haonowshaokao

I was warned by my guidebook that I’d get stuck in Yangshuo for longer than I thought, and planned on arrival to stay for six days instead of the two or three I’m spending everywhere else. That was ten days ago now, and with a day left there are still a long list of things to do before I go.
The first few days were a writeoff due to torrential rain and illness. I was so feverish the first night that I had the most intensely emotional dreams I’ve ever had. I think I must’ve been talking in my sleep as the girl in the bed next to me refused to speak to me before she left the next morning. On the second day I got out of bed only to go on a futile trip to the doctor, and a subsequent more fruitful one to the chemist, to buy some (possibly fake) antibiotics. Those seemed to sort me out, and fairly soon I was eating normal food and drinking beer.
It was a shame that I couldn’t appreciate Yangshuo when I first arrived, as it really is a spectacularly beautiful place. The second half of my time here I’ve mainly been cycling around the area. Take a look at the photos to see why. I could try to describe the hills but I doubt I could do them justice.
On Tuesday I caught the bus to the next town up the Li river, Xingping. It was market day, but I didn’t particularly feel like buying anything. A local woman spent the hour that I was there following me around and trying to persuade me to take a bamboo raft down the river to a fishing village, and she eventually cut the price low enough for me to relent. It was a bit of a drizzly day, but I did at least get to see the hills on the 20 kuai note.
Yesterday I went to see the famous local sights with a Chinese-English girl who was staying at my hostel. We went on another bamboo raft, up the famous Moon Hill to see the famous view, an down some caves where I swam in a mud pool. I’d thought it was “the thing you were supposed to do”, but have since found out that it’s supposed to be a summer activity. Still, didn’t get sick, so no harm done.
Today I went to the Yao minority “Dragon Bone Rice Terrace” but that deserves an entry of its own, and I don’t have time right now.

It’s been a few days now since I left Zhuhai. The last night was the usual leaving party, an event that I never really enjoy, and this time was no exception, ending with me spewing into a sink at 5am, then wandering the streets trying to find some drinkable water.
Eight hours after that I was off on my journey to Guilin. Zhuhai doesn’t have a train station so I spent two hours on a train to Guangzhou and caught the ‘hard sleeper’ from there. It was a lot more pleasant and communal than I expected with rows of beds quite as soft as anything I’ve slept on in China. That’s to say hard by western standards but nothing I’m not used to by now.
I had a good day in Guilin, though an expensive one. It’s one of China’s most famous tourist destinations, and for good reason – Ancient buildings are interspersed with bizarre hills that jutt up from the otherwise flat land. It was a shame that the weather was on the English side, otherwise I’d have been able to get decent pictures. Altogether it was a very attractive place, though very expensive and with too many aggressive salespeople everywhere.
Yesterday morning I woke up at 7.30 to get a boat down the Li river to Yangshuo. I’d been sick over the course of the night and was feeling absolutely wretched as I boarded the ancient minibus that was to take us to the wharf. On the way there I saw an open van with men in camouflage inside who dropped chains of firecrackers out the window as they sped round a roundabout. Cars and motorbikes behind had to swerve to get out of the way of the explosions.
After an inexplicable half-hour stop at a roadside jewelery shop we reached the boat. The scenery of the Li River was stunning, but unfortunately I was too sick to appreciate it. I went onto the deck and took some photos (so I could appreciate them later) and ended up asleep after being unable to eat the lunch I’d paid for. When I got to Yangshuo I headed straight for the hostel,
After a lot of fruit juice and about 20 hours sleep I’m now feeling mostly better.