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Before we pick-up where we left off I need to point out two things:
1. Hostel computers suck for posting blogs and pictures.
2. Just a reminder, I can't actually access my blog from China. I can post still which is why you are able to read these (when the Hostile (clever) computer works) but I cannot look at my website. So were it not for my dear mother's affirmation I wouldn't even know these are going through. In otherwords if anyone has posted any messages and is upset that I haven't responded, that's why. I haven't gotten them. And yes I know that presumes people are actually reading my blog.

Now let's continue. When I left off I had courageously defended myself and my American friends from a pack of crazy jungle beasts. Well before the night was over I was fortunate enough to witness a couple of Chinese girls modeling in our luxurious hostel for a group of about 5 photographers. Sweet, huh? I also met someone from China whose American name was apparently "Weenie", also sweet. Next day Yangshuo.

The New Yorkers and I decided to catch a boat down the Li River to Yangshuo. Rather than taking a 3 hour tour boat loaded with Chinese people and a Chinese tour guide, we decided to take a 2 hour speed boat ride, with just one Chinese driver. The speed boat we were told would cover 1/3 more river than the tour boat in the 2 hours. Well some 4.5 hours later we arrived to Yungshuo somehow after all of the tour boats. That might have had something to do with our guide stopping to have lunch at a riverside shack. Oh no, that's what I thought, "Lunch on the guide? Sure." No, rather he made the motion of taking a picture, pointed at us and disappeared for 45-minutes to an hour. Honestly though, it was hard to get upset when we passed through probably the most beautiful scenery I have ever seen.

This large river scattered with old Chinese fishermen and their birds (I'll explain in a second) and lined with some amazing otherworldly mountains was absolutely breathtaking. It was rainy and foggy (imagine that) which added a mysterious air. As for the fishermen, they fish with birds instead of fishing poles. As I understand it the fishermen put some type of leash on the birds and something around their necks to prevent the birds from swallowing the fish. When a bird sees a fish it dives into the water, catches the fish and then brings it back to the surface to his beloved owner. I'm not quite sure of all the details but you get the idea.

I think I made a mistake by going to Yangshuo, because it's hard to imagine any place cooler. It is described in Lonely Planet and the "backpacker's mecca". True Dat! As soon as we got off the boat (at like 2:00 pm!) we walked through the only road to town and about one mile of shoulder to shoulder vendors. The town felt like maybe the Aspen of southern China (never been to Aspen but if it's anything like Yanshuo it's gotta be beautiful). It was targeted specifically for the backpacker full of shops with Northface (I'm assuming fake), backpacks, and other designer specialties.

Another reason I think I ruined myself is today (day 8) when I payed 45 Yuen for my room I was a little bit irritated. $8 Yuen = $1 US Dollar. That is because when all is said and done I spent about $2.25 for a comfy little room in one of the most picturesque cities in the world. Kind of unbelievable. To make up for it I spent $2.50 on lunch at "Minnie Mao's"-yes, as in Disney and the homemade painting of a mouse on the sign.

I have a terrible tendancy to ramble so I'm just going to jump to today's highlight. When we finished eating it was about 3:30. So we hoped on some bikes for $1.25 a day price and started off for a water cave we heard good things about. It is pouring down rain and the 4 Americans are riding bikes (2 tandom) through rice fields and mountains. It's 5ish when we get to this water cave and approach the counter to buy tickets. $120 Y per person. We've learned by now not to settle, so we start haggling and really annoying this poor Chinese girl down to $80 and get on the bus. It's starting to get dark and their was some tension in the air, because the next thing we know we're on a dirt road driving through what looks like an abandoned Chinese prison. 2 of the New Yorkers, probably well familiar with the Bronx start freaking out. They were both fairly certain we were on our way to a terrible death in the rice fields. Myself and the other guy tried to tell them to wait it out, since the driver knew 0 english. You are clever enough to know that since I am blogging this we survived and made it to the Water Cave.

All of us put on hard hats and pile into a small skinny boat. Then entrance to this cave is a skinny hole in the mouth of a rock, you have to basically lay down to get in. However once you're about 5 minutes into the cave it opens up and you get out and walk through a maze of caverns and underwater rivers. We only did the half tour so we made it as far as the mud pool, took a quick dip and left 2 hours later. Needless to say it was pretty dark as we biked through the country side back to the city. Another one of those moments when you take a step back and think to yourself... "Is this really happening?"

posted by Travelin' D @ 6:55 AM