Yangshuo - Day 2

I got up a bit late, and my head hurt. There was no time for breakfast, so I gathered my things and met the others in reception. I was not the only one looking worse for wear! The 10 of us, me, another English chap called Marc, 7 Americans and a Canadian called Victoria, walked to the bus station and jumped into a tiny little minibus. We then changed to a bigger bus and bumbled along a dirt track to the entrance of the caves. We could put our valuables in lockers and change our shoes for flip flops (which only came in one size...huge). Then we clambered into little boats and were rowed into the cave by the guide, calling 'Mine yo hea', with good reason as the cave was very very low in places. Sometimes it is advantagous to be small.

The guide then took us through the whole cave pointing at formations and claiming that they looked like an old man, or a woman holding a child etc. It was pretty impressive though, and had a couple of enormous 100M high caverns. Unfortunately, I spent a lot of the time looking at my feet to check that I didnt lose an oversized flip-flop down between the steps!

Once the tour once completed, we made our way back to the mud pool and in we plopped. It was a very strange sensation indeed to be suspended in gloopy mud, so that you cannot quite sit on the floor and sort of float in the quick sand. In the mayhem I somehow, unintentionally, managed to avoid muddying my bearded face, so that in the pictures I stand out gleaming white next to the brown caked others. It looks quite funny really! The photographer made us pose in all sorts of silly ways and was a little too interested in taking pics of the scantily clad american girls!! 'Naked is Ok' he says :-S

After the mud came a quick shower and a bath in the wonderfully steaming warm hot pools from the hot spring. Well...they told us it was a hot spring, though it could well have been a bloke with a kettle for all I know. Reclining in the pools, with a great view of the surrounding cave, I didnt care either way.

When we came to leave via the same small boats, the guide took the first boat and shouted back for us to wait, or take the other oursevles! We had no oar, but there were hand rails along the sides and then the ceiling in the lower parts to use to pull ourselves along. After a few scary splits moments trying to board the boat, off course we all learned to the side at once and nearly capsized the thing. The whole journey was absolutely hillarious and the others were in fits of laughter when we popped out into the open pool at the other end. Without an oar to steer us to the side, we just floated aimlessly round in circles!

The adventure continued when we found our bus broken down needing oil. When it arrived the driver gestured for us to push!!! Only in China (I have been dying to say that). It was all very fun though and we couldnt help but laugh again when, having finally started the thing and set off, we turned the first corner and found another bus coming toward us. It took 5 minutes of shouting and negotiating to manage to get past.

It was mid afternoon by the time we got back to the town and the girls faffed about for ages before we managed to find some food. I was starving by 4.30 having had no food all day. That evening I met American Jeremy Jones in my room (I had had the 6 bed dorm to myself the previous night) and he mentioned that he and a girl had booked Kayaking the next day at noon. I booked on the tour at five to 22.00, when they close at 22.00 and had a few drinks in the bar before bed.