Hexing Hotel Hezhou

... course and she started to chat with Neil. She was really helpful with things to do in Guilin and Yangshuo and ended up offering us a lift to the bus station in Guilin so we could catch a bus out to Yangshuo.

Now she had warned us that she had a small car but really it was a matchbox on wheels! So Neil was in the front and I was in the back with the backpacks piled on me as well as the gifts she’d bought her family and friends from Shanghai. Her car was new ...

... Kathmandu Nov 3rd. I say you're kidding so airline manager gets involved and accomodates me by rerouting my original destination to Chengdu, instead to Quangzhou (formerly known as Canton, down near Hong Kong). The following evening, Oct 31st, scheduled to catch flight to Kathmandu, all no additional charge for the reroute change. OK I say and quickly proceed to study up on Quangzhou, shuttle buses at night, where to stay, etc. It all worked out. Found hostel in old ...

... yesterday and went to Guangzhou, the first big town, we decided not 2 stop there cos apart from some colonial architecture which we've really had our fill of by now there's not much to see there apart from americans pushing prams with Chinese babies they r adopting. We took an overnight bus to Yangshao where we're going to stay for a week or so. The town is v touristy but we have a grat room and the scenary here is stunning so we're gonna rent bikes and check it out. There's a ...

... taxi guys. they swarmed to al like flies.. Anyway a while of trying to figure out where we were (unsuccessfully) we decided to get one of the taxis to Xi jie, the main street in Yangshuo. So we got into the back of this tuktuk like thing and were brought to some hotel street where we didnt want to go. we didn't know at this stage that it wasnt Xi jie so we decided to check a few hotel prices. We were latched onto by this seemingly friendly guy who was ...

... through most of it. Once in Guangzhou had no idea where the hell I was so just walked around till I found a landmark, then used my trusty LP to find the nearest subway and then cruised underground to one of the only hostels in town 50 Y (60Y is $10 Aussie), expensive compared to Yunnan but apparently the norm for the east coast, glad I'm not doing it this trip. Found Guangzhou to be a nice enough city, not alot to do though, did a big wander around town which is not small at ...

... Not a great start but we quickly found the main road, West Street or Xi Jie, which would be better named Western Street for all the English signs adorning the many cafes and bars. Yanshuo has been a welcome culinary and culture relief after over a month of Chinese food and misunderstandings - the main street serves pricy Western food (banana pancakes, veggie pizzas, good coffee and gin & tonics, whoopee!) and the hotel staff and waitresses speak good English. It's ...

... to go cave exploring. We headed off into the caves by a small boat that was pulled along by a rope. We had a chinese girl guide us round the caves and point out different formations that looked like an animal or object (there was one formation that looked like the great wall). The caves were really impressive although quite low in some places. Richard had the most trouble as he is 6'5"! After wandering around the caves we came to the big we were most looking ...

... me the hard sell. He wanted Y80/night (about a fiver) and as I was still half asleep I didn't even bother to haggle hard, agreeing on Y75/night...fool! I didn't have enough cash on me to pay for 4 nights so he drove me down to the ATM, very eager to take my cash...When we got back he then offered to give me some information about what I could do. I thought that would be cool, but it turned out he wanted to plan an itinerary for each day I was in Yangshou, with lots of ...

Highlights: - Cycling in rain among the limestone karsts trying to find Moonhill. - Having a coffee in the Moonhill cafe. - Cycling along the Yulong River and seeing water buffalos ploughing the rice paddies. Lowlights: - It started pouring with rain on the Saturday afternoon and did not stop until the Tuesday morning.

... few days cycling and exploring the area, stopping off to be welcomed by villagers, who appeared overly hospitable , however curious.

I am in Paradise ! So many things to take pictures of !!!: people ;colours; nature ; architecture: food? and wow my sketch book is getting fatter.br>I spotted the white guy in a train station, and he can speak chinese! fan bloody tastic,
Yangshou, China harrietattias