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yangshuo... and mourning the loss of vanity
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it was only a matter of time. a mere two weeks into my epic jaunt around the world, and i'm mourning the loss of vanity. my futile attempt at chick-y urban self-preservation has been mocked by my bursting-at-the-seams-as-it-is osprey. proof that backpacking the chinese farmlands is not meant to sustain the daily creature comforts of blowdrying hair using the latest "tourmeline technology". yes, i'm new jersey-bred, susceptible to gimmicks in the land of beauty and consumerism. i'll take it as a lesson learned: vanity has no place in guangxi province, where the perpetual "30% chance of rain" predicted by forecasts seems to be a number settled on as a humorous compromise. 30% has proven to be at least 100% in the form of an ever-hanging mist. while it gives the karst peaks jutting into the air all around a mythical quality, it does put a slight damper on outdoor activities.
barring tramping into remote minority villages to be covered knee deep in mud and cow shit (according to lonely planet), which, no doubt, is something we'll eventually end up doing, however, most outdoor activity is still at the very least, possible. visibility is lessened, unfortunate in these parts, as the scenery around you is kind of the be all, end all of things. case in point, yesterday, jesse and i rented an electric motorbike and scooted around the surrounding areas of central yangshuo/west street (the main artery here that's basically set up for backpackers and increasingly, chinese tourists as well), taking in the limestone peaks and farms. we drove around in the drizzle/mist, which didn't show any signs of abating as the day wore on. when we set out in the early afternoon, it was drier, allowing us to enjoy the air whizzing by our faces in just our fleeces (yes, fleeces in april, in a region latitudinally on par with florida). orignally, we had set out with the intention of going to yueliang shan, a climbable (1251 steps) limestone pinnacle, noted for its centric, aesthetically pleasing moon-shaped hole and magnificent views to be had. after going some kilometers in the wrong direction, we turned around to go back to central yangshuo to reorient ourselves. turned out to be a good idea, as the mist got slightly thicker, and the air chillier. jesse grabbed his down (proving to be quite useful, far ahead of its predicted use on the trans-siberian express, a year down the road) and i my raincoat, and we hopped back on our bike, on our second attempt at reaching yueliang shan. our hunch at going in the proper direction was confirmed by foreigners spotted bicycling in the same direction.
initially, we snickered at these backpackers on their "lowly" bicycles. we had the privelege of feeling above them due to our motorized wheels. what goes around comes around, though. big time, in our case. we'd almost reached moon hill park, the starting point of the trek to the pinnacle, and i happened to glance down at the battery meter. lo and behold, the needle, which was pointing at nearly full just a minute before, was down to almost empty. i did a double take before mentioning this to jesse. we both weren't sure whether the meter was malfunctioning and whether we should try to reach our destination (looming so close), or turn around and head back. we decided to play it safe and head back to town, where we could complain (we'd been promised that the "full battery" on our bike would hold the two of us out for 40 km, which we had definitely not gone) and trade the bike in for one with a full battery. turning around and heading back turned out to be the right decision, as halfway back to our starting point, the bike started really slowing down, and about 3/4 of the way back, slowed even further to a putter, so bad that at first, cyclers, and then eventually, pedestrians, were passing us. a few hundred feet from west st., i got off and walked/jogged the remainder of the way next to the bike, which proved more mobile with the loss of my weight.
running out of time and lacking the necessary language skills to do more than point at the bike with dejected looks on our faces, we settled on trading in the gimp bike for one with a full battery (so claimed). i'd entertained ideas of trying to convince trading in the weak electric bike for a more expensive, more reliable (albeit environmentally unfriendly) petrol one. can't win them all. jesse doing what he does well and bringing me back down to reality, reminded me that we were no longer in america, the only place where such entertained ideas could actually come to fruition. at any rate, our new bike did the job of bringing us successfully to yueliang shan on our third try. passing through the gates of moon hill park where we were met yet again with the ever present entrance fee (15Y), we made our record speed way up the *really* slippery 1251 steps to the moon shaped hole that marked the pinnacle. the views from this area were supposedly unparalled, allowing hikers to glimpse moon hill farm and the 1500 year old banyan tree (what they look like, i'll have to leave up to professional photographs to tell). due to the ever present mist i was talking about earlier, however, we were lucky to see 1-2 limestones peaks in front of us. views of the valley dizzingly far below, we could basically forget about. still, the air was incredibly serene, and save for a family of chinese tourists and, amazingly enough, a tout hawking tsing tao beers and sodas (she looked like she was at least 75 years old; god only knows how she made her way up and down the peak undoubtedly everyday)... jesse and i were the only ones there. breathing in the clean "mountain" air and snapping a few requisite photos had us ready to head back down and into town.
we were surprisingly tired that night. surprisingly, because i hardly considered riding around on a motorbike "exercise". nevertheless, we were beat and our lack of proper decision making skills showed it. too tired to walk any further, we decided to try out a "brick oven pizza" place next to our hotel. awful food, small portions, and high prices. nuff said. take it as a lesson learned. surrounded by foreign food cooked with insufficient proper ingredients and substandard hygiene, if you've been lucky enough to have found a good thing, just stick with it. and as for thinking riding on the back of a motorbike doesn't exercise any muscles, my inner thighs were sore the next day. learn something new everyday.
More thumbnails ...
Where I stayed:
friend hotel
bamboo inn
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| 5. | yangshuo... and mourning the loss of vanity - Yangshuo, China Apr 02, 2008 (  45 ) |
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