Day Twenty-Five

Countryside Bike Ride through Yangshuo

Early rise today I was up at 6.30am so I could skype the family. Andy finally raised he lazy bones & we went for breakfast. Yum yum lovely McDonalds to start the day. We headed back to the hostel to sort out about hiring bicycles for the day as we wanted to tour Yangshuo countryside.

With the bikes rented we set off on our long ride following the map the hostel provided. The roads in China are crazy so we had to be careful riding alongside the cars. There were motorbikes racing past & everyone tends to beep their horns. We got to the main roundabout in Yangshuo & then we had to decide what route to take as there was many different ways & each route took you to different sights. We decided to ride along the river & then around in a loop hopefully coming back down the river on the other side.

Being excited about being on our bikes we peddled real fast & before we knew it we had reached the first part on the map, Butterfly Spring. There was a big massive tall mountain & on the side of it was a lovely coloured butterfly which was carved out of the mountain side. After a few photos we jumped back on the bikes & headed to the next point. We cycled for what felt like miles. All the roads started to become more dusty & we had begun to enter the first of the villages on the map.

We had passed many people trying to sell us fruit & drinks. We rode through the mountains & alongside the river. The sights we were seeing were out of this world, the place looked beautiful. Everywhere we looked around there were beautiful mountains & the landscape was something we never dreamed of seeing in China. It was the total opposite of anywhere else we have visited in China & its by far the most scenic. We came to a point where could of travelled back down the river on a bamboo raft but we decided to keep riding deeper & deeper in to the countryside & the villages. We passed houses which had no electricity & the only source of water was a pump positioned in the street. There were lots of farm land & fields full of wheat & other produce.

We cycled round through villages & for hours, we saw water buffalo's with their keepers. They were kept on thin rope as leads, they we marched down narrow lanes & across fields it was a great sight & was like nothing we had seen before. The villages worked on their crops & the ladies were kneeling on the floor pulling up crops. We came to another village & the ground to ride on was smooth not stoney like other places we rode through. Outside these villagers houses were wheat grain all laid out on the path ways letting all dry out in the sun. We could not begin to imagine life back at home to ever be like this.

The number of different villages we went through was endless & we could not possibly name them all but each one was very very different to the next but the same way of life always remained. We had been riding with the aim of reaching Dragons Bridge on the Yulong river but we were not sure of the route as there are no signposts what so ever along the way & the villages are not labelled. We decided to take an off route which lead us up a path & on to a main road. This place we had reached was more or a town than a village. There where big cars & roads & lots of different type of shops. We cycled around taking in the views of the busy area & thats when we stopped to ask for directions to dragon bridge. The man pointed left at the cross roads junction as was pointing in that direction so off we peddled.

Eventually we seen a sign for Yulong Bridge & Dragon Bridge so we cycled down the small dirt track & we came in to a tiny village. We cycled around but could not find the bridge so we turned back. On the way back through the village we seen 2 other westerners & they had a chinese lady who was going to take them to the bridge so we followed along behind. On Dragon Bridge there were lots of people & lots of rafts, again we had the chance to raft back down the river with our bikes but we wanted to cycle another route on the other side of the river back to Yangshuo.

We crossed over the bridge with our bikes. The view down the Li River from when we stood in the middle of the bridge was glorious, you could see right down the river both ways & the mountains sitting alongside. The weather was not too hot but the sun was shining so cycling was nice. On the other side & on the different route back what the complete opposite it was of coming. The tracks where very stoney so cycling was bumpy & I found it was proving difficult for me to cycle. As we had cycled for nearly 3 hours solid my bum was beginning to hurt & my legs were getting tired. For miles & miles we rode through tiny poor villages & the people were working very very hard. The women were carrying massive baskets around there necks & were harvesting crops.

We had seem to have gone off track a little & as we cycled we couldn't pin point on the map where we were, even so we continued for miles just cycling along. The time was getting on & we hadn't seen any other cyclists or workers in the past 40 minutes. There was nobody to ask for directions. We tried to spot where the river was but we couldn't see it at all. The tracks were becoming more rough & at this point I had to get off the bike to give my legs & bum a rest. The pain I was in was unbearable but we couldn't stop now. We had been cycling for at least 5 hours straight & we hadn't had any lunch & tea time was creeping in.

Completely & utterly lost in the countryside & no clue of what direction to head in, we just kept cycling & then occasionally getting off the bikes to walk for a while. We managed to find a person in the wilderness, it was a Chinese field worker but she could not speak any English. We asked her for directions to Yangshuo & she pointed in a twisty turning way around the mountains & we thought you had to be joking. There was another person who was around in the village so to be sure we asked them to double check but unfortunately we got the same response.

Back on the bike & we were so fatigued I was getting cranky & I was starting to get a bit upset with panic. There was no main roads, no signs, absolutely nothing what so ever. The time was getting later & dark would be setting in soon & none of the tracks had lights & we had hardly brought any supplies. The thought of possibly being stuck out in the wilderness as beginning to terrify me. With worry & through the pain we picked up speed on the bikes, we had now been out for 6 hours straight & we had to get back soon. We came to a path which had split directions so we really didn't have a clue which way to go now. Andy had persuaded us to go in the direction he thought, I must admit that I was so unsure it was scary. Following Andy's direction we soon came to a part that had a main road. There was no way to get access to the main road as it was high up & we where down on the dirt tracks below so we just kept following the stoney uncomfortable tracks round & round.

After cycling for about another 20 minutes we covered more & more miles, the pain was increasing but so was the time & so was our peddling speed. I was getting more & more panicky as nobody was around. We cycled under these tunnel ways & out on the other side there was a old man on his own just sitting at the top of a little slope so we stopped to ask him for directions. Why did we have to ask the old man? He took the map off me & started muttering we had no clue what he was saying. I was starting to get mega frustrated with him as he wouldn't give me the map back so I snatched it back & made him point in the direction we needed to head in. He pointed in the same way as a last few people so we must be on the right track but God knows how far away we were the mountains go on & on forever!!!

Cycling even faster we finally came to a main road. The road was smoother & we didn't have to cycle across lots of stones. Either side of the main road where huts that were meant to be houses. The living conditions that we were seeing was devastating. There was lots of chickens that were just roaming around free probably waiting to be slaughtered. We must have caught the school bus dropping off because all the way along the road where kids and they were all shouting hello & waving mad. Some of these villages we had passed had definitely not seen western people in their neighbourhoods. The children are so polite & they always smile & wave friendly to us, it was great. We still didn't have a clue how far away we where though.

We had asked for directions again & we got pointed in the direction we were heading. We had now been on the bike for over 7 hours & fatigue both mentally & physically was setting in. We made it to a busiest road where there was lots more cyclists & traffic so we felt like we where on the right track. We saw an archway that looked really familiar so we took the chance & headed down the road where that was. There was a lady who had stopped on her bicycle & was taking pictures so when we asked her & got the map out we realised that we where at the famous rock climbing spot of Moon Hill - finally somewhere we recognised on the map. The lady we spoke to pointed us in the direction of Yangshuo & she said that it was another 40 minute cycle away, to us that was music to our ears.

We peddled off in the direction she showed plus we had a pin point on the map now so I felt much happier. I was still in extreme pain & I could hardly sit on the bike seat, Andy was the same too. Yippee we had made it back to the big roundabout from where we had started nearly 8 hours ago. Not far back to our hostel now. As we got closer & closer the roads got busier but at least we had made it back before dark had proper set in. My main worry was being stuck in the dark with nobody to help us.

Finally back at the hostel & I swear I will not be getting on a bicycle for such a long long time. I couldn't sit down not even on the comfy sofas in the hostel. We were also absolutely starving as we had only eaten the McDonalds earlier on so we headed out quickly to find a place to eat. We found a place called 7th Heaven so we went in ate for England. Whilst we wear eating our meal the restaurant had a big screen up because the opening ceremony for the Asia Games was happening & there were lots of people gathered round tv's watching it closely. So done in from such a long long tiring bike ride we just chilled back at the hostel with a beer & we spent the night chatting away to other travellers.

Gosh were we glad to get to bed & we will not be moving to do anything slightly energetic tomorrow, we are far too exhausted..........