Today we woke early as we were undertaking an early morning cycle to moon hill, which is a huge limestone rock in the shape of the moon with a hole in the middle. On waking I didn't want to leave my cosy bed as I was still feeling very chesty but persevered and headed to reception. We chose our bikes and headed out in to the cool damp morning air. The temperature was probably about four degrees and had dropped significantly over the past twenty four hours... Mainly because of the cloud cover but also due to our arrival lol.

We headed off through Yangshou town and down towards the river... It wasn't particularly cold but was damp with a misty light rain every now and then. We cycled for a good hour stopping now and then to take some photos of the scenery which looked extremely mystical with the low cloud. Once we reached a certain part of the river a few of the group went off to do the bamboo raft... This is a two hour ride down the river towards moon hill... We did debate but though it was far too chilly to sit for two hours on a raft and at thirty quid it was too expensive. Instead the remaining five of us followed William towards moon hill... We reached a bridge which had stunning views f the river and snapped away, then after a total of about nine km we reached the base of moon hill. There is a small cafe and toilets and we left our bikes propped up against a tree.

By now we were freezing as the mixture of rain and wind had froze our hands and toes... This was not helping my cough much and I sounded like I had smoked for twenty years. Once we had used the ladies... Or gents (well actually we all used the same one!) we were ready to go and set off on the climb to the top of the hill. It wasn't so much of a hike but more climbing about a thousand steps to get to the summit through undergrowth and a small wood. The trek up was pretty tiring especially after the cycle and with my newly acquired old lady lungs.... But we survived and completed the climb! The view from the top was pretty impressive and we stood for a while taking it in and snapping away... I would say the view from the moon shaped hole isn't the nicest part but if you climb a little further then its s worth it.

After a short period of time we decided to head down and get a hot cup of tea.. We headed down through the undergrowth taking extra care as it was more slippery heading down then up. We passed a few people on route but were yet to see the remainder of the group (who had taken the raft) we thought we would have passed them by now. On reaching the bottom we congratulated ourselves and headed to the cafe for some hot ginger and hot lemon tea which was delicious. We sat for a while chatting, getting to know James and warmed up. Then we decided to head back to the hotel... And we still hadn't seen the remainder of the group, by this point we were definitely glad we didn't take the raft as it was getting more damp and the weather was closing in... Didn't fancy heading up moon hill now.

We jumped on our bikes and set off... On enquiring how long it would take William said "for Laura... twenty mins, everyone else forty!" turns out in my efforts to keep momentum up on the cycle, due to feeling rough I ended up leading the group most of the way.... Overtaking William numerous times. About one km down the road we finally saw the stragglers heading up towards the hill and we waved and said our hellos before continuing on our way.

By now the weather had turned a bit colder and we had that ...in the words of Peter Kay "fine rain that soaks you right through" haha. We cycled for about another eight km before reaching Yangshou town and headed onwards towards west street where we were staying. We pulled up at the hotel and headed into the warm... The cycle was good and we felt warmer but now my chest was really painful so thought a hot shower was needed. Me and Steven headed to the shop and bought some noodles and instant coffee and went to curl up in the warmth. I was under strict instruction from him to rest up and keep my chest warm. I was quite relieved at the suggestion to be honest as I was feeling pretty vile... my chest hurt every time i took a breath and I couldn't stop coughing. We showered, put on our comfies and sat down to plan Japan.

The afternoon passed quickly and we had pretty much planned the next leg of the trip.... Well Steven did while I looked at a few hotels and dozed off high on Chinese cough meds. In the evening there was an option to see a light show created by the guy who orchestrated the Beijing Olympics. I suggested Steven went... I wasn't up to sitting in the cold and it was a little pricy but Steven didnt fancy it either and I don't think any of the group went in the end. Instead we booked an amazing Ryokan in Kyoto and enjoyed a take a way. It was actually really nice to just chill out. I think when your travelling you feel you have to spend every waking minute experiencing or seeing something so it was nice to just take some time out and relax in the warmth with a cup of tea and a book, which is exactly how we spent our evening.