Dear All,
Off to a good start today. Checked out of the hostel and found that we just needed to go across the road to catch the local bus to Yangshuo. A bus arrived just as we crossed the road and we were on our way in no time. The local chinese are very helpful in getting us onto the correct buses.
We arrived at Yangshuo but got dropped off on the edge of town. Our map was not very good so we needed a local to help point us in the right direction. The taxi drivers were telling us it was a long way but turned out to be only about 400m walk. This again shows that they cannot be trusted.
There are touts galore in the township offering tours, bikes, rooms etc as you go along and one even helped us walk past our desired hostel and took us to another with a similar name. Turned out to our advantage as we hired pushbikes from them later that morning. The room in the hostel was not too bad and only cost (60 yuan or AUD10) per night. We just dropped off our bags and headed out.
The
other larger hostel of similiar name was very helpful so we bought a map off them , got some advise then hired some nice mountain bikes and headed off to find the dragon bridge about 11km away. We missed our turn but got redirected by a local. The road was stunning with amazing mountains all around and in no time the town was gone and we were in rural china. Our first stop was a detour to the giggle tree hostel where we went for a look and chat with one of the Dutch owners. She gave us some advice and we headed off to the river. All along the way people were offering us 'bamboo' which was an offer for a raft ride but we declined. We got to a point and the track was not clear and the a chinese lady rode to us and gave us directions. She them accompanied us to the turnoff on the other side of a bridge over the river and we kept riding through little lanes in old villages. Fantastic. We were starting to lose faith in the directions when we met some western people riding in the opposite direction who said that the dragon bridge was only about 10 minutes away. It was a picture perfect location and well worth the ride.
Somehow one of the locals decided we were going to eat at a local restuarant and we followed a person along some alleys only to find that the prices were high. So we got on our bikes and rode away. We weren't exactly sure where to go but after about 5km we came to a town and a sign back to Yangshuo. We grabbed a pack of biscuits and then headed off. It was a struggle getting back and perhaps a 22km ride was a little ambitious but we made it. Now our backsides are very sore!
We found a shop that sold Vegemite and it was on special. Sold to the desperate Australians. Now proud owners of a 220g jar. Yahoooooo!
Next day.
Not satisfied with destroying our legs or Vanessa´s back the previous day we decided to head to Xingping and walk for 4-5hrs with some river crossings to get to Yangdi. We got off to a slow start in the morning and got a boost from banana and chocolate pancakes washed down with fresh orange juice. Then off to the bus station and a 1hr trip to Xingping. An annoying tout followed us for about 400m but we eventually gave her the slip hiding behind a rock outcrop by the river. It was an appropriate time to have vegemite on crackers. Yum.
We walked along the road to the crossing at 9 horses fresco hill and stopped for some more vegemite and crackers under the shade of some bamboo near the riverbank. The ferry was going back and forth quite regularly so we jumped on for the crossing when it arrived. The price seemed more than the locals paid but at 4yuan each we really couldnt complain. The walk got progressively better as we walked along the river through small villages and farms overshadowed by the towering mountains either side of the river. We were nearing the next crossing and we were misdirected by a well meaning family to a river crossing rather than the path to the correct crossing. With time starting to run out we started to become a little concerned that the last bus to leave from our destination would leave without us so we decided to take up the offer of a journey to Yangdi pier rather than simply across the river.A price was negotiated and rather than walking the last section we climbed aboard our bamboo (PVC) raft. It turned out well as there was a bus ready to leave for Yangshuo when we arrived at Yangdi and about 1.5hrs later we were back. Nice walk. Would you believe our legs were even more sore after todays effort?
The hostel has a cafe below it and the food is great. Backstreet cafe hostel. We ate here last night and we also ate tonight. Cashew nut chicken and mango chicken. Yum.
Tomorrow we will not be so active and are heading to the dragons back rice terraces about 3hrs away.
Bye,
David and Vanessa
