On a bicycle made for two

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Day 49

As if we hadn't had enough punishment on our first bike ride, we decided to once again go cycling, but this time we upped the ante by hiring a tandem - or as we liked to call it, a bicycle made for two. With this added excitement we decided to stick to the comfort of smooth (or not so smooth in some cases) tarmac roads.

We rode out of town towards Moon Hill, one of the local peaks which has a crescent shaped hole right the way through it. Getting the hang of riding the tandem we started racing with another group of cyclists and a lot of laughter ensued. We arrived at the hill and started the climb to the top. Over 1000 steps later we reached the peak giving us some amazing views over the local area. Hard work but well worth it.

Back on the bike, we pedalled back towards Yangshuo entertaining other roadusers with our superb renditions of a wide variety of rock and musical classics!

After our staple lunch of 5Y soupy noodles we clambered back onto the bike and hit the road for Fuli Town described in the guide book as cobbled and picturesque. A few hills later (tough pedalling as the tandem had no gears!) we arrived at the main street of Fuli Town - far from the descripton in the book. Not to be put off we went off the beaten track onto much more bumpy roads and found the small old section of the town by the river which was lovely. After a wander around we headed back to Yangshuo for a couple of beers by the river.

We had hoped to meet up with Carly and Jeremy here in Yangshuo but unfortunately missed them by a day. However, they had recommended a bar called Monkey Jane's and told us we had to try a particular shot - the Crazy Monkey. Never ones to shirk a challenge (particularly those involving alcohol) we climbed the stairs to the rooftop bar. On our arrival the bar seemed quite quiet so we only planned to have the shot and a beer before moving on to try another bar. However, after Monkey Jane herself had served us the required shots we met up with some Canadians and started a game of the excellent beer pong. This basically involves firing a ping pong ball down the table and aiming for your opponents beer glasses - if it lands in one, they down it. We had a great night, finished off with a snack from the local kebabby!

Day 50 (a half century and still not out!)

Our last day in Yangshuo - aaahhhh! We have had a fab time here and have been really glad to stay in one place or a few days, especially somewhere so beautiful and with so many fun things to do.

Our final activity was a cooking lesson. We arrived at Lisa's Hostel and first had to choose our dishes. We went for Sweet and Sour Pork, Spring Rolls, Stuffed Aubergine and Fried Pork Noodles trying to opt for things that we thought we may be able to get the ingredients for back home. We were then taken to the farmers market to buy all of the ingredients we needed for our dishes. On our own, this would have been really difficult, but with the help of our friendly guide Jackie we were able to get all the fresh ingredients at what seemed to be a reasonable rate. We went back and hit the kitchens to prepare our ingredients using extremely large chinese knives and then watched and helped chef as he created our lunch! The amount of food that came out of the kitchen was absolutely immense and fed us and Jackie for lunch and still left us enough to load into boxes to take away for dinner! Delicious and a lot of fun.

We spent the afternoon in our favourite spot by the river before finding a place for Mark to have his hair cut. The fella we found not only cut his hair, he shaved him as well and then gave him a massage - good service!

Ater polishing off the rest of our lunch for tea we boarded the sleeper bus bound for Hong Kong.

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Photos

Check out the mushies ...
"I'll 'ave 'alf a pound guvner"

Shopping done!
Bring on the cookery course

Before ...
The cooking began

During ...
The cooking course

After
What a feast!

... and after!
"Where have my sidies gone!?"

Comments

[Yum Yum]

Willy Wanging
Hey you 2 dirty birds!!! Feeling pooey and depressed after little shop!!! Boo Hoo Boo Hoo!!! Totally missing your fit arses! Loving the cookery course.. as if you need lessons Mde Chrissie!! Ok challenge - I want a pisture of you willy wanging in a crowded street in Hong Kong.. easy peasy!!! Love you Guys xx

[jonty and banners]

you beauties
Eh up ducks! If someone cuts your hair in China does it mean that they are legally your new spouse? This guy looks pretty in love with you marky mark. Or are you just joined at the head by a bizarre over-use of gel incident? I've seen some of the other challenges - sooooo, find a bottle of tudor rose sherry, and neck it!

[Mum H]

this time lucky!
Computer always seems to play me up when i try to add a comment so hoping for better luck this time!! Lovely to speak to you a couple of days ago - don't you get a lot of time for your money ......... Have just been in Bath for Shonas hen do.......cath had done a great job of organizing two boats for 14 of us self drive down the canal ........Shona having the first stint on her boat nearly managed to go head first into a big narrow boat coming the other way - although to be fair nobody had told her that you drive on the right on the canal! I avoided ramming either them or the narrow boat. We had a champagne picnic half way -alhtough having stopped with the sun full out it them decided to rain just as we were setting up - a glass of bubbly under a nearby bridge and the sun came back out again - we did all get back to base dry despite Shona nearly falling in when catching the rope from our baot..a niffty leap across 2 feet of water and she managed to land on the narrow ledge on the side of the boat instead of the canal. This was followed by a belly dancing lesson in a Bath restaurant - some of us oldies are now able to shimmey with rest. We finished of with a very good meal - nearly as good as your chinese looked - a lovely day despite shonas worries about what Catherine had up her sleeve. Look forward to the next edition of the blogg Meanwhile lots of love Mum H

[P.R.B.]

Hello!
hi guys! Love reading about your travels - china looks fantastic, just think how 'worldy wise' you'll both be when you get back - you really will have "seen it all". Just to say we're all missing you loads, you're absence was noted during the show, especially during the after show party! I believe photos will be on their way to you soon! have emailed you chrissie on myspace - check it out :-) Glad to see you took the shirt I bought you away with you Marky, looking fit! keep enjoying the travels, I have a phone line at home now with free international calls, so if you're ever near a landline be sure to let us know! Think of me in scummy Sunderland with t'show! only one more week then we're in Edinburgh, bring it on! Love you both lots, Simon x x x x x x x x x