imagined it could have been. I spent lots of time catching up on sleep,
being subjected to special effects make-up, and watching Singin in the
Rain on my ipod. Before we knew it we were on a bus to Yangshuo.
Yangshuo is this amazing little area tucked away amongst these
beautiful karsts- steep limestone mounds covered with trees, 100 to 300
meters high. The town is filled with loads of tourists with spa
services, night clubs, cafes, and western style restaurants serving
their needs. But everything's pretty laid back. The first night the
group had dinner at Lucy's cafe. I had a delicious meal of fish, rice,
and veggies provided by my bud, Holly (Thanks again, Holly!) We
celebrated one of our group member's birthdays with cake and a trip to
Monkey Jane's Bar. This led to dancing and another late night.
But it was up early the next morning to do some caving. We hopped
three buses across town to take a trek through a few mountains,
stopping off to jump in a huge pool of mud. Very dirty, very fun. The
funny part of the cave tour was having the guide stop us every 10 yards
to show us a rock formation that supposedly looked like something. (a
turtle, a woman bathing, a monkey carrying a baby...) It was a rock
Rorschach test.
No time for a nap after that, the group got together for a boat ride
on the Li River where we took in some amazing views of the karsts
(views apparently so beautiful that they use them on the 20 Yuan note
and a pack of cigarettes!), watched a man go fishing using trained
birds (the birds catch the fish but can't eat them because their
throats are tied shut, so the guy just swoops them up and empties the
fish into his basket... yup), and feasted on chicken, tofu, roasted
peppers, pumpkin, taro chips, pork, and stir fry veggies (why do I keep
adding things in parentheses?).
The tour is definitely been one of the highlights of my trip around
the world. I've had a great taste of China that's already left me
wanting to come back and have a little more. I've met a great bunch of
friends and with less than a week left, it's going to be tough getting
back onto my solo trek.
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