Yangshuo

In Hong Kong I met up with the group from Dragon Trip, who I would be travelling around with. Our first stop was Yangshuo, in the the south of China, in the Guangxi province, we travelled by night bus, which was an experience in itself. Yangshuo is quite popular with backpackers but did not seem to be over touristy and more karst parks than I could count where everywhere. It was the most beautiful place I have ever seen and the atmosphere was so laid back it was paradise.

We stayed for three nights in Monkey Jane's Hostel which was one of the places to be thanks to it's own rooftop bar and beer pong tournaments. On the first day we went bamboo rafting down the Yulong River and in the evening went and saw Cormorant fishing. The rafting was really cool and I had never seen such scenery before. In the evening we headed up for drinks and I met some more English people and we ended up watching the sunrise while swimming in the Li River.

On the second day we went bike riding and then hiking to Moon Hill and then on to mud baths and hot springs. The mud baths were so gross and cold. Which at first was very refreshing from the heat in China, until the novelty wore off and it was just cold, thin mud. The driving there was like something out of a video game. No one pays attention to traffic lights, pedestrians or even the police. So bike riding around the city was amazing.

Later on in the evening we went to a chinese massage place where the majority of us got something called 'cupping', in which they light a fire, put it in some wooden cup and then stick it on your back. It's meant to draw out all the toxins in your body but who knows if this is even true. We had food at a local restaurant, it was the most amazing fish I have ever eaten. We also met up with another Dragon Trip group, which meant some preliminary beer pong rounds were played while we all got to know more people. 

       

On the last day, after another late night/alcohol, we all got up early to go Soloing, which is basically rock climbing over a river with no ropes and some of these rocks were seriously high. I surprised myself with my athleticism and bravery when it came from jumping off into the river, which enormously helped all of us get over our hangovers. Me and Pascal decided to hire a scooter in the afternoon after a well deserved nap, while others went for a hike to a small village. I loved it and it was definitely a highlight for me, weaving in and out of traffic.

As it was our last night, the guys from the other group decided they would eat a beating heart snake, which also included a lovely shot of snake blood. When in China! As you can see they literally cut the snake head off in front of us and drained the blood there and then. Monkey Jane's mum then left the room to prepare the hearts and afterwards the snake gets cooked. I tried some and it tasted like chicken. Pretty good I must say. A huge beer pong tournament was had and pijiu (beer) was all around. Everything is so cheap in China it is unreal, coming back to England prices makes me really think about what I'm spending my money on now. You can get a beer for like 50p in some places. Some of us stayed up until dawn as we had a twenty three our night train to look forward to the next day. I did not want to leave Yangshuo and when I go back to China that is going to be my first stop. 

LB