China - Yangshuo - Yangshuo, China
Yangshuo, China
Interesting experience so far. Not sure where to start. I arrived later due to another delayed flight. I'm beginning to think China Air is not the best airline. It took me a bit to figure out how to catch the bus to Yangshuo from the airport since I had to take a shuttle to Guilin, then walk to a supposedly nearby bus terminal in the dark. I had no map of course and no one spoke English. Per an old Lonely planet the last bus was due to leave at 8:30. It was almost that time so I was cutting it very close. I already made lodging arrangements in Yangshuo and didn't want to stay in Guilin. Once I felt like I was at the bus station and in the right place I quickly went to the"Information Desk" per the sign posted in English. The clerk didn't speak any and didn't want to waste her time pantomiming. It was 8:25 and I didn't want to miss that bus so I walked fast and scanned the crowd quickly for Westerners as my last resort. Fortunately not only did I find a dad and his son who spoke English, the son also spoke Mandarin. They were from Germany and the only Westerners around. The son asked two different people in Mandarin how to find the bus I needed (I guess he's learned to ask several times too). They then walked with me to make sure I found the bus safely in the dark. They were surprised I was alone. I was so used to it I didn't think much of it and was grateful for so many reasons to have met them. I just made the bus and thanked them profusely. When I got on the bus the attendant told me to just keep my luggage with me vs putting it in storage underneath which seemed somewhat strange since the bus soon became entirely full and the only place to put my large rucksack was on one of the seats. My smaller backpack was at times on my lap or resting on my feet on the floor. The bus took almost a couple hours with stops along the way. I was happily writing and catching up on my blog about my adventures. When I arrived I was amazed at how incredible the landscape of the town was. I had no idea it would be so beautiful and exotic. The town was built around these extremely tall and pointy limestone mountain rock formations called Karst mountains. They were covered in tropical plants and trees. It was dark, but I could still see their magnificence. I stopped to ask for directions a few times (my normal protocol). Along the way I saw ponds with these gigantic Lilly pads. I had to pause to look at them and the mountains. It kind of reminded me of approaching El Chalten at night and seeing the huge plateau. I was smiling all the way in on both occasions knowing I was going to be happy here. The hostel was a bit difficult to find, but that's to be expected here in China. I found that locals have a hard time finding places too, even in their own neighborhoods. My bags were getting heavy and cutting into my shoulders and it was extremely humid but the excitement of being there and the anticipation of seeing the scenery during the daylight trumped the pain. Once I found the hostel and they had space available, I pulled out my coin purse to pay. I only found small change and my debit and credit card. I was so confused as I had just taken out about 1,500 Yen (~$200). I knew it couldn't be anywhere else, but for the sake of exercise, I checked elsewhere. Nothing. I then wondered if I had been pick pocketed but couldn't figure out how since my backpack was touching me the entire ride. I did remember that when I got up to get off the bus, the backpack was suddenly tilted forward on the floor which I thought was strange and instantly looked around to see if anything had fallen out even though it had been all zipped up The hostel staff person let me check in and said I could pay him later. Once I got in the room I looked through everything. I figured if I had indeed been pick pocketed, wouldn't he have taken my credit card and debit card too? My passport was thankfully still there as well as my two back-up credit cards though I noticed one of my other empty coin purses was unzipped. For whatever reason, I happened to reach into the back part where my iPad2 was and it was missing. It was then I realized I was indeed robbed. I also noticed now being in the light that my bag had sticky wet gum all over the back and the straps. I sat there in a daze. I kept trying to figure out where, when and how it happened. Perhaps when I very briefly half stood up towards the end silently oohing and awing the first Karst mountain. My bag was otherwise on my lap. He must have very quickly snagged it underneath the seat then threw it back while getting fresh gum thrown on the floor all over it. I was more shocked at the fact the someone HAD to have noticed it happening yet no one said or did anything. I noticed later that my waterproof backpack cover which came with the backpack was missing so he must have used it to sneak the iPad out. It actually made me feel slightly better that maybe he was too good for anyone to notice, but at the same time everyone is bored on a bus and is an instantly captive audience. I was the only Westerner. Did people turn an eye thinking it wouldn't affect me that much since us Westerners are so rich and can easily replace those trivial items? I hated to think that but couldn't help it. I felt so naive and duped by everyone. The part that kind of made me laugh (not really) was the fact that he only took big bills and left everything else. Even though I was dumbfounded that it could happen to someone as careful as I was and aware of my surroundings, I knew it could have been a lot worse. I still had my passport and my cards and fortunately my phone since it was in my hand. I think I was more thrown with the fact that I felt safer in china more than any other country and ironically it was the place I was robbed. After that incident, I heard of a couple more cases of theft. My guy also used my iPad to take pictures of his family and he or perhaps his kid deleted several notes (I'm a huge note keeper) that I'm still finding are missing. Thankfully, Apple's "Find My iPhone" feature and "delete the data from another device" feature didn't work when I needed it to even though I tested it before I left. And the "Genius" at the Genius Bar in Hong Kong told me to call Apple Care. I asked him what the difference between the Bar and Apple Care was (i.e. what are you here for??). I even asked my Dad to try it from the US thinking that perhaps Apple was another site blocked by China and he wasn't able to access it either. In any event, the thief can still mess around with my iPad and see all my data... ;-/ Even though I knew in the scheme of things it wasn't a big deal (I'd heard of much worse), I kind of moped around town the next couple days. I tried hard to shake it but I think I just felt like such an idiot and still couldn't believe people presumably turned an eye and let it happen. It's not fair, but my faith in the innocence and carefree nature of the Chinese people quickly vanished. Instantly, I couldn't trust anyone and had to watch my stuff like a hawk more so than ever. That sucked and became cumbersome. All my dorm mates were Chinese and we couldn't speak each other's language so my time in Yangshuo was very quiet. The first day I arrived, I hired a bike so I could alongside the river and see the infamous ancient Dragon Bridge as well as Moon Hill along the way. I knew it was a pretty aggressive plan since it would take about 5 hours in 90 degree weather with 100% humidity (I found out later), but I felt like exploring and getting exercise. Six hours later of getting lost every which way on a road that weaves in and out along the river (there was no bike trail) even though I had a seemingly ok map and got directions beforehand, I was glad to be back. I was happy to have done it though since it was a nice, healthy ride through the countryside and its farmlands with the beautiful Karst mountains as a backdrop. The river was serene and had loads of people lazily floating in parasol covered bamboo rafts down it. I was tempted to hire a raft myself (I heard they can put a bike on it too somehow) but I was to determined to get to the bridge. I never found the bridge which looked so easy to get to on a map and even though I knew I was close, but by the point, I was biked out. When I got back I googled pictures of it and realized as bad as this sounds that I didn't miss much. I also took a cooking class. The best and saddest part was going to the market with the local chef. She pointed out what things were like veggies and types of fish. All animals and fish were alive or very recently slaughtered. ;-(. By animals I mean they had chickens, bunnies, ducks and cats... all in cages. The cats were going to be used for cat soup(!). I also saw a half dressed animal hanging and realized it was a dog based on its paws. Double ughhh. Even though I was repulsed and saddened, I couldn't help but think why should there be a difference between eating cat soup and eating a hamburger? Both animals were killed. Does one have more feelings than another? I don't know... After that experience I had an even more difficult time eating meat unless it was the only option or if it would have been socially awkward. Somehow fish is/was ok for me. Aside from the eye opening market experience, I met some great people that night and they all spoke English which was a welcome relief. It had been days since I had a free flowing conversation with anyone. I had to apologize in advance for being too talkative. There was a family from Minnesota and a married couple around my age from London who were traveling for a year. The family was so incredibly nice. They had five kids in total and were traveling with three of them - two adopted Chinese boys and one older girl studying and working there. They were there to show the adopted kids where their birth home was for them. One of them was left on the steps at a train station as a baby and the other couldn't be cared for. ;-( The mom was so centered, easy to talk to and so open about talking about their family dynamics and the adopted children's experience of coming back. The course itself was surprisingly well done and everything was very clean. The food, was of course tasty too! The last adventure turned out to be a bit of a bust for me at least. One of the reasons I chose Yangshuo when planning my trip was because of the infamous terraced rice fields. Somehow I had this vision of biking through them along the nearby rivers. It turned out that the most famous or likely only terraced rice field nearby called Dragon's Back was 3 hours away and would require bus transportation and a full day trip. I was reluctant to go on a bus tour as always since its usually a lot of hocus pocus and I feel like a sheep being led with the herd of tourists toting cameras who just want to get those few thousand pictures then leave. I was assured two or three times by different people that the trip would entail a drop off, I'd get to hike for about 4 hours thought the small villages along the rice fields, then return home. Once we neared the sight we were told that they were going to stop at a village along the way to see these women with unusually long black hair and that it would cost ~$30 extra and if we didn't want to see it, we'd just have to remain on the bus. The authenticity of the likely once interesting village was destroyed by tourism. The villagers fabricated all of these legends about boys meeting girls (as if that would be an issue in a small village...). The minute we stepped off the bus the female villagers were dressed in their ceremonial attire with their long hair in buns and were ready to sell us whatever we wanted to buy. They even had a hidden camera which snapped a picture of us walking across the bridge to sell at the end. They led us to a large very modern auditorium to give us a show which involved very unenthusiastic singing, involving the eagerly obliging tourists in a singing competition, and finally to show us how long their hair was for about a minute then it was deftly wrapped back in a bun. We filed out as they held out baskets for tips, pinched our bums (as part of the legend meaning they like you - or everyone there), and tried to sell memorabilia as we left. When we got to the rice field, we ate lunch at one of the villages and were told we'd have a half hour to walk around, take pictures, then we'd have to meet back up at the bus. Fortunately I met a nice group of Westerners who were working in Hong Kong. I hung out with them and picked their brain about what to do there. They gave me excellent ideas that I ended up taking them up on. It rained quite a bit in Yangshuo even though it was 100% humidity and 85 degrees on average, but I didn't mind. I probably spent a bit too much time there, but it felt good to relax too. Close to my last day I discovered an infection ... in my belly button. It became quite nasty, rashy and itchy and very uncomfortable rather quickly. It's so embarrassing to even mention. I can't remember the last time I've had an infection and had never heard of anyone having one in their fricking belly button for that matter. WTF was wrong with me (?!) was all I could think. I had no idea how it got there - perhaps a bug bit me there or worse, I contracted something from all the foreign beds I had been sleeping in? I waited for it to go away but it didn't. I ended up eventually seeing a doctor in Hong Kong who instead of giving me a biopsy to see what it was, just prescribed even more antibiotics. It finally went away two weeks later in the nick of time of being able to wear my bikini in Bali.