thought they were in a completely different part of the trail than what we really were. They were about to take a right. Remembering that the Chinese men said specifically not to go right, and something, something. For all I knew that something, something, would have lead to our immediate deaths. I was a hero not only to Elyse but to these Kiwis lost on the trail. Both covered in mud
village near Dragon Bridge
boys playing in the street/alleythey two commented on Elyse’s cleanliness. I know right, it’s amazing. “I went slow” she replied.
Now on a major thoroughfare we biked for ten minutes before turning left towards our coveted Dragon Bridge. The buildings and people receded yet again transforming back into county side. We approached a village with a sign that said Dragon Bridge. We followed red arrows painted on the small brick shell buildings indicating Dragon Bridge. We emerged from the buildings to be faced with a somewhat unimpressive bridge. That didn’t matter to us, what mattered was that we made it. We sat and admired the bridge and discussed our next plan of action. Moon Hill from our current location was likely four hours bike ride via the trail, two if we used the main road. The consensus was that both of our asses hurt badly. We decided to take the main road back towards Yangshuo, eat lunch, then decide what to do from there.
The sign on the highway indicated that Yangshuo was 9km in the distance. Elyse and I traveled together for roughly 80% of the way back while I decided at the end to endure the pain and peddle as
fast as I could down the decline into Yang shuo. I was going nearly as fast as some of the cars on the roadway. Elyse on the other hand choose not to pedal at all and coast down the decline. I came to the beginning of town and waited for her to catch up. I thought that I’d get a good action photo and take a picture of her as she approached, yet she never did. I got a little scared and rode back towards where she would have been biking. No sign of her anywhere. I decided that we must have missed each other and I would meet her back at the hostel. I rushed back to the hostel and was relieved to find her waiting for me. Despite the fact that I successfully navigated us through the near 20 miles of trails, and three and a half hours, it was I that had waited in the incorrect location for her to arrive.
Possibly I had gone one or two blocks too far and that is why I never saw her. I didn’t care that I waited for thirty minutes on the side of the road, what mattered was that Elyse didn’t crash her bike as I suspected. I was really proud of her for accomplishing the journey with me. We were both exhausted but it was one more thing that we got through as a team solidifying that we meant for each other.
Even though it is Easter Day if didn't feel the least bit like Easter. No pastel eggs, no candy or bunnies in sight. At least at Christmas China was decorated like a Christmas tree but they must not make any Easter decorations in China. There wasn't a church for us to attend in the town as it is VERY HARD to find churches in China. Unfortunately we didn't really celebrate Easter this year.
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Staci and Martin
Staci and Martin
Man, I wish we'd seen the poster about the snake before it happened right in front of us at Monkey Janes!!! Cool place, otherwise. :) Too bad we also got desperately lost on our Dragon Bridge adventure...at least you guys had no falls! Sounds like a good but muddy Easter:)