Choose another map, showing:

• China
• South East Asia
• Asia
• Eurasia, Africa & Pacific
• The World

Other entries in Yangshuo

Yangshuo

Day 1

We arrived in Yangshuo after a 1 hour bus ride from Guilin which we were overcharged for but it was not a significant ammount so we just paid it as the bus was brand new and not something from the dark ages for a change. However once we got close to Yangshuo three people got on who where just trying to sell us there hotels, we politely told them to bugger off but they were quite persistant but eventually realised they were not going to get anything from us. Then the bus stopped at a junction and the conductor shouted Yangshuo, I knew we were not in the centre of Yangshuo as I had read about this happening, they must get some commision from the touts we tried to stay on but our bags were being unloaded so we had to get off. The dick head of a hotel tout who had badgered us and the other tourists on the bus then directed us in the wrong direction and with 20kg of stuff on our back, 35 degree heat and a 3-4k walk ahead we had to get a taxi to the hotel.

So the initial intro into Yangshuo was not brilliant but after freshening up we walked round for a bit and ended up eating in a place called the 'Stone Roses Bar' unfortunately I dont think it ever played any decent music. We walked down West (foreigner) street which is full of bars and cafes plus places selling the usual tourist crap

Day 2  

We rented bikes for 10 Yuan (66p) plus 150 deposit and headed towards Moon hill which is 6km south of Yangshuo we then preceded to climb it in lonely planet it claims it to be 1255 steps to the top im not sure how that was worked out as we counted around 700 to the get under the natural rock arch and from there onwards it was a rough track not steps to the top. Anyway the heat must have been 35+ degrees and we were both pretty exhausted after the climb and ended up buying overpriced waters from the sellers who are all over moon hill.

As it was still only about 12 we decided to bike towards the Yulong river and bike along it, in theory looking at a map this was a fairly easy ride but in reality it was a lot more tough. The bike track is not marked by ny signs and we bumped into an English Guy from Cheshire who was as seemingly lost as we were. Eventually we found the track (I think) however it wasn't as scenic as both lonely planet says and at some points you are half a mile from the river. We wanted to get to Yulong or Dragon Bridge which as the crow flies is probably about 10km but due to no signposts and indirect roads is probably closer to 20km. Combined with the 12km cycle back to Yangshuo we probably did over 40km and climbed a mountain in a day. It was almost impossible not to get the face burnt because as soon as you applied sunscreen you just sweated it away pretty quickly.

Day 3

After a lie in recovering from the previous days ride we went rafting,our expectations were not high as the rivers I had seen had already pretty tame. But the 120 Yuan we paid (8 pounds) was well worth it as it included a bus which took 40 mins each way and about an hour and half of rafting. The rafting itself is not in the normal format but 2 people sat in a smallish dingy and you literally put a lifejacket and a helmet on and then are pushed downriver by the current. It was absoloutely briliant fun and would recomend it to anyone.

Day 4

Today we went to Moon water cave which involved first cycling 6km to get there, the first hour was okay just walking around a cave and every rock as stalachtite was supposedly some animal or object. It got more interesting though as we went swimming in a natural mudbath with which they had built a slide going down into it. After the mudbath a short walk led to a plunge pool that you could dive into and swim around

Days 5 & 6

We were going to do a hike along the Li river starting 20km north of Yangshuo, unfortunately the weather had dramatically cooled and heavy rain looked likely so we decided to stay in Yangshuo itself and walk around the city parks and along the Li river closer to home. The final day we had to hang around until our overnight bus to Shenzhen was departing

Add to del.icio.us Add to reddit

Photos / videos of "Yangshuo":