It is amazing how many people a foreigner meets in this country. The people here are eager to communicate and get closer to you in a friendly way. It seems that most people don’t do this only because they can’t speak English and are (therefore) shy.

As I come out in front of the hotel to go to the Internet place nearby I was immediately approached by, amazingly yet again, another young Chinese English teacher. When he finds out about my intention to go to an Internet place he offers that there is one nearby in the direction he is going and offers to take me there. It is in the opposite direction than the place I was going to but it is again impossible to refuse someone nice who is trying to be helpful. I probably have to learn though that these people have no time estimating capacity as this place was in fact about 5 times further than the other one. When we finally got there I didn’t have much time left before having to check out from my hotel.

After achieving to sort out almost all I needed to in the city (unfortunately excluding e-mails as the place was so slow that after an hour I didn’t even read a single e-mail) I set off towards Yangshuo. The ride between Guilin and Yangshuo was supposed to be spectacular. As I noted down in my notes from one of the guides I used to plan this journey, this ride offers “China’s most spectacular scenery”. It was still cloudy and hazy which I blamed for the fact that I was not appropriately excited. I mean the limestone outcrops on both sides of the road are nice but the expression “China’s most spectacular scenery” seemed to be a slight overstatement even I if I imagined seeing it in much more favorable climatic conditions than I was offered today. Twice I even ventured off the main road to get closer and among the rocky hills covered by vegetation, but still, it didn’t live up to the above expression.

…and then I reached Yangshuo…  Yangshuo and its immediate surroundings can definitely compete for the best scenery in China. I mean I have so far seen only a tiny bit of China but I have already seen a few breathtaking sceneries. Yes, this rates probably on the top, but there surely are many more breathtaking places like this.

Unfortunately for me I have confirmed to Lily that is awaiting me in Hong Kong that I’ll arrive on Friday so I could not stay a single day in the beautiful Yangshuo. Lily’s mother has even taken a day off of her very precious holiday (the Chinese have I think only one week holiday a year!) just for me to be able to show me around Hong Kong so I can’t be late. Yangshuo is, however, definitely a place that I will visit again and spend a few days at. Mountain bike trips around must be amazing, as surely is hot air balloon experience, kayaking or exploring caves and walking on rope bridges between the huge limestone outcrops. All that and I’m sure much more is offered here. From here a day or two day trip to Guilin to see the “Seven star park” with amazing caves and rock formations resembling different animals, open hand etc. and other parks in Guilin and its vicinity, that seem to be many around, surely makes for very nice holiday.

With the darkness approaching I have again started to look for a place to stay. At the end of one of the smaller settlements there was a place that as well might have been a “hotel” (apparently they call everything where one can stay a hotel, otherwise I’d call places like that motels of guesthouses). One of the three girls pointed back to the village/town center when I gestured “sleep”, but the other two signaled that I could stay right there and one of them went to show me the room after they told me that it was for 20 Yuan. Now imagine the most primitive room you can – a bed made of planks with fairly thin reed mattress on the top of it. The rest of the concrete-floored room was empty except of few hanging drying up clothes.
“Well, uhm,… you want 20 right? I give you five..” I started the negotiation.
Due to lack of English on their side we resorted to a piece of paper again and settled on 8 Yuan for the night. “OK, I can survive here one night for 8 Yuan.” I thought to myself. The bike was safe too as it was inside next to their TV… :-)

As I was going to pick up the second pannier with things I usually need a well dressed young guy stopped me and using gestures explains an interesting thing to me: This place actually turns out to be a brothel… J “Oh, that’s why the confusion at the beginning” it clicks to me. This guy invited me just next door to see another room, which although also quite basic, looks more like a “hotel” room with its own toilet and bathroom. The price was also only 8 Yuan so I decided to move.

The girl that gave me the original room still wanted me to stay there and tried to make me to revise my decision to move with an offer of 5 Yuan for the night. As 8 Yuan was already so little I apologetically refused her offer and moved. Later I wanted to give these girls at least one Yuan for letting me still keep the bike at their place but they refused with a friendly smile and instead offered me a chair to watch TV with them.

I was surprised several times already how much the Chinese eat. The portions are huge and it was the case of my 10 Yuan dinner as well. The food keeps getting better and better as I continue going east and south, but I think that if I continue eating this much I will leave China rolling my Sumo type body down the Himalayas.

(260 km)