Fri 20/7
Started today off with a cooking class in the morning! It was great fun! We got taken to the local market to buy the food, it is the biggest market in Yangshuo, every thing was done in the one place, live stock taken in (chickens, ducks, dogs, cats etc) killed, hung, prepared. Doubt they would have passed a british health inspection, especially as people sell food nearby and smoke etc. Still the place was very clean and stink free considering what was going on around about. We bought the ingredients we needed and headed back to make our food! We got to make three dishes, pork dumplings, sweet and sour chicken and the famous Yangshuo beer fish! (Yangshuo is famous for stuffed snails and beer fish, although we were told that the beer fish is one of those dishes someone randomly started selling for tourists and everyone followed suit!lol) Our food turned out pretty good! After finishing making the food we got to sit and eat it! Loved the dumplings and the sweet and sour was pretty damn good too (although a bit on the sweet side for me, easily rectified next time!) wasn't too keen on the beer fish! Fish good (although would rather bone the fish first) sauce good but together a bit random! Maybe better with chicken! Fish and spicy sauces don't really do it for me! Luckily we got given the recipes to take home, think by the time we get back all we were taught would be forgotten! Had a lazy afternoon catching up on some much needed washing! In the evening we headed out for the Cormorant Fishing show. We got a boat on the Li river and watched a local use his cormorants to fish from a bamboo raft. Unfortunately it is done in the dark so not great for photos. Quite interesting tho! The raft has a light which shines into the water and attracts the fish, the cormorants swim along with the raft and catch the fish, they have a ring around their neck so they cannot swallow the fish and take them back to the boat. At the end we all got a chance to see the catch and hold one of the birds. There was only two fish caught whilst we were there but with our motorised boat alongside I cant imagine there were many fish around! Spent the rest of the evening at the bar vincent works in playing some chinese games.
Sat 21/7
Rented bikes again and cycled to the Gold Water Caves. So much fun! First we walked through the caves which were light up with coloured lights. There were rocks which resembled different things, there was maps of Yangshuo, buddhas, elephants, thrones, boobs, willies, horses, curtains, a very random mix of things. We got to crawl through a very narrow tunnel, I say crawl but most of the way we shuffled through on our stomachs! Best part was sliding down the rock at the end! Then at the end of the tour came the best bit, the mud pools followed by the hot spring! The caves were cool compared to outside so it was nice to take a dip in the warm water after being in the cold mud! On our cycle back we stopped at a roadside stand/cafe for some cold juice! Its so nice here because all the fruit juice is freshly made and this place had its own garden where they grew their fruit! Stopped at the Big Banyan tree on the way back, nice scenic area to wander around for a bit! Had dinner and an early night as we were knackered after cycling in the heat!
Sun 22/7
Bit of a relaxing day today! Hired bikes just to get us about but only around the city! Had breakfast then headed back to Vincent's to do some washing after being at the mud caves the other day, had a hostel booked so cycled our stuff over, don't fancy going far on bikes with all out stuff! One little wobble and with the weight there would be no stopping going right over!lol. Treated Vincent to dinner for letting us stay, he had another couchsurfer staying with him, Tschano, who joined us too. Tried some snails which we enjoyed to begin with (didn't like them the time I had them in Paris so was pleasantly surprised!) but after getting a few pregnant ones with lots of mini shells inside it kinda put you off! Sat and had a few beers with Tschano afterwards and made plans to meet up the next day to go to Fuli together.
Mon 23/7
Well last proper day in Yangshuo and surprise, surprise we rented bikes!lol. We cycled to Fuli today with Tschano in search of somewhere to paint our own fans (Fuli is the town of fans, most of the chinese fans are made there) Didn't have much luck to begin with because there was hardly any english spoken and they kept trying to sell us ones. After a little while we found a place, the guy spoke basic english to which was great. It takes too long to make a whole fan so we got a blank ready made one to paint. Luckily we got to practise on paper first, then we drew out our design on the fan in pencil before finally painting. Cant say painting is really my speciality, and it made it more nerve wracking too when you were working on the fan coz you could make no mistakes (although there are plenty!lol) We had all the time in the world to do the paintings and we must have spent about 5 hrs there! Not bad to get half a days entertainment and a souvenir for £3.50! In the end our fans looked not too bad! Well chuffed with them! The cycle back wasn't so much fun as there were two hills to go up but luckily it wasn't far to go! Had a nice treat of peppered steak with chips and salad which came with a much appreciated free beer! Bloody good meal for £6! Wish we could get it that cheap at home! Stayed out a bit later than expected as it decided to rain so had to wait for it to ease off! Sat talking with the hostel owner when we got back, sampled some more of his homemade wine which is so good! At midnight when he finished his shift he invited us out for some food and drinks, we thought it would be rude to refuse! We just went up the road from the hostel a bit and sat at the side of the road chinese style and had noodles and snails again. It was interesting watching the chinese eat snails as they just suck them out of the shells (I think they just like to make as much noise eating as possible) we stuck to using the toothpicks!lol. Then to top it off he paid for the whole thing! The chinese find it insulting if you try to offer to pay for your share! I love their hospitality! Cant imagine a hostel owner at home taking you out for dinner and paying for it!lol.