The Train Ride
To get to Yangshuo, we took a 20 hour train to Guilin (40 hours roundtrip) and then a bus ride to Yangshuo... a true Chinese experience. I'm sure Johnny will fill you in on the dynamics of our travels and the train at some point, but here are some pictures.
Our train and Johnny carrying all my snacks (Snickers included)
Our Seats
Snack Cart:
Our seat mates for the first leg of the trip... they started playing cards before the train even left, on into the night, and as soon as they woke up the next morning. The guy sitting on our bunk would get all loud and discouraged and throw the cards down. I don't think he won a game the entire time.
The views of the countryside were stunning. Other than passing through small cities, it's all farmland and occasional rice fields. I was able to get a few shots from the window, but they don't do the view much justice.
Guilin
We only spent a couple of hours in Guilin before boarding the bus to Yangshuo... we spent that time walking around the city and seeing the lake and Pagodas. It was a nice city, but very hot and humid (like Houston)... Johnny was a bit annoyed with how much more crowded (and therefore dirty) the streets were since his last visit.
Yangshuo
After a short walk around Guilin we took a bus and headed towards Yangshuo, which is nestled among hundreds of limestone karsts and among the banks of the Li river. It's beautiful one of the top tourist spots in China... we found the views to be stunning, but did not like all the travel hippies and their dreadlocks.
It was very rainy, so the pictures aren't very clear, but here are some views of the limestone karsts and Li River:
Cormorant Fisher (These birds dive into the water and bring the fish back up to their owner... the bird version of hunting dogs)
For dinner we found a little restaurant with two flirty waitresses that flagged us in... Johnny immediately acquiesced to their request so he could practice his Chinese with them (and his flirting skills). They loved it. For my participation, he sweet-talked the owner's wife into giving me a cooking lesson. She was more than happy to oblige, and the dish was called Beer-Fish, essentially a dish of river fish (head, tail, and fins included) with a beer batter and fresh vegetables and spices. Here are a few pictures:
Final Product... pretty good.
The next day we rented bicycles to explore the area and visit the old scenic Banyan tree, which was supposedly planted about 1400 years ago in the Shui Dynasty (like I know what that is). Anyhow, the tree is huge to say the least, and supposedly one of the 10 'scenic spots' of China.
While we were looking at the Tree, this Chinese couple just handed us their baby and started taking pictures of us, which we of course found humorous. The baby was actually much cuter than the picture does justice. And is it just me or are we starting to look Chinese in this picture?
Also while we were visiting the Banyan tree, we (or should I say I) deliberately fell into a tourist trap - taking your picture with uniformed monkeys. I couldn't resist. And they actually smelled good - better than some Chinese. I don't think we ever got a picture where we were both looking at the camera, between our laughing and my discovery that the little one was stealing money out of my purse - not to give to his owner, but to eat. He smelled it immediately and stuck his little hand into my money pocket and shoved the money in his mouth. Here they are, little one in action:
Later that afternoon we returned our bicycles and headed back to Guilin to catch the train... these were our bunkmates for the return leg of the trip. I'll let Jonathan fill you in on that story... they are cute, but definitely not quiet.
