Cruising South To Yangshuo

Wednesday, September 7th

We're saying good-bye to Guilin this morning and moving south to a popular town on the Southeast Asia backpacker circuit, Yangshuo.  The town is known for its beautiful surrounding scenery of rivers and karst mountains, so outdoor sports such as biking, hiking and rock climbing have become the thing to do when in town.

Jason, the private guide we booked for today's travel, met us in the hotel lobby and was very excited when he saw us.  He said we were the most beautiful customers he has ever worked with... I'm guessing this had a lot to do with our blonde hair.  

We drove forty minutes outside of downtown to the pier, where we're boarding our river boat for the four-hour journey south on the Li River.  What a business they do!  I couldn't begin to count all the boats lined up, ready to escort eager passengers on this scenic adventure.  Apparently the Clinton's did this exact same cruise when Bill was in office.  Many claim this is the most beautiful region of China.

I can't contribute to that claim because I haven't seen much of China yet, but I can say the scenery was absolutely stunning as we cruised south.  Fang shaped mountain peaks of all different dimensions lined the shores in every direction.  Each turn in the river brought us a postcard view better than the last.

And Jason was fantastic! My mom and I wanted to be outside on the upper deck to enjoy the scenery and take pictures, but it was extremely hot and the sun was finally shining, so Jason stayed inside but would come find us to provide commentary when appropriate.  We learned a lot about this region of China and their culture through his eyes.  He brought us a "western" lunch, which included bananas, grapes, crackers, croissants, potato chips and yogurt.  I was really excited to try their yogurt, which was a lot thinner than even our traditional yogurt in the States.  I told him I worked for Dannon and he recognized the name, said they have Dannon yogurt in China and that he feeds this brand to his son.  Always working people, always working.

When we arrived in Yangshuo, Jason walked with us to our hotel... A twenty minute walk, fifteen of those minutes which was through a pop-up market capitalizing on the impending tourists infiltrating town.  Some of the items are worth purchasing, like scarves, jewelry and clothing, but others I really wonder who buys this stuff.  I guess someone must or they wouldn't be selling it, right?!?

We said good-bye to Jason, checked in and grabbed a taxi to Moon Hill, a huge slice of rock eight kilometers outside of town, named after the large hole in the center resembling a full moon.  We hiked up the 800 steps, struggling in the oppressive heat.  But we made it and it was well worth the sweat for an elevated scenic view of the countryside.

After hiking down, we made our way back into town and explored the famous West street, a pedestrian only main drag through town with restaurants, shops and nightclubs.  It was packed already at 7pm!  We didn't walk more than two minutes until we were approached for pictures by a bunch of teenage girls. We obliged, said good bye, walked another two minutes and then it happened again.  And again.  And again.  We don't want to be rude, but now it's starting to get annoying.  We're starving and just want to eat dinner without having to stand around and sign autographs.  Seriously, a new appreciation for famous people. We were able to escape the paparazzi long enough to sit down for dinner, which was on a balcony overlooking West street and we watched the town transition from the busy dinner hours to serious party.  But we have a serious day of athletic activity ahead of us tomorrow, so no partying for us tonight.