Last weekend we went on a super fun vacation to Yangshuo. (A little side information about Yangshou. There are hills and mountains that pop up randomly everywhere; it is like living in Dr. Seuss world. We were so excited to see mountains again. Also they have a great mixture of Western and Chinese food. We would usually order something like a burger, and a Chinese dish, and then split up everything. It was great!) Ok on with the vacation…We took a sleeper bus, and ended up getting dropped off at a random street corner at 5:00 AM. We immediately ran into the con artists that our travel books warned us about. They tell you that they work for your hostel, or that they can get you tickets or tours to places, then they either try to sell you things, or they take you to fake destinations. The one we ran into actually almost got in a fight with the guy that was really trying to help us. Anyway we did make it to our hostel, and after some breakfast we rented bikes and started out for the caves. These are water caves so we climbed into a boat and they take you deeper into the cave. After a little tour of the cave
we put on our swimming suits and were ready to play in the mud. The mud is not very deep, and it was pretty cold, but it was lots of fun to play in. After getting all nice and muddy, we were ready to hit the hot springs, and boy did they feel good. After the caves we grabbed lunch, and then headed off to hike to the center of moon hill. It was definitely colder in Yangshuo than it was in Xiaolan, so we were pretty cold and ready for a nice warm dinner after all the biking and hiking. The next day it was raining, but we were determined not to waste our vacation, so we did a bamboo raft tour in the rain. It was freezing!!! I am still glad we did it, but I would not have
complained if it had only been half as long. That night we geared up with hats and gloves and coats so that we could tackle the rice terraces the next day. On our way to the terraces we stopped at the long haired village. They do a little show, and 4 lucky guys from the audience even have the chance to get married. Strange cultural quirk; in the village pinching someone’s bum means you love them, so we got pinched a lot, and let me tell you – they really go at it. Next we go on up to the rice terraces. It is a bit of hiking to get to the top, but since I love hiking, I did not mind at all. The hills look so cool; they are completely covered with terraces for farming. That night we decided
to go dancing. Fact; Chinese guys cannot dance, but it is sure fun to watch them try. The Chinese get pretty excited about Americans, so they all wanted to get to dance with us. Guys kept offering us shots and beer, but we were just there to dance. Some guys even tried to get us up on the pole with them, but we were definitely not having any of that. Interestingly enough, the guys have no problem dancing on the pole with each other. It was a pretty funny night. The next day we rode a freezing cold sleeper bus for 13 hours and got back in Xiaolan around 1:00 in the morning very disappointed to find that it was just as cold as it had been in Yangshuo. Unfortunately
we don’t have heat, so we now wear our coats, hats, and gloves all the time, even when we teach and sleep (it is really annoying). Pretty strange since just the week before we were in shorts with the AC on. Fun times in China!!
Last weekend we went on a super fun vacation to Yangshuo. (A little side information about Yangshou. There are hills and mountains that pop up randomly everywhere; it is like living in Dr. Seuss world. We were so excited to see mountains again. Also they have a great mixture of Western and Chinese food. We would usually order something like a burger, and a Chinese dish, and then split up everything. It was great!) Ok on with the vacation…We took a sleeper bus, and ended up getting dropped off at a random street corner at 5:00 AM. We immediately ran into the con artists that our travel books warned us about. They tell you that they work for your hostel, or that they can get you tickets or tours to places, then they either try to sell you things, or they take you to fake destinations. The one we ran into actually almost got in a fight with the guy that was really trying to help us. Anyway we did make it to our hostel, and after some breakfast we rented bikes and started out for the caves. These are water caves so we climbed into a boat and they take you deeper into the cave. After a little tour of the cave 
we put on our swimming suits and were ready to play in the mud. The mud is not very deep, and it was pretty cold, but it was lots of fun to play in. After getting all nice and muddy, we were ready to hit the hot springs, and boy did they feel good. After the caves we grabbed lunch, and then headed off to hike to the center of moon hill. It was definitely colder in Yangshuo than it was in Xiaolan, so we were pretty cold and ready for a nice warm dinner after all the biking and hiking. The next day it was raining, but we were determined not to waste our vacation, so we did a bamboo raft tour in the rain. It was freezing!!! I am still glad we did it, but I would not have 
complained if it had only been half as long. That night we geared up with hats and gloves and coats so that we could tackle the rice terraces the next day. On our way to the terraces we stopped at the long haired village. They do a little show, and 4 lucky guys from the audience even have the chance to get married. Strange cultural quirk; in the village pinching someone’s bum means you love them, so we got pinched a lot, and let me tell you – they really go at it. Next we go on up to the rice terraces. It is a bit of hiking to get to the top, but since I love hiking, I did not mind at all. The hills look so cool; they are completely covered with terraces for farming. That night we decided 
to go dancing. Fact; Chinese guys cannot dance, but it is sure fun to watch them try. The Chinese get pretty excited about Americans, so they all wanted to get to dance with us. Guys kept offering us shots and beer, but we were just there to dance. Some guys even tried to get us up on the pole with them, but we were definitely not having any of that. Interestingly enough, the guys have no problem dancing on the pole with each other. It was a pretty funny night. The next day we rode a freezing cold sleeper bus for 13 hours and got back in Xiaolan around 1:00 in the morning very disappointed to find that it was just as cold as it had been in Yangshuo. Unfortunately 
we don’t have heat, so we now wear our coats, hats, and gloves all the time, even when we teach and sleep (it is really annoying). Pretty strange since just the week before we were in shorts with the AC on. Fun times in China!!
2 comments:
The kids loved your muddy pictures! It was great to talk to you last night! Have fun and see you soon.
Wow.. never a dull adventure in China. I think you should have participated in Chinese pole dancing cause that would be pictures I would want to see...Lindsay pole dancing. Maybe one day! I am excited that you are almost done!
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