Sunday 17 July 2011

Yangshuo -Wednesday 13th July

After a great nights sleep in a large comfortable be with crisp, clean bed linen , a world of difference to train life, we went for breakfast in M. C. Blues which had been recommended for its western style breakfasts.

Fed, watered and satisfied we were able to fully appreciate the breathtaking scenery. Incredible and completely unique with individual mountains shooting hundreds of meters straight up into the air.











The small town of Yangshuo is a bit touristy (aimed predominantly at the Chinese, not western, tourists) but what can you expect in a beautiful location like this. It also means that price haggling is not so easy here.










We walked up the lowest rock formation in Yangshuo Park to a pagoda perched on top. An endless selection of amazing views in every direction. Breathtaking, and that was not just from the climb up.










Later in the day we went on an afternoon/evening trip to Xingping, a small fishing village about 45 minutes away, to cruise along the River Li, have dinner in a small family restaurant and then go back on the river to see, first hand, the ancient traditional occupation of fishing using cormorants.

The scene depicted on a 20 Yaun note
Our boat and captain













This whole area is just so stunning. Every corner turned opens up a whole new beautiful and dramatic landscape. I just wish I had proper internet access to upload pictures. I'll have to add them when we get home, but I'm not complaining now that the Kindle is back online. (Done!)


It is incredible the way the, seemingly hand-carved, mountains rise vertically, hundreds of metres, from the ground, like obelisks standing guard over the patchwork of rice fields interlaced between them.










Gently sailing down the smooth flowing Li River between these strange, majestically scenic edifices, felt like visiting an alien planet. This region of the Karst mountains is a wonderfully different place to experience.









We chugged slowly up and down the river for nearly 2 hours in an open top boat,getting off onto a small island to see some water buffalo up close. Everytime we looked around the scenery changed and the rock formations hinted at shapes of people and animals, much like looking at clouds. We all agreed that this is a very magical place.



Dinner was in a small family restaurant with a small but efficient outdoor kitchen that produced a table full of mouthwateringly good food - sweet and sour chicken, shredded chilli beef, duck with pineapple, steamed vegetables, eggplant with pork in batter and egg fried rice. The local beer, Liquan, made with water from the Li was also good.

Then it was time to get back on the boat. Sadly Eva decided she couldn't come with us due to another onset of dodgy stomach (more of that a bit further on). I've seen the cormorant fishing on TV and thought we were going to see a river full of tourists watching an almost theatrical performance. How wrong was I?

We motored out into the river, a single boat, not the commercialised tourist flotilla I'd expected. Our skipper must have had bat-like vision as he guided the boat along the river in pitch darkness. We could see lights from fishing boats dotted around and we steered close to one. We approached a small bamboo and wood boat slowly and the sleek black cormorants were clearly visible in the single bright light that is used to attract the fish.

This fisherman had 6 cormorants, each tethered to the boat by the leg. The birds were following their natural instinct, folding their wings back so that they formed smooth black arrow shapes and diving under the water to catch fish. Their gullets are restricted with a piece of cord tied around their necks to stop them swallowing the fish. Each bird could easily catch 4 or 5 small fish before being full, then the fisherman would dip a long bamboo pole into the water near the bird so that it could climb on and have the fish emptied into a basket. The bird was then straight back into the water looking for more fish.










With 6 birds to watch and a boat to steer the fisherman was kept busy. The whole scene was totally mesmerising and even the swarms of flying insects attracted by the fishing light did not interfere with the magic of what was happening 3 or 4 feet away.










When we got back to the quayside Eva was waiting for us, looking slightly pale and shaken. Her dodgy tummy had required a return to the very basic toilet at the restaurant we had eaten in. On completion of the necessary activity and whilst pouring scoops of water down the hole in the ground she had come face to face with a slender black snake crawling up out of the hole. No wonder she looked shaken. Dominic and myself reckoned we would have s*** ourselves on the spot. Just another one of the highly diverse experiences of travelling in China.


Back in Yangshuo I had my back and shoulders painfully mutilated by a tiny Chinese woman while Eva had her feet massaged and Dominic went off for a drink. We joined Dominic for a couple of over-strength cocktails as it was happy hour (1100 - 2400 in this bar). Dominic went off with the bar manageress and finished the night in a rooftop bar with a group of Australians.

We had a snack of chicken and beef skewers at a roadside stall - there were giant cockroaches roaming the street and we half expected to see them on skewers.





(Updating this while on the train to Hong Kong - I'm still trying to catch up.)

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