That Paddy Field Incident

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(more photo issues, give me a time and the will 'im up there!)

Arriving in China mainland was like a breath of fresh air - I had finally made it! No probs with the expensive, express train into Guangzhou, apart from the first brush with the infamous squat toilets while going through immigration! (Luckily I wasn't searched as I had the contraband Lonely Plant China on me!) Finding my way in a new country, through their tube system, at 10 o'clock at night, with no Mandrin was interesting but not impossible and finally arriving at Riverside YHA was a huge relief! Big open spaces, lively street and three friendly girls who invited me for a beer even before I had finished checking in - awesome! The room was even more of a joy, clean, big beds with thick mattresses and a western toilet with seperate hot shower. Talking to Nora that evening I was lucky enough to discover she was going to Yangshuo the next day, had a ticket and would help me the next morning to get one too. So a very lazy day ensured with getting the ticket and just chilling by the river while waiting for our sleeper bus to depart. I didn't actually see any sights in Guangzhou, but apparently there isn't a whole lot to see anyway so was very happy just to make my way to the town that I was so excited to see and the beautiful contryside of Yangshuo.

Think the Chinese version of Harry Potter's Knight Bus and you might get an interesting insight into our sleeper bus to Yangshuo. It wasn't purple and the beds weren't squishy four posters but we did have leopard print fake fur, chinese sized beds and the road/driver combo was so bad we may as well have been hopping from London to Wales! It was pissing it down when we arrived with practically zero sleep and still reeling from the rancid, roadside squaters. A pushy hostel tout with an umbrella in his face later we settled in for a good snooze and chat to the guys who were just leaving our dorm (turned out to be from Wokingham! and one of them actually used to play for Thatcham football team - the world is getting smaller!) Even in the rain I could see that Yangshuo was absolutely stunning and I was so happy to be somewhere so chilled, especially after bumping into Alex and a guy Nora knew and a few beers in a bar. (not withstanding the crazyflirtyjewish guy who stared at me as I spoke and when he didn't answer I looked at him and he said - sorry, I can't stop staring at your beautiful eyes - I told him I'll keep them closed if he preferred! Luckily he was actually quite funny in a crazy flirty tongue incheek kinda way!)

The next day we decided to do the typical Yangshuo thing and hire a bike to check out the local Karst scenery. So Nora, Alex, Ben and I rented some super duper bikes (if you can hear a hint of sarcasm then shame) and set off in search of adventure and some off the beaten path tracks.

It's Bloody Lucky I'm Not Precious...

Lets bear in mind at this point that the last time I did any proper exercise was the Mapuzi Caves hike and the last time I was on I bike was the last time I went to Centre Parcs, somewhere in the 90's....

I wanted to take lots of photos because every turn in the road brought a new view but I had to be careful not to fall too far behind; we wound our way through the bases of the Karst peaks and off road into a tiny village, Ni Hao'ing to the old ladies and children as we bumped along their cobbled dirt lanes. Across a bridge with a stunning view down river with rugged peaks as far as the eye could see. Along some dirt tracks bordering the paddy fields with people hard at work and suddenly I realised the path had become narrower and higher. I slowed up because I didn't want to be the spaz that fell off my bike. The path was now about 4ft above the fields and 6inchs wide. The Dutch girl who cycled everywhere and the two boys who looked like they spent their youth doing tricks on BMX's were miles ahead when my bike hit the jagged packed rocks. A nick of the front wheel and I was offically arse over tit, flipped my bike and opened my eyes to see the bike still between my legs but submerged in mud, horseshit and water.

I immediately got up coz all I could think of was getting the others. I stood at the wall and shouted STOP! WAIT! - realising they probably just thought I was being slow, I shouted HELP ME! and waved my arms frantically (not realising however that one was covered in blood!). Ben and Alex turned around, dropped their bikes and ran down the path towards me, bless their cottons. I thought then what a sight I must be - covered in mud and shit, calf deep in it, uprooted rice plants swimming merrily around my feet and my head sticking out above the wall. I just had to laugh, apparently so did they! Nora soon caught up on what had actually happened and through the tears of laughter we organised the rescue mission. My perfect beautiful camera which had fallen foul of the mud too was my first priority, handed it to Alex with my sarong to clean it up, then said my elbow msut be bruised it was a little sore. Looking at it then I saw the gash along the point of my elblow (doesn't look much in the photos but trust me it was pretty impressive and I actually think I may've done somehting to the bone because it's still sore and has a weird lump/crevice bit 3weeks later!) I brushed the blood off my arm and mud off my bag and took off the lumps of mud which used to be my trainers before I hoiked the bike up onto the path. I looked at the state I was in and just said to Ben - "It'd bloody lucky I'm not precious!"

After scrambling back up the wall I had to sit down because I started to feel a bit woozy; so my wounds were tended to (all our first aid kit conviently being in our dorm rooms back in Yangshuo) Bit of water, bit of antibac handwash and a too small plaster later I was back on my bike, barefoot and having given my bag to Alex to carry (i am still a girl after all!) We thought it best to get cleaned and bandaged up before going out again, on the way back villagers actually pointed and laughed at me as a rode through in all my glory, but the best was waiting for us in Yangshuo. We arrived at the point where we rented the bikes and the women wasn't even angry she just found it hilarious - possibly coz the bike wasn't damaged just dirty! A crowb slowly formed around us as we tried to figure out what to do next, it seems I was the highlight of the trip for many a chinese tourist. They all got their cameras out, ranging from a quick, sly pic with a point and shoot to the one guy that thought it necessary to get out the biggest lense you have ever seen in your life and take what must have been an entire memory card of photos! The best bit though was when a little old chinese lady came right up to me and started gabbing away in chinese as she tried desperatley to brush the now dried mud from my arm.

I was tried and sore when we started on the road again, i had thought about just staying in bed and sleeping it off but I am so glad I didn't. We headed out in a different direction, this time bound for the town of XingPing. It was a difficult 25 km ride for someone who was in pain and just generally retarded when it came to riding bikes but the scenery was well worth it. (incidentally I keep on doing this, putting myself in energic positions when I know that i'm crap at it but always end up really enjoying myself; so think I should just keep doing it and see if I get less crap!) I was still however mourning the loss of my beautiful camera and couldn't look at any of it without thinking what the best composition would be and whether or not I would be able to capture it properly. The real highlight (and low light coz of the lack of afore mentioned beautiful camera!) was however when we got into XingPing. The last ferry had apperantly left (we checked a few times but still not sure if it's only something fopr the locals) so we haggled for the use of a long boat. Four people, four bikes and four beers on a private long boat down the river back to Yangshuo, at sunset for 300RMB total. Fan-bloody-tastic! We all just had the biggest smiles on our faces as we cruised down the river, the sun came down over the Karst peaks and shone like halos at their tips; it was an awesome end to the day and I would've been gutted to miss it because of a few cuts!

The next day the four of us headed to Guilin in order to get the bus up to the Dragon's Backbone Rice Terraces and the little village of Ping'An. Had to stay in Guilin for one night so spent it productively of course. Dinner at a street dive (which still happens to be one of my favorite meals in China) and getting beers and snacks for a healthy game of Harry Potter drinking game! Basically involving watching the Order of the Phoenix and drinking at certain points - last one to stand up when both weasley twins are on the screen - Drink! (rules still under construction, any suggestions welcome!)

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