We picked up the sleeper bus from Guangzhou to Guilin – and to our surprise it was actually a fairly pleasant experience. This time there were no bedbugs, the bus had air conditioning and there were toilet stops every three hours. The only problem was… we were so deeply fast asleep that we didn’t wake up when the bus arrived in Guilin and so ended up in Yangshuo at about 6:00 am. Actually, Yangshuo was our ultimate destination anyway – but we hoped to take the boat trip from Guilin down the Li River to Yangshuo and thus enjoy a slightly more scenic route.
In the end, whilst poring over the “Rough Guide” outside the Yangshuo long distance bus station, we decided that Yangshuo had become a bit too commercial over the last few years (it now has a Mc Donalds and some big five star hotels) and so instead of staying in one of the many buzzing youth hostels and hotels in the town centre, we took a bus to a place called Xingping which is 27km away and found a room in a new YHA that has recently opened in this charming little village.
Unlike Yangshuo, Xingping is still pretty much unknown amongst backpackers and does not really show up on the tourist map. Whilst a few of the big tour boats from Guilin stop here for half an hour or so each day to let the (mainly Chineseļ¼passengers go for a stroll, generally most tourists don’t make it this far. There are only a couple of western cafes and restaurants – everything else is completely local-orientated.
We spent most of yesterday chilling out here and wandering around the village – the hostel has a pool table, table football, a great choice of films and amazing italian pizza (for those who are not allergic to gluten). It was nice to be able to sit back and relax, have a few beers and watch a couple of films!
Today, feeling much more refreshed, we took the bus down to Yangshuo where we caught another bus to Yangdi. There we managed to engage in some serious haggling with the locals and got ourself a bamboo raft downriver for just 120 yuan (for the two of us) BARGAIN! We couldn’t have chosen a better day or a better time. All of the big tour boats from Guilin had long-ago taken their clientele downriver to Yangshuo and were heading back upriver – with nobody aboard. Furthermore, we got aboard our boat at about 16:00 pm – so we witnessed a wonderful glowing sunset over the limestone mountains just as we were arriving on the riverbank back at Xingping two hours downstream from where we set off.
This evening we enjoyed some delicious rice noodles and kebabs at one of the local joints. The guy who run the place came and sat down with us and we had a long chat in Chinese – he then offered to cook us fresh barbecued fish tomorrow night, an offer that could not be refused.
That’s it for now – I’m off to watch a film in the common room with Siqi and maybe enjoy another beer or two. More updates when I next have a chance to get on the internet! I’ll let you know how the fish tasted…
