Yangshuo Day 2 - Hike down the Li River
On Sunday we had breakfast at a place called "The Best Coffee" but I do not recall their coffee being that amazing although they had nice presentation. We took a bus to Yangdi, a town further up the Li River, to start our hike. On the way we passed two people carrying a stick on their shoulders. Between them hanging off the stick were two long vertical baskets with a live pig in each one. It was kind of disturbing. However we now have a new phrase, whenever you feel like crap you say you feel like "a pig in a basket" (ok, not really funny, but like pig in a blanket? Get it? Lame, I know).
When we got off the bus in town, a group of really short old ladies came up to us and were trying to get us to buy their oranges and peanuts. It is amazing how persistent they are. Along the path we walked through an area with a few houses and there were two little boys sitting outside. Both were really cute except that one of them had a stick and he whipped all of us in the bum as we walked by. So we turned around and took photos of them. I get nervous about taking photos of people when they are doing their thing, but when they come after me, it's like revenge and I feel no shame. Not that I am a vengeful person, but I just don't feel so bad anymore.
There was a designated path to follow along the river however somehow we did not follow it correctly. There were spots where we were supposed to take a boat to cross the river but we missed them. This worked ok for most of the way until we found ourselves walking through a farm to a dead end at the river. Our choice was to go back or hail a boat, yep, hail a boat. We stood there for a bit until we saw a guy in a bamboo raft coming down the river. Naturally we began yelling and waving our hands and he came our way. We only wanted to cross the river because we saw the path on the other side, however he only wanted to take us down the river. Since we didn't have much of a choice at this point we took the raft. Unfortunately our combined weight was a bit much for a skinny Chinese bamboo raft operator and so we took turns helping him paddle. What fascinated me was that like in Egypt, he was using a paddle that had nearly no width. We were moving so slowly and the raft was a bit low in the water. As with the previous day we were avoiding touching the water like it was the plague. Along the way we saw a dead pig on the edge of the river. We couldn't quite figure out what had happened but it looked like it's hooves had been cut off. Bleh, but of course I took a picture. In the middle of our nice raft ride down the Li River, looking at the beautiful karst peaks and all the nature around, we hear a musical ringtone. Sure enough it was the raft operator's cellphone. He picked it up and was talking on his cellphone while guiding us down the river. Nothing is sacred.
After a while it was apparent that we could walk faster on land than he was getting us down this river, so we had him "pull over" and let us off on the other side. He told us there was a restaurant, and we were really hungry, so we checked it out. It was a bit sketchy to say the least. The menu was entirely in Chinese so Alex and Carrie just started asking if they had specific vegetables. The waitress was getting really frustrated with us and told us to go to the kitchen and pick what we wanted. We had fried rice and some eggplant dish. We were the only foreigners sitting there. The rest of the people around were locals who just stared at us. There was another old lady trying to sell us oranges and peanuts, a man wearing a suit who looked so out of place, and two children also trying to sell oranges and these massive grapefruits (not sure what they are called). We bought a couple oranges and a grapefruit from the kids and then asked if they had a knife to cut the rinds off since they were pretty tough. One of the kids pulled out nail clippers and started cutting that way and the other took out a little knife and stuck it in a fish tank to "clean" it. Bleh . . . Needless to say, I did not eat any oranges after that.
We continued walking to this part where there was a creek on one side, and trees on the other and in the middle grass and a bunch of a water buffalo. I decided to walk through the group group of water buffalo instead of go around. One buffalo took interest in me and started coming after me so I tried to briskly walk away without running. Luckily it did not find me important enough to chase after, so I continued on my way and missed the photo. We got to a point where we had to cross a small creek about 5' wide and 6" deep to get back on the right path. Normally if I was in the states I would not hesitate and would not care about getting my shoes wet, but again, you know our fear of the water. It was also rocky on both sides so it wasn't like we could just run and jump across. Another group of Chinese tourists came by and started picking up rocks and throwing them in the middle so that we could create a step. Then a local couple came with a water buffalo and offered to let us ride it across the creek. It was starting to get pretty absurd, seriously, who needs to take a buffalo across a 5' creek that is no more than 6" deep! Because it was so absurd we thought it would be fun. Carrie went first but did not know how to get on a water buffalo. So the woman and the man tried to push her up and as she was getting on the buffalo the man told her it would cost money so she wanted to get off. Then they tried talking her into paying for a photo of her on the buffalo. Luckily I got some photos of her getting onto it. Eventually enough rocks were thrown into the water that we had a step to go across. Alex did slip and her foot went into the water. Let's hope she doesn't get the plague.
After a ways, we got to the next boat crossing point. When we first started the trip we had to buy a ticket to take the boats. We were told that one ticket would be good for all of the crossings. When we got to this crossing point they told us it would cost more money. At this point we were tired and wanted to get back, so we took another boat down to the end of the hike. As we were pulling into the dock, a woman walked down these stairs holding a pole with a bird balancing on either side. She came down to the dock and just stood there waiting for us. This was obviously someone posing for photos. It kind of cheapened the experience.
After docking we had to walk a ways into town to catch a bus back to Yangshuo. Back in Yangshuo we ate at Drifter's, which is known for it's good apple crumble. Who would have thought, some place in Yangshuo has good apple crumble! Yangshuo is full of restaurants that serve both Chinese and foreign food. During our entire time there we only ate foreign food, mainly because Carrie got food poisoning from eating a Chinese eggplant dish there.
That night Alex and I got a room at the Buffalo Bar. They advertise wireless internet in all the rooms but it only seemed to work within 20 feet of the router, which was behind the bar. It was kind of nice because it forced us to get out of our rooms and we were able to eat fries while using the internet. Fantastic! The owner of the Buffalo Bar is this Australian guy named Alf. He was pretty cool and was really good to talk to get ideas on hikes and things to do in and around Yangshuo.
When we got off the bus in town, a group of really short old ladies came up to us and were trying to get us to buy their oranges and peanuts. It is amazing how persistent they are. Along the path we walked through an area with a few houses and there were two little boys sitting outside. Both were really cute except that one of them had a stick and he whipped all of us in the bum as we walked by. So we turned around and took photos of them. I get nervous about taking photos of people when they are doing their thing, but when they come after me, it's like revenge and I feel no shame. Not that I am a vengeful person, but I just don't feel so bad anymore.
There was a designated path to follow along the river however somehow we did not follow it correctly. There were spots where we were supposed to take a boat to cross the river but we missed them. This worked ok for most of the way until we found ourselves walking through a farm to a dead end at the river. Our choice was to go back or hail a boat, yep, hail a boat. We stood there for a bit until we saw a guy in a bamboo raft coming down the river. Naturally we began yelling and waving our hands and he came our way. We only wanted to cross the river because we saw the path on the other side, however he only wanted to take us down the river. Since we didn't have much of a choice at this point we took the raft. Unfortunately our combined weight was a bit much for a skinny Chinese bamboo raft operator and so we took turns helping him paddle. What fascinated me was that like in Egypt, he was using a paddle that had nearly no width. We were moving so slowly and the raft was a bit low in the water. As with the previous day we were avoiding touching the water like it was the plague. Along the way we saw a dead pig on the edge of the river. We couldn't quite figure out what had happened but it looked like it's hooves had been cut off. Bleh, but of course I took a picture. In the middle of our nice raft ride down the Li River, looking at the beautiful karst peaks and all the nature around, we hear a musical ringtone. Sure enough it was the raft operator's cellphone. He picked it up and was talking on his cellphone while guiding us down the river. Nothing is sacred. 
After a while it was apparent that we could walk faster on land than he was getting us down this river, so we had him "pull over" and let us off on the other side. He told us there was a restaurant, and we were really hungry, so we checked it out. It was a bit sketchy to say the least. The menu was entirely in Chinese so Alex and Carrie just started asking if they had specific vegetables. The waitress was getting really frustrated with us and told us to go to the kitchen and pick what we wanted. We had fried rice and some eggplant dish. We were the only foreigners sitting there. The rest of the people around were locals who just stared at us. There was another old lady trying to sell us oranges and peanuts, a man wearing a suit who looked so out of place, and two children also trying to sell oranges and these massive grapefruits (not sure what they are called). We bought a couple oranges and a grapefruit from the kids and then asked if they had a knife to cut the rinds off since they were pretty tough. One of the kids pulled out nail clippers and started cutting that way and the other took out a little knife and stuck it in a fish tank to "clean" it. Bleh . . . Needless to say, I did not eat any oranges after that.
We continued walking to this part where there was a creek on one side, and trees on the other and in the middle grass and a bunch of a water buffalo. I decided to walk through the group group of water buffalo instead of go around. One buffalo took interest in me and started coming after me so I tried to briskly walk away without running. Luckily it did not find me important enough to chase after, so I continued on my way and missed the photo. We got to a point where we had to cross a small creek about 5' wide and 6" deep to get back on the right path. Normally if I was in the states I would not hesitate and would not care about getting my shoes wet, but again, you know our fear of the water. It was also rocky on both sides so it wasn't like we could just run and jump across. Another group of Chinese tourists came by and started picking up rocks and throwing them in the middle so that we could create a step. Then a local couple came with a water buffalo and offered to let us ride it across the creek. It was starting to get pretty absurd, seriously, who needs to take a buffalo across a 5' creek that is no more than 6" deep! Because it was so absurd we thought it would be fun. Carrie went first but did not know how to get on a water buffalo. So the woman and the man tried to push her up and as she was getting on the buffalo the man told her it would cost money so she wanted to get off. Then they tried talking her into paying for a photo of her on the buffalo. Luckily I got some photos of her getting onto it. Eventually enough rocks were thrown into the water that we had a step to go across. Alex did slip and her foot went into the water. Let's hope she doesn't get the plague.
After a ways, we got to the next boat crossing point. When we first started the trip we had to buy a ticket to take the boats. We were told that one ticket would be good for all of the crossings. When we got to this crossing point they told us it would cost more money. At this point we were tired and wanted to get back, so we took another boat down to the end of the hike. As we were pulling into the dock, a woman walked down these stairs holding a pole with a bird balancing on either side. She came down to the dock and just stood there waiting for us. This was obviously someone posing for photos. It kind of cheapened the experience.After docking we had to walk a ways into town to catch a bus back to Yangshuo. Back in Yangshuo we ate at Drifter's, which is known for it's good apple crumble. Who would have thought, some place in Yangshuo has good apple crumble! Yangshuo is full of restaurants that serve both Chinese and foreign food. During our entire time there we only ate foreign food, mainly because Carrie got food poisoning from eating a Chinese eggplant dish there.
That night Alex and I got a room at the Buffalo Bar. They advertise wireless internet in all the rooms but it only seemed to work within 20 feet of the router, which was behind the bar. It was kind of nice because it forced us to get out of our rooms and we were able to eat fries while using the internet. Fantastic! The owner of the Buffalo Bar is this Australian guy named Alf. He was pretty cool and was really good to talk to get ideas on hikes and things to do in and around Yangshuo.
posted by Ramune at
4/11/2006 03:28:00 PM
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