Blogs from Guangxi, China, Asia - page 125

Last night was the best climbing experience I have had in Yangshuo. The misson: to climb Thumb Peak under the full moon. Fuck ya, what a cool thing to do after a light day of climbing. So Si and Ryan went in one party and Dave and I in another. Dave and I pland that we would follow Si and Ryan up two pitches then split off to the left and do some harder routes up a crack system. The moon light was amazing. so bright that you needed your head lamp to see past your shadow on the rock. The first two pitches were wicked with a few face moves but mainly up a nice corner crack to a huge belay ledge. There me and Dave spit off into the unknown with torches on ... read more

To rest our aching bodies from climbing, a group of four decided it might be a good idea to float down the river in tire tubes for an afternoon… The Li River that runs through Yangshuo is a big, slightly dirty river, so we opted for a scouting trip of a smaller tributary upstream near Xingping, which is supposed to have a few little rapids on it. Armed with tire tubes, a few necessities in a dry-bag and optimism for a fun afternoon, Eman, Chan, Fei Fei and myself jumped off a local bus in Xingping looking for a way to ‘the small river near here with the nice photos’. We struck it lucky with a bus that was headed in that direction… It turns out that this bus was full of customers of a rafting ... read more

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The minivan hurtled along a dirt road, it's occupants cramped and eager to escape into the terraced hills above the narrow river gorge. A huge landslide marked the terminal point for vehicular travel and an opportunity to stretch the legs a little... Like almost every river in China, the Herping has not escaped from the enthusiastic reach of Chinese engineers. A weir across the flow provided an interesting slide for my hot, sweating body to relieve itself. The track passed by a number of powerful waterfalls chundering down the valley walls along the way. Soon, under Tommy's guidance, we found ourselves scrambling up a forested slope towards the rice paddy fields above. Somewhere above, logs could be heard tumbling down the hill from the axe of workers. A machine could be heard clearing the hillside too; ... read more

Two tandems ply along a rice paddy path, splashing mud and water, and carving a line in the saturated “path” beneath them. Bang! The front wheel hits and the bike bounces through a rocky patch before plunging into knee deep water across the trail… Heavy rain over the last week has seen rivers rise and flow through rice paddies and becoming impassable at the normal crossing points. Tomorrow a large group will be arriving to climb at Twin Gate climbing area, one of the crags left isolated by the flooding. Today, four keen souls have been sent out on a scouting expedition to find a way of getting the 12 corporate CEO’s across the swollen Dragon River… For over an hour, the two bikes raced head to head along the river, jostling and competing as climbers ... read more