We said we were never going to go to Vang Vieng, we’ve been told many a horror story of people ended up injured from their tubing and partying experiences and we thought we’d just skip it and explore another part of the country. However chatting to fellow travellers we got the impression that Vang Vieng offers more than the opportunity to go tubing down the river and get inebriated on toxic substances.

We took a bus journey to Vang Vieng which was around 5 hours from the capital and arrived at a decent enough time to start looking for accommodation. There was a group of us looking and we all managed to get into our first choice La Jardin Organique, Dave and I ended up sharing with Corrine to lower our costs for a few days and so it was 100,000 kip between the 3 of us which wasn’t a bad deal at all considering the costs in Vientiane. They have a good selection of accommodation here with bungalows, guesthouse style rooms and cheaper rooms for 40,000 with shared bathrooms, also the owners are very accommodating indeed and the female owner certainly seems to be the one negotiating prices with tourists over her husband!

With accommodation sorted early on we set off in search of finding some kind of trek/kayak trip that would cater to our needs. We went to a few companies along the main back street of Vang Vieng and found a company located around 10 minutes walk up the street from Le Jardin Organique on the right hand side, there are so many but these guys offered a 2 day tour that included hiking, caves, waterfalls and kayaking. The more of us that were interested in booking the tour then the price would come down, so after a good mint and lemon shake at the organic cafe in town we opted to book the trip and later on found out that Doug and Emma would also be joining us so that would shave off some of the cost. The total came to roughly £50 for the two of us to do this trip with food and one night’s accommodation included. That evening we went back to the organic cafe and enjoyed some good home-cooked soups and curries.

We met the next morning at 8.30 am for the tour and hopped onto a song thaw along with others who were going on a one day kayak and cave tour of the area. We all got off at the same point but the kayakers went one way and we the other. We started with a Buddhist cave in a village around 15km north of Vang Vieng along the Nam Song river, the cave is called Phu Kham cave and hosts a reclining Buddha along with a shrine and other symbolic Buddhist monuments. We were there for 5 minutes or so and our guide then started the trek. The first part of the trek was very steep indeed and took us up a karst peak, through dense jungle like foliage and we had a few clear moments where we could look out over the area, but otherwise it was quite hard work and in the heat we sweated lots. The walk led us to another cave, this one being much more interesting than the first, with no other tourists around for a start which is always a treat! We were led through one part of the cave where new stalagmites and stalactites were forming and the light shining into the cave was beautiful. Our guide started to get a barbecue going and said lunch would be around15-20 minutes later. So we explored the cave, Doug enjoyed the spa like water coming from the river and we cooled down after the heat of the walk.

Lunch was really simple but very good indeed; barbecued kebabs with vegetable fried rice, a baguette and bananas, it certainly filled us up and did the trick. After lunch we continued to walk through the secret eden forest area which is a valley in the middle of the peaks where no-one goes through other than the villagers as it’s surrounded by steep peaks all around. It was once an area where a hill tribe village lived and no-one knew of their existence until the Indo-Chinese war and then they left for more mainstream areas…we do try to remember this information when it’s told to us by our guides! We then carried on back up the peak and out to the other side, followed by a further hours walk to the eco-lodge built next to the river where we had stopped earlier in the day to drop off our bags. We got into the river to cool down and waited for our rooms to be organised, there seemed to be some confusion as to where our accommodation was but after a while we found ourselves in a wooden lodge which was simple but did the trick. We enjoyed a good local meal cooked by our hosts, accompanied by our guide Noi and this was followed by some card games.

Another good part of the tour was that we could choose our own breakfast from the menu at the eco-lodge, this was a first on a tour!! We had a bit of a wait for the tour guide and kayaks to turn up and whilst doing so the rain decided to come down, our fist rain shower in a long long time, it was really refreshing. The rains don’t last very long so we were able to get into the kayaks and start the first leg of this part of the tour. This time we were heading in the direction of Vang Vieng as we would eventually land up there later in the afternoon. The first part of the kayak took only half and hour and we got off to start trekking again, we were all aching a little from the steep climbs of the trek the day before but today we were promised it wouldn’t be so steep! This was the case though and after half an hour of walking we landed at our third cave of the trip, it was huge, we were able to walk through one entrance under the peak and out to the other side. During the wet season water comes crashing through from a river located further up the hill and right now it was completely empty with only large tree branches and trunks as evidence that water does come through at great speeds and volume. It was very cool indeed, we walked with head torches and took in the scale of the cave, not as bit as one’s we’d seen in Tha Khaek but impressive in other ways. On the other side we climbed out into the sunshine and our guide asked us if we wanted to go to another cave or to the waterfall up the hill. We opted for the waterfall and began the walk upwards. It didn’t take too long to reach though and when we got there we met a few other people on tours, including Ann who we’d met in Tha Khaek. We enjoyed another dip in a deep pool, it was much colder than the river temperature so it wasn’t long before we were sat warming up on rocks and enjoying another kebab and rice style feast.

The last part of the tour was kayaking all the way back to Vang Vieng, it was around 13km or so to get back and we took in a few rapids along the way, they were pretty tame though but we had fun going through them all the same. We passed through where the tubing starts and were faced with hundreds of happy go lucky backpackers enjoying the Vang Vieng tubing and zip lining into the water. It is a pretty mental site, from the peacefulness of the valley and mountains to an Ibiza style day by day party, music blasting out and everyone getting wrecked, really odd! As we got closer to Vang Vieng we passed more and more tubers coming to the end of their little adventures and we landed at the bay just where La Jardin Oraganique is located, perfect for us. We had already pre-booked a room there so we were able to check in straight away, they had an even cheaper room for us 80,000 kip between the 3 of us and it wasn’t any worse than the last other than it wasn’t in a bungalow.

Later on we attain town at a Lonely Planet recommended restaurant which didn’t really live up to it’s reputation, although opting for the local barbecue was the best option, for those after western tastes don’t expect to be in a rush. Still this is Laos after all!

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f2.0 & Olympus PEN, 17mm f2.8 & 100mm f2.8, processed in Lightroom 3)

Up early and out the door with our baggage we headed to the Ocean Tours office. We were able to leave some bags at the tour office to lighten the load whilst on our trip to Halong bay with our new friends Justin, Jules, her brother John and his wife Lisa. The six of us piled into the tour bus with the other adventurers and began our 4 hour journey to the bay. We arrived at midday after a stop at a service area which sold assorts of tourist paraphernalia including huge tapestries which were made in the shop by a bank of ladies at sewing machines.

Once we arrived we boarded the Junk boat and set sail into the bay which had some nice views if a little cloudy. The boats have accommodation for up to fourteen people so they are nice and cosy. Due to the limited space we were staying on Cat Ba Island for the first night and on the boat on the second.

We were served some very good food on the afternoon which included some fresh seafood which we all loved. After some more sailing and relaxing on the top deck we dropped anchor and a boat arrived with some kayaks for us to venture into the bay under our own power. They were double person kayaks so we both jumped in and paddled around into bays and caves. Even though the weather wasn’t the best we loved the kayaking and the water was a decent temperature, there was even talk about going for a dip in the water at some point!

We boarded another junk boat that had docked with the first boat and the six of us headed off to Cat Ba Island for the evening. The sun poked through the clouds and it made the whole area just that little bit more magical. Our tour guide was chatting to us, supplying us with information on the area and answering any questions, he was very knowledgeable and helpful. Upon docking at the island we headed to our evenings accommodation via push bikes for a few km, maybe taking around 20 minutes to get there (our bags were taken onwards via motorbike). The village is very small and quiet with a new custom built area for the tourists to stay in basic but practical bungalows with en-suite bathroom, hot water and a double bed.

To save some money we purchased a little present from Hanoi in the form of a bottle of Rum priced at 90,000 Dong (£3). Justin and Jules had the same idea, so out came two litres of spirits which got the night off to a good start. Dinner was served and again the food was very good, they even catered well for the vegetarians and also wheat intolerance. We were informed in Hanoi that there would be AC heating in the room, but this was not the case, however more blankets were supplied and this kept us all fairly snug.

Breakfast was served at 8am which included some very good apple pancakes and omelettes. After some relaxation time and packing we all got together and headed off for a hike up the nearby karst peak (around 300m in height). Its quite a climb and you will need some good footwear, boots recommended, to manage the rocks and steep assent, apparently the record is around 35 minutes but we managed it in around 45/50 minutes. At the top there are some great views over the whole bay and down to the village below, however it started to rain so we headed down which was made more difficult by the slippery rocks underfoot.

We also ventured out to a nearby cave before heading back to the village for some lunch and then we jumped on the bikes to ride back to the dock to rendezvous with our evenings watery accommodation. The double rooms on the boat were very well presented, clean and comfortable, with hot water from the showers. The temptation to take a plunge in the water was just too much for some and after stripping down and braving the now chilly air, Justin, Jules, John and Dave all jumped in. It was chilly to say the least, but bearable for a few minutes, in the summer it must be lovely. The boat headed off and dinner was served including seafood and a plate of chips which all went down very well.

You can have a go at Squid fishing from the boats edge, however it was a quiet night in the ocean and nothing was caught, good job we weren’t fishing for our food, otherwise we would have been very hungry. After some card games and an offer for Dave to play some Texas Holdem poker with the Vietnamese boat staff, which we declined when we found out they were playing for money, I’m sure we would have got shafted, we headed to our cabin for a night at sea.

After a good sleep in our cabin, breakfast was served on deck and we were informed that due to bad weather we had to move to a safer bay which took us too far away from the Amazing Caves that we were due to visit. This was unfortunate but out of anyones hands, government orders apparently, so we set sail back to port. Upon arrival at the port we had lunch at 11am, so we were all feeling pretty full after two meals in the space of a few hours. The food wasn’t as good as on the boat but it was ok. Generally speaking the food on the trip was very good indeed, often at times we felt like each meal rolled into the next, you certainly wont go hungry if you book with Ocean Tours!

The journey back to Hanoi was uneventful and we arrived safely back at Ocean Tours at around 4.30pm. We had a sleeper bus booked for that evening so we were glad we had the time to get to the hostel pickup point and grab some food before our departure of Hanoi. Street food was a quickest option and we had some rice dishes. Helen’s vegetarian option was sticky rice and pickled cucumber, which was tasty but basic, Dave’s was a type of salami, a fried boiled egg, rice and sauce which was very tasty, almost like a mini full English breakfast.

At 6pm we were picked up from the Rendezvous hostel via mini bus and taken to the sleeper bus for the journey to Hoi An via Hue, a 13 hour journey to Hue and then 4 hours onwards to Hoi An.

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f2.0 & Olympus PEN, 17mm f2.8 & 100mm f2.8, processed in Lightroom 3)

On the morning of the 8th we enjoyed a good breakfast from the Hotel including a choice of eggs, bread, fruit and juice. Afterwards we set off to research a few options for tours in the area. We had planned to do a tour to Ninh Binh and Tam Coc with Maayke and Paul so were shopping around the various fake Sinh Cafe‘s across the city to find out the best deals. They’d already sourced somewhere that would do the trip for $16 with bikes included for one part of the trip. After a while and battling through the many scooters we ended up back at the same place and booked the trip for the price they’d agreed. We’d arranged a part-payment trip in case there was anything we weren’t happy with; often you’ll find there are many cheap tours and you’ll never know which one is better than the other. We thought it would be a good day out of the city anyway so went along with this.

Afterwards we went off to do some more research into the other part of our trip interest: the Halong Bay tour. Helen had read up on a few more reputable companies offering slightly better value tours so we started with Ethnic travel who didn’t really have a very welcoming atmosphere and soon decided we wouldn’t be booking with them. We found Ocean tours around the corner who’s 3 day 2 night tour with one night on the Island in a bungalow to be the best on offer but still had a look around. In doing so we met Justin and Jules who were doing the same research as us, Dave stopped them as soon as they walked out of one of the other tour agencies and we started chatting about what information that have and so on. Before long we were enjoying lunch with them and went back to Ocean Tours to get a better feel for what they were offering.

After a few more drinks, a walk around the city into the French Quarter and then back to Ocean Tours we’d decided this was THE tour for us and we all booked it together! We knew that at $175 we were paying a lot more than many other tours on offer but decided that it sounded far better than some of the other less tailored trips and we liked the sound of staying in a bungalow for the night!!

So with that sorted we went back to our now hostel Gecko (we’d moved out that morning as we wanted to save some money by staying in a dorm and rendezvous had no more availability) met up with the others and went out for food to Koto, a restaurant in the south-west of the city which trains up street-kids and the homeless to be chefs and working in the kitchens. The food was very good indeed and it was packed so it was good to see the restaurant supported in this way.

On the 9th we were picked up at 8am for our day trip to Ninh Binh and Tam Coc. The weather had been pretty chilly since we’d arrived in Hanoi although we were acclimatised to this and to us it felt okay, but there was some rain forecast for the day so we took extra layers with us. Leaving Hanoi the bus stopped several times to pick up other people and groups on the tour and before long there were around 20 on the bus. It took around 2.5 hours to get to Ninh Binh with one stop and we spent a lot of this time chatting to Bekka and her husband from America who are now living in Beijing, we exchanged stories of China and it passed the time nicely.

Our first stop was at 2 temples, which held the first and second Emperors of Vietnam. A few people on the bus were a little annoyed as they’d been sold the bus ticket as bus fare to Ninh Binh and not a tour, they had to go to the temples first before being dropped off in Ninh Binh…be warned this happens quite a lot over here!

The temples were okay but we have seen many amazing shrines and temples over our time traveling, so it takes an amazing day with the weather and a spectacular site to impress us! Have we become Temple snobs…?

We were supposed to be cycling from the temple site to Tam Coc where the rest of the tour bus was traveling to for lunch. As it was raining and very windy we decided against this and joined the bus to go straight to the restaurant. It was a good job we did as it would have taken us much longer to reach the port than the tour allowed for and would probably have missed our lunch…to be fair though that wouldn’t have been such a bad thing. The vegetarian option for Helen and a few others was quite poor with the best thing on offer being a plate of chips for 7 to share. We mentioned this to the tour guide and he was very apologetic but it’s more down to the restaurant than him.

Following lunch we went over the road to the rowing boat tour and met the lady driver who took us out on her boat. She was quite agile often using her feet to row and we had a paddle each so we could both add some gusto to the pace. We passed under caves and one by one the boats traveled along the river. It’s supposed to be the land version of Halong Bay with many karst peaks engulfing the landscape. It was quite similar to what had surrounded us in Yangshou and we both felt Yangshou is a more impressive place.

The boat tour was good fun, and we even bought our guide a drink and snack which she shared with us, we had to bargain for this and the woman selling the goods on her own boat wouldn’t leave us alone until we did! We didn’t mind too much though as we felt our guide was doing a very good job indeed.

At the end of the tour we were pressured into giving a tip to our guide but we felt we’d already tipped her in buying her drinks and snacks along the way so made for a sharp exit to the bus. There were people selling souvenirs and market items along the pier front and some were selling dog meat. By now we have become used to seeing this sort of thing on sale, funny how you get used to customs so quickly but its always the topic of conversation when you first see it.

We had a small confrontation with our tour guide on the bus back to Hanoi. As we had monies outstanding to pay he was asking for us to complete the payment. We mentioned that we’d agreed a price including bike hire but as we didn’t use the bikes then we wanted to pay the price quoted to us excluding bike rental. He got quite angry about this and said we have to pay for the bikes as the restaurant paid for fuel to get them to the site for us to cycle, but we saw many bikes there so we felt this was not the case. We were happy to pay but just not for the whole fee and he didn’t say when we said we weren’t taking the bikes that we would still have to pay for their rental. He rang our tour company and Helen agreed a price over the phone which mean’t we paid some of the cost towards the bike but not all. Our chirpy tour guide was no longer quite so happy and he settled into a grump until the bus stopped to pick up his girlfriend.

Another lesson learned! Still we had managed to get back some of the money so it was good to know there are some principles in place. When we got back we ate at a great local restaurant and for a good price. We went back and packed ready for our Halong Bay trip leaving at 8am the next day.

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f2.0 & Olympus PEN, 17mm f2.8 & 100mm f2.8, processed in Lightroom 3)

So another day in Yangshou beckoned and the weather was still on the chilly side with plenty of moisture thrown in for good measure. We had heard about some Tai Chi lessons that Trippers could organise for guests with a local tutor, so we booked ourselves onto a course to see if we could remember anything from our previous lesson in Beijing. The tutor was really good at explaining what to do and helped you into the positions but wasn’t overly fussy if you could not manage it each time. This made the class go far more smoothly and it was very enjoyable. It’s amazing at the power that can be generated from simple moves and relaxed muscles when defending yourself. Dave got tested on a few times again to show what the motions were used for in self defence. It was freezing on the rooftop even though we had many layers of clothes to try and keep us warm!

After the two hour lesson we headed to the cafe for some warmth and food. We opted for more ginger and honey tea, which is so good, but so sweet, and some lunch. We had heard from other guests that the dragon eggplant was a good choice so we opted for the non-pork option and some tofu. We have eaten our fair amount of eggplant over the months in China, but this dish blew them all out of the water! It was amazing. Slightly fried like a tempura batter with a great sauce and veggies on top. Really great, we loved it.

We decided to head into the main town to walk off lunch and see if we could find bargains on sunglasses and some nice cushion covers that Helen had her eye on in a funky little shop on West Street. They were costly and they wouldn’t budge on the price, so we bought just the one and decided to see if we can get it replicated either back in the UK or maybe in Vietnam. On our way back to the hostel, playing on the public exercise machines by the river, we bumped into Maayke and Alex who were staying at Trippers and decided to have a walk down to the river. More often than not you’ll find a very picturesque place that in areas tends to lend itself towards being a dumping ground, this is the case we’ve seen across China. It is a case of the beauty and the beast at times.

Evening meal was again back at… you guessed it… Trippers! Comfort food to the max, soup, cheese burger and the amazingly tasty apple crumble with ice cream! Not the most classic “Chinese” of meals but you have to have some tastes of the west every so often. After some cards and a few drinks we headed to bed in the knowledge that we would have the dorm all to ourselves that evening. As soon as we had closed the door to the room a bunch of four Irish lads burst onto the scene but exited for food pretty quickly as they’d just got in from Shanghai. Misfits it was!

There were a few snores that night, but it wasn’t too bad for Helen sharing a room with 4 other lads!!

The next day was our final day in Yangshou town and along came the wet and cold weather. We had more editing and writing to catch up on so the crappy weather was a good excuse to stay inside, drink ginger and honey tea and keep warm. We finally had enough of work and decided to head out for a walk into the countryside which got the blood pumping and warmed us up no end. There are some really interesting walks and exploration to be done around China and you will always come to a little village where photograph opportunities just jump out.

For food we headed into Yangshou to find something cheap and not the hostel food, even though it was lovely, we wanted something else and some new scenery. We found a place and order our food. The food was very average and we were both disappointed. Helen’s vegetable noodles soup dish came with chicken in it and had very little flavour. We even asked for some chilli to make it more interesting but all we were given was Tabasco sauce! Not very Chinese in style or flavour.

Back at Trippers we proceeded with yet more writing and relaxing in the cafe/bar with hot chocolate. Pizza was required to forget the taste of lunch and Trippers duly obliged again. The Irish boys were having food, drinks and they cracked open the game Risk and asked Dave if he wanted to join in. Some good quality lads time was taken up, along with beers and world domination. Helen went to bed and Dave almost conquered the world, but he was too nice to the opposition! The bar closed up at 11pm and that was the end of that! We hope the lads made it to Hong Kong on time, we are sure that there train took longer that the one hour that they were told by someone in the hostel! It takes at least 10 hours we would guess!

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f2.0 & Olympus PEN, 17mm f2.8 & 100mm f2.8, processed in Lightroom 3)

We had a slow start to the new year, not a lot was done at all. Helen had quite a hangover for the first part of the morning but after a while and a re-hydration sachet she soon perked up. As the day went on we cuddled in the cafe and worked on editing and the blog. We had some good comfort food and went out for a little walk before heading into town to meet Emma and Doug for some local food. We ended up at a great cheap little clay pot restaurant away from West Street where you’ll find most backpackers eating away, you can eat a good meal for around £1. So having recovered from hangovers we swapped notes on our plans for South-East Asia and ended the night with a nice cup of chai.

We started the following day early with an hour or so of horse-riding accompanied by a local guide. The session was supposed to be an hour but Dave’s horse was a little slow so we ended up being on the horses for an hour and a half. Our guide couldn’t speak very good English so it was more about signaling and the odd whip to get the horses up to his pace. This was Dave’s first time on a horse, but they were pretty tame and we think the slow pace probably helped for the first-timers. Helen’s horse was well-behaved and just got on with it, trotting when instructed to and just followed his lead. The guide came along with 3 horses and met us at Trippers, he took the white horse which was the smallest and the most feisty so we were relieved that he was riding that one. It would have been nice to find out the names of the horses but we still managed to have a small bond! Our trip concluded by a little stop on a sandy beach where our guide proceeded to take a few photos of us with our new travel companions. It was a nice experience, perhaps a little pricey at £12 each, but we enjoyed it all the same.

We had planned to do some rock-climbing later on, but the weather came in and the temperature had dropped quite significantly so we decided to hire some bikes for the afternoon and make our way to Fuli. Tripper had given us some good advice on a route to Fuli away from the busy roads, the first part of the route took us back to where we’d been with the horses earlier on and we made out way to a little taxi ferry so we could cross the river to get to the start of the path. There was a man cooking his lunch and he was ready to eat signaling to his stomach, we tried to communicate that we didn’t mind waiting for him to eat but he left it cooking and took us over the river with our bikes. When we got to the other side we found the path straight away and set off on another biking adventure. Our target was Fuli and we had a map showing various paths and villages for us to go through. It definitely helped us to get warm and it was great riding along the bumpy trials. We’ve really enjoyed hiring bikes in China as it has always given us the best platform through which to explore in our own time. Most of the villages are very tranquil and it’s always great to see the culture of each place, seeing how people live with so little in contrast to the western world.

After some time we passed through orangeries and ended up on the road to Fuli. When we arrived there wasn’t really that much to see but we did stop for some lunch and meandered through the town’s streets until we came to the Li River. We were told we could pretty much cycle the length of the river back to Yangshou without going back onto the main road, this was the case for most of the journey and it was really good biking along the paths and through more villages, past more farmland and so on. After a while though our path led us back onto the main road and so we stuck with this until we got back into Yangshou.

We hadn’t much planned for the evening other than more work on Notworkrelated and some more good Trippers food. We’d already sampled the apple crumble which was delicious so we were looking forward to another relaxing evening. Most of the south of China comes without heating so it’s always good when we have the sun during the day, here though the weather was getting colder but we didn’t mind so much as Yangshou is a really pretty place and we were enjoying staying at Trippers so we decided to stay for a few more nights. That night we stayed in the cafe until quite late and as we were the only ones there asked if we could set up the laptop to watch another episode of Misfits. Addicted some might say!! We still made it to bed by 10.30pm though so we didn’t keep the staff up too late!

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f2.0 & Olympus PEN, 17mm f2.8 & 100mm f2.8, processed in Lightroom 3)

We had breakfast at the hotel in the form of muesli and fruit before going off on bikes for the day. At Bamboo they have a good choice of mountain and city bikes (we opted for mountain bikes of course) perhaps some of the best bikes we’ve used on our travels so far!

We had a map with some good trails outlined and so off we went in the hopes of finding some less tourist-driven villages. Finding the right path is okay to start with as you head out of Yangshou town via the back roads and then there is a path that cuts under the bridge and from here you get to a gravel road, which is pretty tricky to ride over, although much more manageable if you have a decent mountain bike – you often see people on tandems and city bikes on this kind of terrain!! From here you go towards smaller paths which take you through farmland and villages, you just head north up the Li River towards Moon Hill, its a long journey on bikes and we often found ourselves the only people on the roads and thinking we may be on the wrong path.

After a brief stop for satsumas and snacks we went on our way to Moon Hill. When we arrived there were many tourists who were either enjoying the views, shopping, eating or planning to take a trip up the hill. It was getting close to 4pm by this time and we’d been cycling for the past 4 hours so decided not to climb the hill. But we did stop for some fresh corn and a few photos of the random tourist attractions such as a monkey dressed in an Asian suit posing along side happy holiday makers at what cost we didn’t stop to find out.

It only took about another 45 minutes or so to get back into Yangshou mostly on the high way which was in no way as satisfying as going through all the villages and countryside. When we got back we opted for a spot of Chinese food at another Lonely Planet recommendation Kelly’s. The food was fairly good and we weren’t charged too much for it either. Afterwards we went o Monkey Jane’s for a few drinks just to get familiar with the place before the big bash the following night. They also do really cheap beer!! We met a group of travellers who invited us to play cards with them…8 games of Shithead later and we were ready to call it a night. We had a good link with one of the guys as he’d been traveling with someone we’d met in Dali, I picked up on his Irish accent after Jane had said we may bump into them. Small world this traveling lark!

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f2.0 & Olympus PEN, 17mm f2.8 & 100mm f2.8, processed in Lightroom 3)

We were picked up at 8am by the taxi to take us to the tour bus in the centre of Guilin where we were met by a coach and several other tourists waiting for a little adventure. Our tour guide was a lovely camp chap who was very sweet indeed often repeating the delights of Yangshou “the most beautiful town in the province and the one of the most beautiful towns in all of China!”. We were promptly told that we would be in his team and our instruction was to follow the panda flag. So far we’ve managed to escape the tour groups led by flags so this was our first encounter of this, and we wondered whether we had chosen to do the right thing at 380 RMB each this better be good!!

We met a Dutch couple on holiday in China and exchanged travel tales as the boat set off. We shared the slow boat with a few other tour groups and every so often we would get called up onto the top deck for the best views in all of China. Unfortunately the weather didn’t really help in assisting it’s beauty but on a misty day it was still very beautiful indeed. The light was pretty flat for the most part but we hope the photos give you an idea of what we encountered. We were able to take our bags on board so we could carry on from Yangshou at the other end rather than making it a return journey to Guilin. The boat journey was around 4 hours and we had 4 main sights, although there are sights all the way and either on a bamboo raft or the slow boat you’ll get some amazing views on a clear day. There are various peaks names along the way such as Half-moon peak and 11 horse cliff, but the most memorable and probably famous is the one of that is pictured on a 20 Yuan note. The picture is a sketched out version of the Li River with several karst peaks jutting out of the landscape and a lonely man on a bamboo raft. Many moons ago this image would have been a reality but now there are so many tour boats and bamboo rafts on the river it’s pretty hard to enjoy the original views. Still it’s worth seeing and we were laughing at the count down to the view…5 more seconds and you will see the image on the 20 yuan note, 3 more seconds, 2 more seconds, 1 more second and so it went on. We saw the view, no bamboo raft but it was fun all the same.

We were provided with a buffet style lunch which was very fortunately served up just as we were exploring the downstairs part of the boat, this mean’t we were at the front of the queue and the food was hot. It wasn’t a bad lunch actually, you can pay more for the local dishes but there isn’t any point if you plan to go to Yangshou as you can eat there very cheaply. There were a few amusing tourists on board that captured our eye for a while until the boat got in to Yangshou at around 1pm.

We promptly said our goodbye’s and left the tour group to find our hotel/Inn; The Bamboo Inn. When we arrived they said we could move to their quieter hotel, The Bamboo Hotel down from the street if we wanted to go and have a look, we asked the see the room with balcony but there was a big gap in the door and as it was pretty chilly so we went to see the other hotel to compare. We were a little miffed about this as you have to wonder why are they taking us to their sister hotel and not showing us other rooms at the one we CHOSE to book? The room at the other hotel was fine and a little more modern but it’s still an odd one why they do this! The price was still the same though at 80yuan per night and we had only planned to stay 2 nights in the town itself before moving to a recommended hostel 15 minutes walk away in a quieter village out of town.

We walked around Yangshou’s busy streets that afternoon and bumped into Will again from TUL (The Unemployed Life) he was rounding up people for the Monkey Jane’s NYE party along with a few others. We had already heard about the infamous Monkey Jane’s hostel from other travelers along the way and knew this was where the party would be if any were going on in town for New Years. We dropped by to pick up our tickets and free t-shirt after meandering the streets of Yangshou it was pretty busy, we’d been told on our tour that Yangshou attracts around 15 million Chinese visitors each year…we were just glad we weren’t visiting during peak season as it was busy enough for us.

We enjoyed a quiet night and opted to do a bike ride the following day.

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f2.0 & Olympus PEN, 17mm f2.8 & 100mm f2.8, processed in Lightroom 3)

After a much needed lie in we got up and enjoyed a Wada breakfast eventually getting out at around midday to see some of Guilin’s sights. We booked ourselves onto a boat tour to take us to Yangshou the following day, the tour costs were pretty pricey but we thought it would be a nice alternative to getting another bus. So with this booked we went out on the local buses to central Guilin and made our way to the scenic Solitary Beauty Peak based at the very centre of all the Karst peaks in Guilin and now with the University Campus set around it. It was quite a pleasant walk to this area through side streets and alleys, close to the Li River. Guilin is built in and around these peaks and the central peak is supposed to be this one with a small shrine and temple on top. The peaks aren’t very high but they are extremely steep, the more touristy ones have steps up (like this one), and they don’t take very long to climb but as they jut out of the ground so suddenly you will always get good views up there.

This one was a little busy with other tourists but we took our time around the campus and tried to avoid the tourist traps. On top of the peak are a few souvenir shops one of which occupied a girl who was sleeping over her stall. They will fall asleep anywhere over here!

After the peak we took in a few more sights around the city and went to a slightly more westernised local restaurant but did enjoy the food and it was nice and cosy in there too. We continued to walk along the river side towards Elephant mountain which looked like a nicer area to walk but we’d already paid for the entrance to the Beauty Peak and decided to save a few pennies by bypassing other peaks. The Elephant peak area does look really nice though and is perhaps a better value walk for your money.

We found our bus back to Wada and went back to the hostel to chill out. Later on we enjoyed a few drinks in the bar and then went to the local shopping mall for some food in Japanese form. We finished the evening off with a walk back to the hostel and got an early night ready for our early pick up the next morning.

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f2.0 & Olympus PEN, 17mm f2.8 & 100mm f2.8, processed in Lightroom 3)