Yangshuo - China
6/29/05
We left Lang Son, a city 18 kilometers away from the Chinese border, at 7:30 a.m. in a taxi and we were probably the first ones to cross the border on that day.
That means, the officers were rested, full of energy and really wanting to work. To leave Vietnam was quite funny because the officer studied my passport picture and myself very very carefully as if there was a I chance that I wasn't myself.
To enter China the officer was all confused because Angie's visa was issued as if she was Brazilian, but he was nice and made no big deal out of it.
After passing the immigration, our mission was to get to Pinxiang, the closest city on the Chinese side, 10 kilometers away. There were lots of cab drivers hassling us with pricy rides to the town. The fact that they do not speak English and that Angie does not speak Chinese did not, at all, restrain them from bargaining.
One shouted something in Chinese showing his hand (five fingers) open; another one came speaking louder and at the same time showing five bills of ten yuan; another one shows four bills of ten; there many others jumping on us and the competition was hard. We know from the Lonely Planet that the ride costs no more than 20 Yuan, so Angie offered ten and they, surprised, laughed hard among them.
As we walked away the price went down to 30, but not lower, we kept walking and a girl drove her taxi next to us, lowered her window showing 20; we jumped in the taxi right away.
With a phrasebook we managed to explain that we wanted to go to the bus station. The plan was to get to Nanning, then to Guilin and finally our desired destination, Yangshuo.
We were lucky because the station was very small and It wasn't difficult to find a bus, which by the way, was about to leave, to Nanning; we only had the time to put the backpacks in the trunk before it left.
After four hours we arrived in Nanning, in a much bigger bus station; to find a bus going to Guilin wasn't that simple because all the destinations (and there were many) were written only in Chinese. But after a while we figured out. Not only the buses were new and comfortable with free water and food served by a 'stewardess', but also the landscape was amazing the whole way. So far, it was our nicest bus trip.
Another four hours of us and we got to Guilin. It was already after 10 p.m. and we weren't sure wether we would be able to get to Yangshuo on the same day or not.
The bus station where we arrived had no buses leaving to Yangshuo, it was from another place, but where?
We asked around and people always pointed to the same direction, so we started walking. Eventually one guy stepped by our side and walking along with us started to talk to me.
Guy:Hollo, where you fom?
Me: Hello, I'm from Brazil.
Guy: Where?
Me: Brazil.
Guy: Bill? Is it in Olope?
Me: Europe? no, it is in South America.
Guy: Ahhh, south of 'America'? I know, in Flolida?
He was a really nice guy and because it was already late night I thought it was ok to let him believe I was an orange boy from Florida. The conversation went on and he helped us to find a bus going to Yangshuo.
One more hour and we got to Yangshuo, it was already close to midnight and we still had to find a hotel.
Because it was so late there was only one hotel-guy waiting at the bus stop in Yangshuo, he was not just annoying but also drunk. We followed him to his hotel anyway, just to see. The prices he proposed were ridiculously high. After long negotiation the price dropped to 1/3 of his starting rate but it was still more then we were up to pay.
When we decided to check another hotel before taking a decision he got upset and gave us a nice big loud 'fuck you'.
We left and he followed us on the streets still insisting for us to take his room. Then we entered in another hotel where the reception didn't speak English, but they were so nice, showed us the room, we agreed on the price and that was where we stayed on the first night in China.
6/30/05
Yangshuo is set amid gorgeous limestone pinnacles and is a very laid back little village. It is also a good place from which to explore other small villages in the nearby countryside.
In the morning we went around to visit the city; the surrounding karst mountains
are really beautiful.
We found another place to stay at a much better rate and moved there on that morning. In the new hotel we arranged a boat tour on the river Li Jiang for the afternoon. We first went by minibus to Xingping, 40km north of Yangshuo, crossing an amazing scenario like in Halong Bay but with no water.
Then we walked in Xinping; it is almost like traveling back in time; this little village is a living museum. The old houses are charming and the people were just so nice to us. Everyone smiled and everyone waved to us.
The boat tour lasted for about 1 hour ...
amid the fishermen ...
... and the rock formations.
Click here for a panoramic of river Li Jiang.
[Thanks Kurtz for the Photostich, without your help we would not have a panoramic on the blog.]
After the boat we spent more time exploring the little streets of Xinping.
Then we went back to Yangshuo by minibus. There, we enjoyed the busy touristy west street. There are many many little restaurants side by side, all of them are trying to play music louder than their neighbor while a guy plays Chinese flute on the corner, you hear them all at the same time.
Nearby we found a couple of climbing shops and we booked climbing for the following day in the morning.
7/1/05
Someone literally put 'cold water' in our plans to rock climb, it was 'raining' in the morning, so we came up with a B plan, biking.
We rented bikes and hired a guide; she took us on dirt roads ...
... through the countryside and tiny villages. we loved it!
These villages are centenary in construction ...
... and the open-door houses are like a window looking 50 years back in time.
After seeing Halong Bay, then driving among the karst peaks to get to Xinping, and now biking even closer to it, we can't get enough. The rain had stopped and the air was cool and fresh, nice for biking.
We biked along the river where you can do bamboo rafting.
Then, we biked to Moon Hill, a pinnacle with a moon-shaped hole; we parked our bikes and climbed it up.
Around 3 p.m. we were back to Yangshuo and just relaxed the rest of the day wandering in the town.
7/2/05
Yeahh, no rain; we went rock climbing in the morning. We met our guide at 9 a.m. and within a 5 minute-drive from Yangshuo we arrived at the climbing site. The access is very easy and there are many routes with bolts.
There were two other guides with other clients but it was like one big group climbing; we shared the ropes so we had plenty of choices to climb.
After climbing we went back to West Street for lunch and then traveled to Guilin->Nanning->Kunming in the afternoon.
In Guilin, at the bus station, a girl helped us to buy tickets. Jenny (her English name), asked for tickets to Kunming but there was no buses going there. She then offered to go with us to the train station, 'I have spare time', she said.
We took a cab and she came along just to help us with the tickets, how nice.
But we had no luck, there were no tickets left for the train going to Kunming. Then Jenny came back with us to the bus station where she helped us to by a bus ticket to Nanning, halfway to Kunming,
It is so nice to meet good-heart people, the only thing she wanted in exchange was to know our names, where we are from and how much we like China.
We left Lang Son, a city 18 kilometers away from the Chinese border, at 7:30 a.m. in a taxi and we were probably the first ones to cross the border on that day.
That means, the officers were rested, full of energy and really wanting to work. To leave Vietnam was quite funny because the officer studied my passport picture and myself very very carefully as if there was a I chance that I wasn't myself.
To enter China the officer was all confused because Angie's visa was issued as if she was Brazilian, but he was nice and made no big deal out of it.
After passing the immigration, our mission was to get to Pinxiang, the closest city on the Chinese side, 10 kilometers away. There were lots of cab drivers hassling us with pricy rides to the town. The fact that they do not speak English and that Angie does not speak Chinese did not, at all, restrain them from bargaining.
One shouted something in Chinese showing his hand (five fingers) open; another one came speaking louder and at the same time showing five bills of ten yuan; another one shows four bills of ten; there many others jumping on us and the competition was hard. We know from the Lonely Planet that the ride costs no more than 20 Yuan, so Angie offered ten and they, surprised, laughed hard among them.
As we walked away the price went down to 30, but not lower, we kept walking and a girl drove her taxi next to us, lowered her window showing 20; we jumped in the taxi right away.
With a phrasebook we managed to explain that we wanted to go to the bus station. The plan was to get to Nanning, then to Guilin and finally our desired destination, Yangshuo.
We were lucky because the station was very small and It wasn't difficult to find a bus, which by the way, was about to leave, to Nanning; we only had the time to put the backpacks in the trunk before it left.
After four hours we arrived in Nanning, in a much bigger bus station; to find a bus going to Guilin wasn't that simple because all the destinations (and there were many) were written only in Chinese. But after a while we figured out. Not only the buses were new and comfortable with free water and food served by a 'stewardess', but also the landscape was amazing the whole way. So far, it was our nicest bus trip.
Another four hours of us and we got to Guilin. It was already after 10 p.m. and we weren't sure wether we would be able to get to Yangshuo on the same day or not.
The bus station where we arrived had no buses leaving to Yangshuo, it was from another place, but where?
We asked around and people always pointed to the same direction, so we started walking. Eventually one guy stepped by our side and walking along with us started to talk to me.
Guy:Hollo, where you fom?
Me: Hello, I'm from Brazil.
Guy: Where?
Me: Brazil.
Guy: Bill? Is it in Olope?
Me: Europe? no, it is in South America.
Guy: Ahhh, south of 'America'? I know, in Flolida?
He was a really nice guy and because it was already late night I thought it was ok to let him believe I was an orange boy from Florida. The conversation went on and he helped us to find a bus going to Yangshuo.
One more hour and we got to Yangshuo, it was already close to midnight and we still had to find a hotel.
Because it was so late there was only one hotel-guy waiting at the bus stop in Yangshuo, he was not just annoying but also drunk. We followed him to his hotel anyway, just to see. The prices he proposed were ridiculously high. After long negotiation the price dropped to 1/3 of his starting rate but it was still more then we were up to pay.
When we decided to check another hotel before taking a decision he got upset and gave us a nice big loud 'fuck you'.
We left and he followed us on the streets still insisting for us to take his room. Then we entered in another hotel where the reception didn't speak English, but they were so nice, showed us the room, we agreed on the price and that was where we stayed on the first night in China.
6/30/05
Yangshuo is set amid gorgeous limestone pinnacles and is a very laid back little village. It is also a good place from which to explore other small villages in the nearby countryside.
In the morning we went around to visit the city; the surrounding karst mountains
are really beautiful.
We found another place to stay at a much better rate and moved there on that morning. In the new hotel we arranged a boat tour on the river Li Jiang for the afternoon. We first went by minibus to Xingping, 40km north of Yangshuo, crossing an amazing scenario like in Halong Bay but with no water.
Then we walked in Xinping; it is almost like traveling back in time; this little village is a living museum. The old houses are charming and the people were just so nice to us. Everyone smiled and everyone waved to us.
The boat tour lasted for about 1 hour ...
amid the fishermen ...
... and the rock formations.
Click here for a panoramic of river Li Jiang.
[Thanks Kurtz for the Photostich, without your help we would not have a panoramic on the blog.]
After the boat we spent more time exploring the little streets of Xinping.
Then we went back to Yangshuo by minibus. There, we enjoyed the busy touristy west street. There are many many little restaurants side by side, all of them are trying to play music louder than their neighbor while a guy plays Chinese flute on the corner, you hear them all at the same time.
Nearby we found a couple of climbing shops and we booked climbing for the following day in the morning.
7/1/05
Someone literally put 'cold water' in our plans to rock climb, it was 'raining' in the morning, so we came up with a B plan, biking.
We rented bikes and hired a guide; she took us on dirt roads ...
... through the countryside and tiny villages. we loved it!
These villages are centenary in construction ...
... and the open-door houses are like a window looking 50 years back in time.
After seeing Halong Bay, then driving among the karst peaks to get to Xinping, and now biking even closer to it, we can't get enough. The rain had stopped and the air was cool and fresh, nice for biking.
We biked along the river where you can do bamboo rafting.
Then, we biked to Moon Hill, a pinnacle with a moon-shaped hole; we parked our bikes and climbed it up.
Around 3 p.m. we were back to Yangshuo and just relaxed the rest of the day wandering in the town.
7/2/05
Yeahh, no rain; we went rock climbing in the morning. We met our guide at 9 a.m. and within a 5 minute-drive from Yangshuo we arrived at the climbing site. The access is very easy and there are many routes with bolts.
There were two other guides with other clients but it was like one big group climbing; we shared the ropes so we had plenty of choices to climb.
After climbing we went back to West Street for lunch and then traveled to Guilin->Nanning->Kunming in the afternoon.
In Guilin, at the bus station, a girl helped us to buy tickets. Jenny (her English name), asked for tickets to Kunming but there was no buses going there. She then offered to go with us to the train station, 'I have spare time', she said.
We took a cab and she came along just to help us with the tickets, how nice.
But we had no luck, there were no tickets left for the train going to Kunming. Then Jenny came back with us to the bus station where she helped us to by a bus ticket to Nanning, halfway to Kunming,
It is so nice to meet good-heart people, the only thing she wanted in exchange was to know our names, where we are from and how much we like China.
posted by Adriano and Angie | 5:12 AM
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