Rain, rain, go away! Come again another day. That was my first thought upon waking up. We had a lazy morning, waiting for the rain to pass. Unfortunately, the rain did not cooperate, so we altered our plans and spent the day in Yangshuo. We left our bamboo haven to find the streets flooded with Chinese tourists on bikes and armed with umbrellas. They were all grinning from ear to ear, singing and laughing as the rain continued to pour. It was quite the scene.

We spent the afternoon browsing the markets of West Street. It's interesting to see, but I really could do without the shop owners becoming my shadow as I look through their items. Oh, the bartering process. It is right at the top of my short list of things that I dislike about traveling. Luckily, I usually just put Lance to work with that whole mess.

At lunch, our restaurant had table tents that read, "No playing cards." Really? I can understand that rule to deter people who camp at tables and fill up the small restaurant while paying customers are turned away, but we can't even play while we're waiting for our food? No. Can we take pictures? Of course! Communism at its best.

Aside from getting most of my Christmas shopping taken care of, a highlight for the day had to be our Chinese massage. Lance wanted to treat me to a massage. Little did I know that this "treat" would involve a small, young Chinese woman beating me in front of other customers. The full body massage did not entail any clothing to be discarded or a private room. Rather, we were seated in the main room of the business and were rubbed, hit and snapped by our "masseuse." Upon completion, my hair was completely disheveled, my body sore and my mind unsure of what just happened. Gotta love those cultural experiences!