Advertisement
Published: March 2nd 2010
The actual scenery of the 20 Yuan bill
At the town of Xingping where boat rides on the Li river start from.Bus station touts... They're all over Asia, easy to pick out. Eyes like ravens, seeking for the 'new and naive' traveller, carrying brochures showing their fantastic guest houses with all amenities for incredibly low prices.
Best to avoid them, when you do choose one though due to lack of sleep, road tiredness etc. they often take you to the guest house by motorcycle (which you think is free of course) to get then charged money for it while the bus tout is having his commission paid out to him. The accommodation itself is nowhere near the stuff they show you in the brochure, or there's only one chalet that looks like it, which is full of course, and you settle in an overpriced bungalow not worthy its roof and surrounded by screaming kids while facing another bungalow. Hmmm.... haven't we all been down that road at least once? I have anyway.
So.... there I was at the bus station of Yangshuo, Guangxi province in China. I had just woken up after perhaps an hour of wary sleep in a position that requires a neck adjustment and spinal cord surgery afterwards. It should have arrived at 6 in the morning from
Guangzhou, instead it was half past 3!
I got out and immediately a middle aged man started bugging me. I told him to give me a bit of a break (I had to have a cigarette first of course) and stood there with my backpack and my new trolley contemplating my options. The guy in the mean time kept telling me to come with him to his guest house. Actually I didn't like him, I found him very pushy... but hey ho, there wasn't that much going to happen at that time in the morning and I had no idea where I was exactly. So I decided to follow him telling him that I was just going to have a look. He stuffed my bags on the back of an open vehicle in which I followed thinking he would drive me, instead he got into his own car whilst a driver followed him closely behind. The drive in total was around ..... 2 minutes! Driver gets out and bloody has the guts to ask 10 yuan! Ha ha, very funny..... gave him 5 saying 10 was way too expensive. I think speaking Chinese (although limited) helped because he smiled and
drove off. I followed Mr. pushy up the stairs whilst listening to his flow of questions;
'How long you stay? Week? Two week? I gib you good plice. Velly cheap. Big loom fo you. Hab many folene here. Yeah, right. I'm just looking thank you very much. No, just a few days. I don't know how long. I'll see. Maybe. Pffff...... I actually told him I thought he was being pushy before we even had reahed the top of the stairs. I should have known better and turned back right there and then.... but.....
After long negotiations about prices and lengths of stay I agreed with staying for 2 nights, plus he would give me a quick bed for that morning to sleep for a few hours. Price 150 Yuan. Overpriced yes, but it was a large room and compared to his first price of 120 Yuan a night...... (oh, I should have known better aya!!!)
The bed he gave me had unwashed sheets on it, so I slept in my clothes under a blanket.
Later on in the morning When exploring the town I saw many guest houses and backpackers, and the 'main drag' on which the market
is everyday was actually only a 5 minute walk from either the bus station and Mr.pushy's guest house.... Oh well, I thought to myself, two nights and then I'll move.
After breakfast and looking around a bit I returned to Mr. pushy's guest house. I was met in the lobby by the man himself throwing on a display of even more manipulation. I gave in, just for getting rid of him and agreed on a 150 Yuan bamboo raft trip including the bus there and back. I had seen earlier on that that was actually the going rate, so no worries I thought to myself. He also promised me he could get me a trainticket the next day for the Guilin to Wuhan trip. Gave him the money for that as well, I believe it was around 500 Yuan or so. When it was around one o'clock in the afternoon, I made my way down the stairs of Mr. pushy's guest house to wait by the side of the road for our transport. There a young girl soon came up to me and startd firing questions at me. After a few polite answers although short, I fired back who
Local woman selling fruit
I believe it's is called 'Ya ze' she actually was and why we were talking like we had known each other for all our lives... She then introduced herself as my accompanying fellow traveller.... Hmmmm.
OK. So after a short ride in the back of one of them open vehicles that took us to the bus station, we were on our way to
Pingxiang. It was an hour or so on the bus which was filled with even more questions from the girl that seemed to want to know everything about my life. I soon pretended to be very tired and sleeping... Upon arrival she knew the way exactly, taking me down a slippery path that led to a pool of very shallow water on which was a collection of around 30 or so bamboo rafts. Our (private) boatman introduced himself, and happy as I was to finally get rid of the girl's attention, I quickly started chatting with the boatman. Despite our limited Chinese and English, we managed to get on well together.
First thing he showed us was the exact scenery which is on the 20 Yuan bill, like they do with all tourists.
Manoeuvring between the other boats, with the little propeller more
Very persistent local woman
Very, very hard to resist... out of the water than in due to the fact that it's so incredibly shallow, we made ourselves into deeper water. Amazed by how clear the water was and mesmerized by the scenery on the shore, I soon forgot about my companion. Gorgeous, absolutely fantastic! The scenery was completed by water buffalo's bathing in the shallows and Chinese couples sailing the waters. (The guys sleeping, the women sitting under umbrella's). Photo opportunities galore and my photo was taken frequently as well. (Although without me giving permission.)
We stopped at a gravel bank in the middle of the river, some three quarters along the way. Since it was upstream, that part took longer than the next one quarter up and all the way back combined. Little shacks had been put up on the gravel bank, selling fried seafood (which was fried on the spot) and various other paraphernalia. Old hunch-backed ladies desperately tried selling me some fruit the size of a football, whom I politely declined. To make myself feel a little better I bought some half rotten mandarins of them though, which of course tasted horrible, as expected. Ate some bbq-ed prawns on a stick, and tried avoiding the
girls´attempts to take photo´s of me. After our gravel bank break we continued upriver a bit more before turning around and heading back twice the speed.
From the boat landing we walked through ping xing town where I saw some great riverside backpackers and other acomodation. Defenitely a place to come back to, compared to Yangshuo´s hustle and bustle a great escape from all the other tourists.
Pretended sleeping again on the way back to Yangsuo, by then having realised that the girl had been sent by mr. pushy to accompany the lonely traveler... Without a word she left the bus at the entrance to the city, her having realised she hadn´t succeeded in seducing the foreigner...
That evening I wandered around the main drag consisting of a couple of extremely loud bars / clubs, lots of restaurant serving a variety of Western, and Chinese dishes, souvenir shops and other cool little establishments. The overall atmosphere is one of arts, crafts and general laid back backpacker life.
I especially enjoyed the Western food (well, pizza basically and numerous Western breakfast during the 5 days I spent here) seeing that by now I knew I was heading back to the
Xingping town
Very nice place to hang out for a while, must come back here!! bitterly cold province of Inner Mongolia. Being accepted back at a new franchise of my previous employer, this time in the city of Baotou, I wasn't worried about spending my money any more so enjoyed the luxuries.
Looking forward to a proper night's sleep after the previous night on the bus and the ordeal in mr. pushy's guest house, I went back to hit the sack early. I was welcomed back with another round of questions and offers to see the whole of Guangxi with a variety of transport for a same amount of prices. All politely declined of course with the excuse that I was tired and the promise I would think about it...
On day number two I decided to go on a cycling trip. Seeing that mr. pushy wasn't there and the other ladies were actually quite friendly, I rented a bicycle from them. Got on my bike after a lovely English breakfast and set out to the north of the town directly into the surrounding countryside. Lovely, lovely! What a beautiful setting and country houses! All houses seem to be plastered on the outside with a light brown material that give it a very rustic
Huey, Dewey & louie
@ the countryside outside Yangshuo natural look. Met three little boys that I immediately called Huey, Dewey and Louie seeing their remarkable resemblance to each other. Lots of tourists decide to spend their holidays cycling around the countryside so in general the people don't look surprised by seeing a foreigner going past, but aren't very eager to talk to you either. They basically keep to themselves.
Went back onto the main road from where I flowed along with all the other tourists on bikes (mostly Chinese who prefer the wide, asphalt roads) in the direction of
moon hill. Like all the other hills and mountains in the area, it's of sandstone. Unlike all the others though, it has a large hole right through it, likely due to erosion of some sort that gives it it's name. The top part of the mountain covering the hole is shaped like a moon and from the road the whole thing looks pretty impressive.
Sweet middle aged ladies promise to look after your bike and try to sell postcards to you. They all speak a few words of English and have such a sweet pronunciation doing so, I was very tempted to buy their whole stock. Deciding against it
though with the prospect of having to carry it up moon hill and back again, I promised them I'd buy something on my return.
Actually the walk wasn't all that bad. Steep in parts, yes, and I was sweating like a pig, but the hill wasn't as big as it seemed from the road. Although 'officially' not allowed, most people seemed to ignore the signs and climb up the 'moon' anyway so I followed.
Wow! Although hazy, the views from up there were stunning! The villages, surrounding mountains and hills all shaped like large boobs, pyramids and more organic shapes combined with all that green.... aahh.
Shirtless by then with my top hanging on an old electricity mast to dry, I realised that was a first! Having lived in northern China only and not really having traveled much in China, I never actually had had a chance to be bathing in the sun in China! After a nice break at the top and trying out the great echo (when you're there, have a go... it's fantastic!) I went back down where I was met by the ladies who hadn't forgotten my promise. I bought a nice set of cards
and was immediately swarmed by her colleagues apparently presuming that one set wasn't enough. I tried to convince them that I really didn't need any more, but they wouldn't have it... I got rid of them eventually by telling them how they should focus on their target group; the middle aged, rich(er) (preferably American) tourists. They would buy the whole lot, because they don't know about prices.... Ha! Off they went scurrying, honestly running and trying to outdo the others in order to reach the group first.
Cycled back along the highway this time, less interesting but better on the ass which I don't have. Taking in the views along the way, I stopped at the entrance back into town overlooking the Li river. Of course here I was pestered as well for rentals, activities and postcards but told them all no and just sat by the river and enjoyed the sights and sounds of Yangshuo for a bit.
Back at mr. pushy's I had a lukewarm shower, not out of choice but out of necessity since water of a higher, more comfortable temperature wasn't available. When sitting behind my laptop in my boxers (!) afterwards, the window which
was slightly open with the curtains drawn, the rude b*st#erd actually opened the window from the outside, pulled away the curtain and started talking to me!! After I immediately made very clear that was NOT DONE, he closed it again, turned around and 2 seconds later opened my door which I stupidly had unlocked and walked into my room!!!! What??? Then he started talking about yet more tour packages and what not, offers and shit I wan't interested in at all, especially not sitting there in my boxers. After I made very clear that I wanted him to leave because he was being very rude, he started asking for the fee for that night.... What fee I asked, we agreed upon 150 Yuan for 2 and a half nights....! He disagreed with me, the lying f*ck and said I already slept at his place 2 nights (including that first early morning where he gave me a dirty bed to sleep for a few hours) and so had to pay for the coming night. By then quite angry, I gently pushed him out of my room in order to lock it behind him so I could get dresses. Well..... no. He
suddenly got so angry, he started shouting, screaming (with consumption) and threatened to keep the money I had given him for the train ticket. Upon asking, he told me he didn't have it yet........
To keep a long story short, I gathered my things and managed to get my train money back after a lengthy negotiation which included more swearing in both languages. So happy to get out of there, I headed straight for the first building that had the word 'backpacker' written on it knowing they would have at least experience with foreigners and checked in. For less money I got a better room with an owner that spoke English.
For those of you reading; be warned:
do NOT stay at the Xie Jie Hotel on Xie Jie street... the owner is a maniac
After this ordeal I needed some beers to cool myself down and forget about this idiot so I strolled along Chengzhong Lu and settled at one of the outside terraces overlooking the nightly market.
Here I was asked again by many, many ladies if I please would like to buy photo albums, postcards, English maps of China etc. etc. I couldn't
help buy buying a little bracelet of wood from the oldest looking lady; bent over, with just a small basket in her hands and eyes, she made me want to buy the whole lot, so sweet...
The last two days I spent walking around Yangshuo some more,doing a little shopping and I rented another bike which I rode west. Basically followed the main road out all the way to Baisha town where I turned left heading to Dragon bridge. On the other side of the river a small dirt path followed the Yangshuo river back to town. Again,amazing scenery, completed by locals harvesting and working on the land using tools I don't even know, that's how old they are. Children playing, old men smoking pipes and water buffalo's having mud baths. Crossed the river again using one of the man-built dams. Simple rode my bike through the fields and walked across. Another trip took me east, to the town of Fuli, from where I headed back into Yangshuo.
Could have actually stayed another week, cycling and enjoying the countryside. Really loved it.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.143s; Tpl: 0.014s; cc: 24; qc: 92; dbt: 0.0775s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.3mb
Mandy and Rob
non-member comment
your blog
Greetings from Cyprus, enjoyed your blog, Great photo's Regards http://anewlifeincyprus.blogspot.com/