Blogs from Yangshuo, Guangxi, China, Asia - page 41

Yangshuo features all of the scenery of Guilin but without any of the headaches. We decided to check into the Yangshuo Mountain Retreat and later the Li River Retreat to experience the slow side of China's countryside. After evading our driver's attempts to move us back into town from our “Retreat”, we opted for a bike ride through the countryside. We rode down a dirt road for miles watching the locals farm the rice fields as we happened to be there in the heart of harvesting season. We negotiated a sweet conical hat for Em for just over $1. The juxtaposition of Em's faux Gucci shades and authentic conical hat was surreal. After getting caught in a very brief cloudless rainstorm, we pedaled back to our Retreat. The next morning we met our guide who was ... read more

Vandaag stonden we extra vroeg op omdat we er een action-packed dag van wilden maken. We waren het gehang en geluier beu en omdat het weer beter weer was konden we lekker de deur uit. We zijn begonnen met het huren van een fiets, Sylvia een "ladybike" (gewoon een damesfiets dus) en ik een stoere mountainbike. Na een heerlijk ontbijt gingen we op pad naar Xingping, een klein dorpje dat net als Yangshuo aan Li River ligt. Hemelsbreed was de afstand ongeveer 25 kilometer, maar rekening houdend met de bergen verwachtten we ongeveer een uur of twee onderweg te zijn. Viereneenhalf uur later kwamen we bebloed, bezweet en betraand aan in Xingping. We bleken te hebben gekozen voor de zwarte piste van het mountainbiketerrein en daar waren we totaal niet op voorbereid. Ok, ik had een ... read more

Efter 3 dage i Guilin var vi klar til at komme videre, og vi glædede os til næste destination. Vores sidste stop på turen var Yangshuo, en lille backpacker by syd for Guilin. Vi havde bestemt os for at tage den 83 km. lange sejltur derned, og det er også den mest benyttede måde at komme til Yangshuo på. Og det er ikke uden grund. Landskabet og naturen er helt unik langs Li floden, eller Lijang som den hedder på kinesisk. Vi kunne komme med en stor turist færge ned af floden, men vi valgte at tage en lille privat båd sammen med et par canadier. Det ville forkorte turen med et par timer, og så kunne vi selv styre tempoet og stoppe når vi ville. Turen var helt fantastisk, og en unik oplevelse. Den lille ... read more

Heading out from Hong Kong, we took a short train to Shenzen which is Hong Kong's nearest border to the Chinese mainland, and went through visa and passport control. We were finally in mainland China! It was actually a bit underwhelming, as everything seemed to be the same except that there was no English writing anywhere to be seen. We boarded the first of many overnight trains we would be taking and were introduced to the beauty that is Chinese train travel. The trains from place to place range in quality, and this particular train was on the higher end according to our guide. There were 3 levels of bunks, the dining car was pretty tasty, and lights out for the whole train was 11 PM. The beds were actually not half-bad, except that the ... read more

So back to travelling alone...must admit it takes a day or so to get back into the swing of it. Mandy was great she knew some fantastic places to eat...HOT POT!!! at a place called Little Sheep in Shenzen...now this is what you call a real hot pot. The stock was so so soooooo tasty...my mouth is just watering as i'm having to share this thought with you guys :) She also knew of a massage places that was open 24hours with free accommodation...YES YES...i know what your all thinking but it was nothing like that...in fact it was very nice after a huge dinner at Little Sheep and me having to lug my rucksack about all day i was ready for my massage!!!!...all 2 hours of it!!!.. We started with a nice shower, steam room ... read more