Monday, May 14, 2007

Rollin' on the River

Now it’s Monday. It is 10:00 PM and I feel like I’ve experienced two days worth of activities since last night.

We assembled in the hotel lobby at 7 AM, our bicycles all lined up and ready to go. We pedaled several miles out of town, joining the frey of early morning traffic and going on progressively smaller roads until we were deep in the countryside. After about an hour, we got to a river, where we paired off and put our bicycles on bamboo rafts. Each raft had two small chairs (for us) and was operated by a boatman who used a long wooden pole to push the boat downriver. There were even a few little waterfalls along the way, where entrepreneurial villagers took your photo (whether you wanted them to or not), ran over to their color printers, printed out the image, and then chased you from the riverbank trying to sell it to you.

After an hour of floating, we came ashore, retrieved our bikes, and rode another 10 minutes to a place called the Moon Hill Café. We were chased by aggressive bicycle hawkers selling postcards and wooden trinkets….it was comical and sad at the same time. By the time we arrived it was 9:30 AM and we had breakfast (I had a Moon Pancake, which was an omelette with bits of pork and red peppers).

After breakfast, five of us decided to climb Moon Hill, a limestone karst with a huge crescent moon carved (by nature) out of the center. It was a steep ascent up stairs and then a dirt/rock path to the summit—maybe 1,000 feet (vertical) above the rice paddies. The most enjoyable part of the hike was not the view, but the personal valets that accompanied us to the top. Our first reaction was “Oh no, more pesky hawkers trying to sell us post cards.” But these women were very sweet. Five of them appeared out of nowhere, one standing beside each of us as we began the hike. They each carried a cooler packed with sodas and a wooden fan, which they used to fan us as we walked.

I hate to admit it, but the fanning was nice. It was already about 85 degrees—hazy sunshine, as always.

These women spoke just enough English to charm us, and had smiles so big it was hard to send them away. Fellow traveler Barbara and I pulled out our phrasebooks and practiced asking them simple questions (“what is your name?” “how many children do you have?” “have you ever been to Hong Kong”?). They giggled at our Chinese pronunciations, correcting us and asking us simple questions back in English (“How many days will you be in China? ...followed by counting every number up to 18). It turned out these were the same women who cooked and served the Minority Dinner on Saturday night.

When we got to the first vista point, we bought cokes from them and bade them farewell. We continued on to the summit, in a hand-over-hand climb on the limestone rocks. Beautiful view at the top, of course. When we descended, the same women were waiting for us at the halfway point, and they escorted us back down, fanning us the entire way. We bought more cokes from them and said goodbye. The illusion was shattered a bit when one of their cell phones went off but it was still fun. Once down, we rode our bikes back into town and had a few hours of downtime before the next activity.

At 4 PM, we convened in the lobby and then boarded two mini-vans once again. We headed way out into the country (about 45 minutes) to a boat landing on the Liyang River. After a long wait, we boarded another flatbed motorized boat and began sailing down the river through the karsts. Again, unparalleled scenery that resembled something out of a Dr. Seuss book, with stranged twisted mountains towering high over the river, groves of bamboo along the shoreline, and ancient boats and rafts floating beside us. Each curve brought a new vista—evoking memories of every classic Chinese painting, decorative screen, and calligraphy drawing I have ever seen. We took turns sitting on the bow of the boat, taking hundreds of photos and feeling very spoiled--and lucky.

The boat cruise went until about 6:45 PM, just in time for a picture perfect sunset. We took the buses back to Yangshuo, and then went out for a group dinner at a nearby restaurant. We dined outdoors, on a little alley beside a bridge. Another sublime moment as our group was serenaded by a trio of musicians playing traditional Chinese music throughout dinner.

I think I have overdosed on scenery. Tomorrow we go to Shanghai, back to the city planning itinerary and away from Shangri-La.

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