Guilin – Yangshuo Redux
Up early this morning to have time for breakfast and then our pick-up for the river cruise to Yangshuo. The river cruise is one of the activities this area is known for and is something we have both read about and heard from others who have been here that we should do. The idea is a four hour trip down the Li River, winding through the limestone peaks. In general, I think this would be a great experience for someone traveling here, but coming after yesterday’s balloon ride, it seems a little anti-climatic. Had I the opportunity to do things over, doing the river cruise first would have been the better call. I think we would also have researched a little more to learn more about the different boats and how many people they held, as being on a fairly large boat full of tour groups (and our boat one of six that went down the river as a group) wouldn’t have been my first choice.
The morning was a little overcast with some showers from time to time, so as it worked out, being on the boat worked out fairly well as we could go back inside when it got too cold or started to rain. There were also some unique opportunities to try a local wine made from flowers, tiny crabs and shrimp deep fried whole, and wine from a jug full of snakes. As seems to be the custom here, all of these cost extra, so while the snake wine was tempting, we decided to pass.
Arriving back in Yangshuo around 1:30, we had originally planned to rent some mountain bikes (10 yuan each for the day) and ride around the countryside. The rain made that somewhat less appealing, so instead we walked, often aimlessly, around the city. In our travels we managed to find a couple of local markets, one food (where the locals get their fresh vegetables and VERY fresh meat), and another where they get clothing. The latter in particular was quite entertaining as there was no shortage of t-shirts that were horribly translated into english like this one. Sadly, there were far more of these for women than men so I came away empty handed (and somewhat perplexed as to what "Get Yer Greak on Deacon" could possible mean.
Of course our wanderings also took us by Lou’s Bakery on more than one occasion and I felt obligated to once again support the local economy by taking pretty much one of everything (other than what we have come to refer to as the "hairy pancake", which is clearly an acquired taste). I fear when we leave Yangshuo that Lou’s is going to have to lay off one or two people because of the lost revenue.
With the day coming to a close, we headed back to our travel agent for the bus the live show. We were both very unsure what to expect from this type of show, having sat through a luau in Kauai and elephant show in Phuket, both of which were less than stellar. Nevertheless, having heard good things about this one, we went with an open mind.
It’s kind of hard to explain the show without seeing it, but what they had done is essentially built seating around a part of the Li River where literally hundreds of people perform on small bamboo rafts and floating stages. All the while, spotlights highlight various limestone mountains in the background making them part of the show. We didn’t understand a single word of it so the storyy was difficult to follow, but we still walked away impressed. I think only in a developing country could they pull something like this off as the staff costs alone would make it prohibitive anywhere else. Even in Las Vegas it would be hard to imagine a chain of two hundred women walking across a series of floating bridges wearing suits covered with lights that they turned off and on in sync (while two hundred other performers waited in the wings for their turn). We did record some video, but like too many things on this trip, I suspect it won’t do the real thing justice.
Another hour and a half on the chicken bus (this one arranged by the travel agent but a chicken bus nonetheless) and another day over. Tomorrow is our last day in Guilin before we leave on a late flight for Haikou. Having seen what we came to see here, it should be a fairly lazy day.