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I decided the activity category for this blog had to be that of swimming/beach because that is what Yangshuo feels like; it is a toursit hotspot, abundant with tourists (as in you see more than 3 a day) and the weather is just glorious - as I write this Barnes is recovering from sunburn! We started our first day in Yangshuo with a walk down West St (colloqially known as foreigner st) plagued with cafes, restaurant and people selling tat. Now to some this might sound like hell but after a month of travelling we welcomed the break - although I have offers to shine my shoes every 5 mins! The street leads to the Li river and an unbelieveable view - i'm going to say to everyone now that if you have to go somewhere before you die it has to be here! We spent most of the rest of that day with our mouths open. We found a great restuarant (how hard can it be when there are so many!) - serving beer duck - a slight change on the local speciality of beer fish, which I am yet to try but will let you know in due course.
Yesterday we went to the park near our hostel (and when I say near, the hills literally block out any other view from the window). We climbed two of the local Karst peaks with fantastic views over Yangshuo and the Li river, as well as towards the Yulong river... the object of today's trails and tribulations!
We got up early to get the best bikes for our 20km round trip down the Yulong river (I had told Barnes it was only 14). Without a map we headed aimlessly in the vague direction of the river but locals were happy to help and it wasn't long before we had our tour guide for the rest of the way (and thankfully she was as slow as Barnes!). The views are breathtaking - much like the Li river but the area is undeveloped and just simply spectacular. We stopped many times - for pictures and breathers, even dipping our feet in the water when we reached Dragon Bridge - the half way point. Barnes was knackered at this point so we negotiated a bamboo raft half way down the river. We decided to use our dodgy Y50 note we had been given days before and all seemed to be well... we got about 50m down the river before our cover was blown and we headed back for the bridge, damn! The road along the river was bumpy, so we took the main road back to Yangshuo - not as pretty as the river but still amazing. About 3km from Yangshuo we met a dwonward slope and we zoomed into town, the views got better again but I didn't want to stop to take pictures, the fresh air was brilliant!
I will try and upload the pics as soon as possible guys - hope you are all well. Take care.
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