China: Yangshuo

The view upstream from Yangshuo wharf.

Travel Date 22-25th April 2012.
Click on any picture to see a larger version.

 

We had no plans for tours or excursions in Yangshuo. We wanted to simply relax, with no plans and no need to do anything but wind down after seeing and travelling so much in a short month.

The souvenir markets are down by the wharf.

 

I had arranged the boat trip, including drivers to meet us in the Guilin hotel and on arrival in Yangshuo, through the Secret Garden Guest House. From their web page it sounded perfect as a place to do nothing at all. We were picked up in town and taken out into the countryside. We thought the location was idyllic. 

 

The room was large and the bed soft, but we discovered a problem in paradise. My wife is allergic to mosquitoes and they are unavoidable in a place surrounded by rice paddy fields. Maybe we chose the wrong time of year. The people were lovely and the food was excellent, but sadly we had to leave after one night. I took these pictures on the drive back to town.

 

 

Yangshuo is very much a tourist town, with a lot of Chinese tourists but also a high number of international tourists. Consequently there are two centres. One is past the bus terminal with shops for the locals and accommodation at cheaper back-packer tariffs. We didn't stay here, but it seemed popular: 

 

The bus station is on the right.

 

There is also 'downtown' for more shops, a multitude of restaurants of many cuisines - including the golden arches and KFC - and the slightly more up-market hostels and hotels.

The town was nearly booked out but we found a room, a little over our budget, for two nights at the Bamboo Resort. The room was luxurious, but strangely arranged by Western standards with the spa bath in the centre of the room, the toilet in an open corner with no privacy and the clear-glass shower in another. Bathroom privacy is obviously not a major requirement in Chinese hotels.

 

The electric cars are for hotel guests. A ticket must be bought from a booth near their terminal.

The view from the Golden Arches.

This was delicious from one of the restaurants. The meat was crispy and the orange sauce out of this world. I've never seen it before or since; I am searching the web for recipes.

More Engrish, for meaning rather than spelling.

Cash movement time. I was surprised they allowed the photo without a problem.

I'm glad my fellow passengers on the bus to Guilin were suitably warned. I didn't want to find a cobra in the luggage rack.

 

We returned to Guilin on the bus and departed the next morning for home via Kuala Lumpur. And so we said goodbye to China. I had a marvellous time in an ancient land full of contradictions and paradox. Maybe some day I will be able to return to wander more slowly in some of the places we missed.

Cheers, Alan.