I was so frustrated last night! I wrote for an hour and the Internet cut off and nothing was sent. So I'm trying again!
After our wonderful day in the rice terraces (climbing hundreds of steps!), we ate dinner at our hostel and schlepped our heavy backpacks and one rolling suitcase each out to the bus stop, hopped (yea, right! more like dragged) it all onto a crowded rush hour bus for 2 stops to the bus station (we were told a taxi wouldn't take us that short distance but it was way too far to walk!). It was an adventure crossing double lanes of traffic (that the Chinese make into 6 lanes each!) with this luggage to get to the long distance bus station for our bus ride to Yangshuo. A couple of us are rather skittish in the traffic so it was a real challenge. But we made it without losing anyone, got our tickets and were on the bus. It was a bumpy hour and a half ride to Yangshuo in the dark, trying not to look at the headlights coming at us when our bus would pass others. I couldn't find the reservation slip for our hotel but remembered the name. A kind English speaking Chinese wrote it for me on a card to show the taxi driver. We negotiated 30 Y to take us (most we've EVER paid for a taxi!) and drove down the road, through a tunnel, over a bridge and then turned up a gravel driveway, a LOOOONG driveway! It got rather silent in the back seat as we drove up, up and someone mentioned maybe this was a campground. We finally arrived and a paved entry and then walked up with the driver to find the office (everyone else just stayed in the taxi - they were afraid to let him go!) Jan was sitting outside the office and not expecting us until the next day (the girl at the hostel who called for me confused the arrival time and day!) but all was well, they had rooms ready for us (it was Sunday night and I think they had many people over the weekend but they were all gone).
Our rooms (NOT a hostel) are spacious, with a gorgeous view out the window of the moon over the karsts (see previous entry). The shower still floods the bathroom and toilet (have the Chinese NOT heard of shower curtains?) but is clean and spacious. The difference between anxious, confused, exhausted and adventurous, clear-headed and ready to go is a GOOD NIGHT'S SLEEP!
In the morning a wonderful, one of the best, Chinese breakfast was waiting on our veranda outside our room, surrounded by beautiful yellow and red flowers! Jan was ever so helpful to take away our laundry and guide us down to the river and into town. Away we went, back down that hill and across the street and walked along the Li River with many bamboo boats with 6 or so seats putt-putting along the River. We passed newly planted gardens (they have 2 seasons here as it's so tropical - was about 80 degrees F. yesterday walking around). Water buffalo were drinking at the river, we passed a woman with 2 harnessed monkeys. Marilynn paid to hold one and feed it and get a photo. She also had two cormorants with the bands that you could pose and get your photo taken. We passed a young woman taking a photo of her 80 year old parents. She asked if we would pose with them (I wonder what the Chinese do with all these photos of us with them!!) and then Mama wanted a picture of each of us with just her!
There were stalls of tourist ware (the boats must stop along here) and we browsed and bought a few things. We finally made it and climbed up to the Yangshuo bridge (before the tunnel). We were going to flag a bus down but two women there indicated, no, we should wait for the cheaper 1Y tuk-tuk, I call them - that's what they were called in Thailand. Little open air buses with 3 bench seats. We hopped on with them, showed them our West Street (the pedestrian shopping street in Y.) paper Jan had written on for us in Chinese (the WHOLE key to traveling in China is get things written in Chinese, pin yin - if you want to pronounce them- and English to show taxi drivers, etc.) We got off and wandered and shopped, had a great lunch, order chops for grand kids - a seal with their name on the bottom in English and Chinese - for them to stamp with.
Then came the highlight - a one hour full body and 1/2 hour foot massage!! We had to wait 1/2 an hour for 3 guys available but it was well worth it - 138Y. This averages us about one massage a week since we've been here! A highlight for me! and I think Marilynn and Pat are converts! They were painful especially our calf muscles from all that climbing but we felt great after!
The tuk-tuk ride in rush hour at the end of the day wasn't quite as smooth but we made it to the bottom of that driveway with two different vehicles and headed up.
We had dinner in a lovely private room - we were told no chicken soup because the chicken was still running around! None of us like the thought of ending his life for our supper! The pig, on the other hand, was already dead! Vegetables, pumpkin slices, soup with veggies, pork and snow peas, and beer topped our evening.
We still had time for Pat to break out the mah jongg cards (easier to travel with than tiles!) and we taught Marilynn and Joyce how to play. It worked quite well with each of them winning a game. Then Pat and my type-A personalities came out and it was every man (woman!) for themselves! Pat won that game and we retired for the night.
I forgot to mention when we arrived the night before an Israeli couple were just returning from a wonderful day on a bamboo raft trip, going with their guide to the market, garden, and then his home to help prepare dinner and eat with his family, and then go to the wonderful sound and light show on the River. We got the guide's name (he was driving them to the airport the next day) and met him the next morning at breakfast. He is booked for our day today, same agenda! It's the kind of experience you can't duplicate on a regular tour. So we're waiting after our most wonderful breakfast on the veranda, where we met Caroline, from Singapore on a holiday with a couple of friends and we compared notes on what we had done here and in Guilin. We passed on Gao's name (our guide) to her for them to use later in the week.
Life is so good! We're coming to the end of a wonderful time together! We've become friends (we only knew each other before in pairs - Pat and I and Joyce and Marilynn - and had only gotten together once before the trip! It's been amazingly smooth and fun!
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