Day 13-15, Yangshuo

Being xmas eve eve whilst on the train (and with the prospect of a long 26 hour train journey) we decided to have a little fun and have a xmas eve eve party in the carriage! Armed with plenty of beer (35 pence a bottle!) and our santa hats we broke out the mp3 players with xmas songs on them and began our own version of midnight mass (much to the dislike of the rest of the carriage!)! Having successfully persuaded the train nazi (long story!) to keep the lights on in the carriage for an extra half an hour much caos insued! We were soon joined by some old drunk guy who tried (unsuccessfully) to 'buy' katie (and her drink) for the evening, before downing half a bottle of our very cheap but very potent vodka and leaving! The next morning was spent sleeping and recovering (and avoiding the still disgruntled passengers!), until Merrick, two hours ahead of our arrival time, suddenly announced that the next stop (Guilin) was ours and we had 2 minutes to get our stuff off the train! Caos ensued once again!! Having made it off the train with everyone and everything (we think!) we were picked up from the carpark by coach and taken on the 40 min drive to nearby Yangshuo. Our hotel for the next 3 days (and xmas) was the Fawlty Towers Hotel, and the guy at the front desk was even called Manuel (no joke!)! With our bags left in our rooms we went off for orientation and dinner. Yangshuo is a small town on the Li River (see picture above) but is very popular with tourists, with approximately 4-5 million people visiting each year. The town was awesome and had a real 'Newquay' feel to it. The main area which comes alive more at night is West Street which has hundreds of bars, clubs, shops and restaurants along it. After eating at the No-Name Cafe, five of us went back to the hotel to meet our instructor for Caligraphy and Painting lessons, whilst the others went off in search of a good bar to see in xmas day. Me, Debs and Cat (my wife-to-be; no seriously, read the next blog entry!!) opted for Caligraphy and soon we were writing our names (amongst other things) in Chinese! Then it was back to the hotel to meet the others and head to our xmas eve party! The others had chosen a bar called Buffalo Bar (their slogan: keep Yangshuo horny!), an australian bar with cheap drinks, a free pool and fusbal table, and an old British guy in the corner who had brought all 6 of his young chinese wives (no, seriously, you couldn't make this stuff up!) to the bar to celebrate xmas eve! As the clock struck midnight we all downed tequila slammers and danced the night away! Later on some of us decided to call it a night ahead of a busy xmas day and wandered back to the hotel.

Merry Xmas! Having got up (with a bit of a sore head..!) and gone in search of breakfast (a fry up with the most unusual hash brown we've ever seen!) we all went off to hire bikes and a guide for our cycle ride around the countryside. Despite most of the ride being off-road the girls all got given road bikes (no gears), whereas all the guys were given mountain bikes with 30-odd gears and front and back suspension! Equiped with our guide Sam we set off through the country on a 4 hour cycle ride, stopping at moonrock cafe for lunch. Having returned the bikes we then hopped on a bus to the Li River where we boarded bamboo rafts (with engines) for a cruise down the river. Each raft held 4 people and after about an hour we stopped for a break at a big bank of sediment in the middle of the river which had a fish market on it and where a guy tried to charge me for peeing in a hedge! Then it was back on the rafts for the return trip, but not long into the journey our engine ran out of petrol and after a few minutes of rowing, one of the other boats came back and towed us back to the mainland! After returning to the hotel to shower and change we all headed to the Global Cafe for our xmas evening meal. Having ordered a rather unorthodox meal of Pizza and Peking Duck it was time for presents! With everyone already having had an annonymous present left outside their hotel room that morning (no one has yet to own up, although we know its you Jen and Sue!!) everyone was really excited to get yet more presents from secret santa! I got a really nice Chinese mug and Debs got a scarf and jewellery wrap, and out of a group of 17 no one was left empty handed or unhappy! After eating we persuaded our guide Merrick to get up and sing Kareoke (one of the funniest things i have witnessed during our trip through China!), before we all went back to the hotel for bed!

Boxing day began with a trip to the park for an early morning Tai Chi lesson along with Paul, Lucy and Lloyd. Tai Chi is a bit like Kung Fu but a lot slower and relaxed and in our class we learnt the first 6 moves of 24 in that movement. Then it was off to the Outside Inn for a chinese cooking class in which we cooked and ate Eggplant, Chicken and Cashew Nuts, Beer Fish, Tofu Pork Balls and Chinese Broccoli. The afternoon was spent packing and shopping and then in the evening we all met up for a meal. Having been impressed with the food the previous night at the Global Cafe some of us decided to go back there but after waiting an hour and 15 mins for food (which hadn't even gone in the oven yet) we cancelled our order and left in search of takeaway! Later that evening we bumped into the rest of the group and so we all wandered around the night market drinking fresh sugar cane juice before heading back to the hotel.

The next morning we checked out of the hotel and boarded a bus back to Guilin train station where we left our main bags in a storage locker and caught a bus up into the mountains to the Lonji Rice Terraces.