Adventures in Guangzhou!

But as the saying goes, it's like riding a bike! So I hopped on and started off. Unfortunately, I discovered that riding an old clunky ride without great breaks is decidedly *not* "like riding a bike." It was just a little too shaky to be going over hills and unpaved roads. I didn't want to be a party pooper though, so I did the next logical thing. I hopped on the back of our guide's motorcycle. Ha! Forget this burning calories business, let the machine do the work! And unlike my other motorcycle experiences in Hunan, this time I even had a helmet.

Our first stop on the bike/motorcycle tour was a bamboo rafting trip down the Li River. This is a famous river connecting Yangshuo and Guilin in Guangxi Province and once again I had high hopes. Despite the fog, I was not disappointed. We sat back and coasted down the river, taking in the beautiful limestone rock formations and other natural scenery. It was nice and tranquil... until the locals started trying to see stuff to you on the river. This was a very China moment for me. As we floated on the water, there were ladies hawking sodas, water, and beer (of course I felt obligated to support the local economy with a few bottles of the local brew). That was not quite as impressive, though, as the large raft anchored in the middle of the stream that had someone shooting you with a digital camera. They had a whole computer setup there complete with photo printers in which they could give you a souvenir on the spot for a tidy sum. My only thought was, where is the power source for this operation? They're in the middle of a river!

After a couple of hours on the river, we hopped ashore and got back on the bikes. Our next destination is the famous Yue Lang Shan, the moon crescent hill. It's about a 45 minute hike up a small mountain to the top where there is a very cool rock formation that resembles, you guessed it, a crescent moon. It was hot and humid and even started to rain a bit while we were on our way down, but it was well worth it. Again, the most amazing thing to me was the group of old women who literally hiked up and down with us the entire way attempting to sell us bottled water (we already had). All I could think was, how many times do they go up and down in a day? They must be in great shape for an old Chinese granny! On a more serious note, it was sad to see them having to follow tourists all the way up a mountain in order to make a living.

By the time we got back down to the base, we were not only covered in sweat/rain but also starving. We decided to stay close and eat a feast at the small outpost across the street. Diana recommended we try the local specialty, Guilin Beer Fish. You didn't have to ask me twice! Though pricy, it was pretty tasty. I still have not gotten over the Chinese style of eating fish with tons and tons of bones. It's not pleasant, especially when you accidentally swallow a small one and scratch your throat. The meal was good but Kelly and I were a bit disturbed to notice we had both gotten some sort of red rash, me on my knees and left arm, her on her legs and face. Ummm, what? It didn't itch and it didn't seem to be spreading, but we were a bit mystified as both Diana and Ming were unscathed. Oh well, onwards to the water cave!

Yangshuo is famous not only for it's beauty above ground but also for it's incredible scenery underneath the ground as well. We headed off to the Moon Water Cave, supposedly the biggest and most impressive of the bunch. They had quite an operation going at this place. We had to pay a hefty admission price (though they did accept my BU staff idea as a student idea which made me smile) and hop in a van for about 15 minutes. After this we had to pay an extra fee to get ourselves some swimsuits. The cave is famous for its mud pits but in order to save our clothes, we bought the clothes they had at the front. Let me just say that it was 100% fugly bathing suit attire. Kelly and Diana looked like bizarre grandmas whose swimsuit fit in all the wrong places. Ming and I looked like strippers who had gotten lost in a cave. Once we put the hard hats on, the transformation was complete. We hopped in a canoe and headed into the caves.

Armed with flashlights and a guide, we began to spelunk our way through the maze, stopping every minute or so to see an interesting rock formation. We all agreed that a good number of them were definitely not real and thus somewhat bizarre. My favorite was either the rock version of Santa Claus or the rock version of the large monkey. I couldn't help thinking that it would be that much better to just kleep it authentic and let us marvel at the enormous stalactites and stalagmites. Oh well. SO about halfway through we finally got down to the mud pit where there was a photographer waiting to catch us in all our glory as we went down a slide that they put in. It was fun but also a little bit gross and more than a little bizarre.

After the mud we started to hike our way out. This part was quite interesting for a few reasons. First, we were hiking up the rocks with a steady stream of water splashing down in the opposite direction. The footing was bad, the lighting was sometimes nonexistent, and the water was pretty strong in some sections. In other words, it was a lawsuit waiting to happen. Well, at least in the U.S. it would be. It was really cool but I definitely slipped at one point and cut open a finger which was pretty painful. Once we finally got out of the water section, I was somewhat surprised to find that we were in the middle of nowhere. It was countryside for as far as the eye could see, except for the 4 of us, covered in ridiculous bathing suits and caked with mud. We must have been quite a sight for the one or two farmers that we passed by on our way back to the start.

After a 15 minute hike, we got back to square one and hopped under a small waterfall to get the dirt off. It was pretty funny as we all tried to get the mud out of our ears, armpits, toenails, and every other tiny space. We swam around a bit in the pool by the entrance and after Kelly and I jumped off the short cliff into the water, we headed off back to the town. It was tough decision on whether or not to keep my swimsuit, but I decided that nobody should ever have to see that again. Ever.

After we showered again back at the hostel, it was time to find some dinner. We decided to take advantage of the western food offerings and all got burritos. It was mediocre at best. The meat was surprisingly good, but the homemade salsa was pretty poor. All I could think was, I could do a much better job. I think I've gotten a bit spoiled this year in that when I eat western it's generally when either I cook it (and know it will be at least halfway decent) or when Kelly/Diana/Meggie cooks it and it's incredible. Thus, a Chinese interpretation of Mexican food just doesn't quite cut it, especially for the price. Oh well.

After dinner we wandered around and did some shopping around West St. Kelly bought a few things to give to family and friends, I bought a couple of music CDs, and Diana bought some food. One of the highlights for me was trying the fresh-brewed pale ale from a French restaurant on the street. There is nothing like a good, fresh beer! After strolling around a bit more, we headed back to our beds to watch some World Cup and fall asleep.