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Published: August 9th 2007
10000 Mr Wongs and 40 gates. U kidding...?
By chance we had chosen the worse possible time to cross from Macau to mainland China (Sun nite) and joined thousands of Chinese, and all their shopping, trying to go back home through the forty plus customs gates at the same time. There's nothing like standing in a line that doesn't move surrounded by staring faces wondering why you and your pack are so damn big...
After the customs fun our first intro into China started in a horizontal position looking down. We got much needed massages, and they weren't bad either. It was pretty much the cheapest accommodation available in the border town of Zhuhai because the fee also included, wait for it, the chance to sleep on the same oily 50cm wide bed you got massaged on. On top of that they made us wear light blue robes that looked like they were taken straight out of the local psychiatric hospital. All style!
The next day we jumped on the train fairly refreshed and whizzed (by Chinese standards) through Guangdong state heading northwest towards Yangshuo. We had chosen not to get the sleeper (double the price) and instead
spent the next 13 hours on hard non-reclinable seats crammed in with a whole bunch of crazy folk. The conductor would come along every twenty minutes not to check tickets but to try and sell us or anyone that pretended to care stuff that was completely useless - think fluro pink flashing plastic bracelets that also stick to the roof of the train. Guys would openly smoke cigs opposite mothers and babies and then just just drop them, still lit, on the train floor. Others (usually the men) would yell on their cell phones like they were fighting for custody of their kids in the divorce court when they were probably just deciding on what kind of rice to have for dinner. So sleep was sacrificed to watch the surrounding Chinese circus, and it was worth doing once. But we just hope they sort out the smoking situation for those poor babies!
Got to Yangshuo feeling like crap warmed up and crashed hard cos we needed our energy for the next few days exploring. Yangshuo is made up of these crazy steep limestone mountains which cut through the surrounding rivers and rice fields and the setting is awesome! One
Bums on display
Too convenient!day we went caving in the morning then climbed up to the top of one of the highest peaks (Moon Hill) in the afternoon. Enjoyed sweet views of some of the 2000 peaks in the area but unfortunately the camera died at the top so no pics. Had an old lady follow us all the way from the car park to the summit (40 minutes hike) and back down again because she wanted me to buy a fanta from her even though I refused multiple times. No sale! But man they are persistent! Another time we spent a nice afternoon going down the Li River by boat past huge vertical cliffs and lazy water buffalo.
Yet some of the most fun we had in Yangshuo didnt really cost much at all. Cruising through the fields on bikes watching ladies plough fields the old fashion way, or overtaking the three wheeled Yangshuo Ferraris (not difficult at all) was a good laugh. As was checking out the local babies and their cool pants. The young ones have a big hole cut out of the back allowing the mums to grab em, take em to the side of the road and let
em do what they gotta do in one swift movement. Sooo convenient! Look out for the adult version soon ;-)
All up stayed about a week. Food and beer was good, varied and cheap too, so definitely recommended! It was a shame to leave, but it was time to head west into dem hills...
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Anjan
non-member comment
Great pics
The fun and interesting part is the kids wear ;)..nad pics are really cool man