Day 55 - Yangshuo

15.09.09

Arriving in Yangshuo early afternoon, the town seems very much like Guilin, except smaller and with more impressive scenery. The main street is nicknamed foreigner street and it has your favourite western hot spots such as a MacDonald's and even better, Sally's Bar, Wendy's Place, etc... On the river front you can see mountains and bamboo outcrops, bamboo rafts and it is actually quite lovely. The weather is quite misty, so visibility is poor and I am sure the mist is following me around China, although the epic downpour at about 4pm clears most of the mist and also leaves everything soaking wet. After monsoon season, I take a walk out of the touristy area and to the outskirts of the town and time is just right to see a local school release its students, who are wearing the brilliant school uniform of ... combat camouflage gear, Love China.

I brave a meal in a local 'hole in the wall' restaurant, which I know will be great food and costs me only 90p for as much rice as I can eat and then a plate of vegetables and meat of my choice stir fried up in a wok. It's such a good deal and they are everywhere in China, but you never see tourists in them as there is no English menu and it's quite intimidating if you have no idea what is going on, (I have no idea what is going on). In my room back at the hostel is a Chinese girl called Wu Ming and a guy whose name I have either forgotten or I like to think he never told me. His pictures of Tibet look amazing and although I will never be able to get into Tibet, maybe I can make a journey nearby.

Day 54 - Guilin, Dragon's Backbone Rice Terraces

14.09.09

The Dragons backbone rice terraces are supposed to be one of the architectural marvels in China. Terraces for rice fields have been carved into the side of the hills stretching over 500m the hills and covering a huge area. A bonus before I even arrive is it costs me only 35 Yuan to get there as opposed to the 65 Yuan the hostel told me it would cost, obviously just wanting me to take their tour. The journey takes in some amazing scenery and once there I hike up to the top of the terraces for some amazing views down over the valley and the villages. This is minority village area: the people dress in bright vibrant colours; it seems the women never cut their hair and it curls around in massive buns on top of their heads, when they let it loose, it's longer than them; the houses are built on stilts and seem to accommodate whole family groups, not just the immediate family. I decide to take the trek from the north town of Dazhai to the south town of Pingan, which seemed like a good idea, until I realise I'm running out of time and end up pacing through the countryside to make sure I can catch the last bus out and back to Guilin. When I do eventually reach Pingan if I wait for the next bus I will miss my next connection, so I decide it will be a good idea to run about a mile on a steep down hill road to the main crossroads where I can intercept more transport. As I strap on my rucksack tight and make the descent cars that pass me beep and the people on board take pictures or cheer. About half way down a motorcyclist offers me a lift, but I kindly refuse as by this point in time I think I am some kind of action man marathon terminator, I let him drive on a bit before I start running again as I don't want to overtake him. The plan works and I make a connection and catch my bus back to Guilin, feeling good for the exercise, yet in need of a shower.
On the hills I met two guys who I recognise from my hostel, they are making the trek in the opposite direction and back at Guilin I run into them again and they have moved rooms into my dorm. Wolfram and Albert, from Germany. Wolfram is a cartoonist and has been working on a project in China for the past few weeks and Albert (Wolfram's cousin), is training to be a lawyer and has been in China for 6 weeks studying. They are going to Yangshuo in a couple of days, which is my next destination and mention some treks around the town that we can do, plans have been laid.

Day 53 - Guilin

13.09.09

Pulling into Guilin Station at an early 8am and the town is silent. There are the usual drove of taxi drivers vying for your attention, but once i got past them, it was clear sailing all the way to the hostel. After checking in to my hostel, I decide to take a walk around town and over to the main park. As per usual there is an entry fee to get into the park and then some attractions have an additional fee on top of that. The geography around Guilin is the main attraction and the karst peaks that jut up out the ground from no where are what people mainly come to see. The park has a few of them and I decide it would be a good idea to try and climb up one, so about 30mins later, a few scratches, muddy hands and a feeling of 'was this a good idea', I am at the top of one of the parks main peaks and overlooking Guilin. It doesn't look like anything special and I am mythed at how the city is a number one destination for Chinese tourists, it doesn't look appealing at all. There is also a zoo at the park which is actually horrific. A crocodile sits in a small concrete room with a pool about the size of a bath with less than a foot of dirty green water in it, black bears pace around concrete cells or sit with their heads pushed against the bars moaning, monkeys in cages groom themselves as if they have OCD or sit motionless. All in all it's a horrible place, but still people look at the cages and throw peanuts or seeds at the animals and whistle or clap at them to try and get them to do something. Unpleasant.

At night Guilin becomes a bit more interesting, my first task, printing off pictures to use as post cards turns into a mission with a 10min dialogue between me and the printer trying to work out what size photos I want. I realise that I have over 1500 photos on two memory cards and no back ups, I really need to burn them to DVDs. Walking back to the hostel at, Guilin lights up around the lake, the pagodas and the river and it's a lot better than the day time. The down side to a tourist town however is the seedier side and as I walk along the main tourist street people try and get me to go into their bars or ask me if I want a "massage". I guess it's all good training for what I hear is an onslaught of some places in Thailand.