Boats, Bikes and Mud Baths

Trip Start Dec 28, 2005
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Trip End Sep 01, 2006


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Sunday, June 4, 2006

My trip to Yangshuo was brilliant - a really fun and interesting part of China. I wished I could have stayed at least a week. Arrived into Guilin airport where I met with Sam and we took a transfer bus into the town. From there, we were coaxed into a boat trip along the River Li to get to Yangshuo. So after a taxi through the mountains, past many goats, bulls, chickens and rabid dogs, we hopped aboard a small wooden boat and sailed towards Yangshuo with gorgeous mountainous scenery all around us. This was followed by an interesting bus ride through rather dilapidated but charming villages. Finally arrived at our hostel, which was really good and very central, ran by the lovely Wendy.

Hired bicycles the next day and went for a bike ride with Wendy as our guide. Was great fun riding along with green grass and mountains surrounding us - enjoyed attempting wheelies and riding with no hands - unfortunately, didn't really master either of them but it's the taking part that counts! Highlight of the trip is definitely Moon Water Cave - amazing! Equipped with helmet and torch, we sailed into the entrance and then wandered, ducking as we went, through the cave whilst our guide pointed out odd shapes telling us what they looked like ("this is Santa Claus" - ok love...). Best bit was the mud bath - my childhood dream of getting as dirty as you possibly can come true. We waded into a pool of mud before immersing ourselves entirely - was brilliant, we were literally covered in mud. So slippy and kept nearly losing the shoes they'd given me (wouldn't have been a big loss - they really hurt, my feet are still recovering!) Had a go on the mud slide - so much fun just plunging into it, loved it. After the mud bath, we 'washed' our faces in muddy water barrels and were then taken to a stream where we rinsed off, but guessing loadsa people had rinsed there cos the water was pretty muddy and not much mud actually washed off us! Then continued traipsing through the cave, wet, muddy but happy, until we hit the outside - beautiful green landscape, rolling hills etc etc... Then went swimming in some 'fresh' water to get all the mud off - I've missed swimming! Was really good.

On Saturday we took a stroll up one of the peaks to get some fantastic views from the look-outs, as well as just exploring the village some more. All the bits inbetween were spent eating (loads and loads), drinking (wine, beer and a Pina Colada were enjoyed!), browsing the shops and watching the people go by! The village is excellent - so many quirky little shops, bars and restaurants. Indulged in lots of Western food - in fact, the best Western food I've tried in the East so far - pasta with loads of cheese, as in, even I wouldn't have asked for more! Excellent trip all in all - want to go back!!
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