Traveling the World

Yangshuo

by Sean on Nov.14, 2009, under China

So around 11:30am, Lily and I finally met up with my friends who came from the states to visit! We had waited a few hours in the hot sun staring in all directions of the train station, until finally from out of the corner of my eye I spotted the tallest dudes in the city, my friends! :) We immediately purchased our tickets to Chengdu, and then picked up an hour bus ride to the infinitely better Yangshuo.

Richard hadn’t been feeling quite right from the bus ride, so we left him in the hostel to rest while we got food at the Havana Bar & Cafe. They have fraudulent advertising, as they were only good at Chinese food amongst their already sparse menu. Their 18rmb milkshakes were bad, my 8rmb french toast was good because I haven’t had it since before I moved to China and yet could still have done better if they added more cinnamon (if it was even on there at all). Lily’s green peppers, mushrooms, chicken and white rice for 22rmb was really good. Enough about food.

Balloon 1

After lunch we went back to our hostel (Monkey Jane’s Guesthouse) and prepared for the 480rmb per person hot air balloon ride operated by a famous Australian company which recently purchased the company here. They picked us up in front of our hostel and took us by van to a field outside of town where we got to watch them heat up the balloons. Once the balloons were full of hot air, we got in and took off. The experience was amazing, frightening, exhilarating, and made me feel a mix of a million other emotions all at once! You can read much more about it by clicking here.

Balloon 2

I have no problems admitting I didn’t have the money for it and wanted to go really bad, but obviously wasn’t going to ask my friends to pay for me and my girlfriend, but they said they were (it wasn’t them offering, it was them telling us they were paying). I’m really grateful for them paying because I’ve never gone before and want to spend as much time with them as I can before they go back.

For dinner we ate at Chez Kelly (also known as Kelly’s Place). We had a few different dishes and they were good! The best part of this place is their milkshakes, and Lonely Planet was right to recommend them because it’s hard to get good milkshakes in China! For a bargain at 12rmb, you too can be the proud owner of an orgasmic double thick chocolate milkshake in an glass.

Bike Ride

The next morning we packed and went for a bike ride, leaving Lily at the hostel because she had a fever of 102F. After leaving the town’s limits we came to the mountains and it was a beautiful sight, one I hadn’t encountered since Switzerland (and it doesn’t top it either!). We took pictures and had a nice ride, but lost Alfred and his girlfriend Emma on the way back, as they’d stopped for pictures and eventually turned back because they were done. We knew how to get back, and ended up having to sweat bullets looking for them, as we had to take a 1 hour bus back to Guilin to take the train to Chengdu, and only had an hour to find them. Luckily they bought a map and found their way back.

Bike Ride 2

If you’d like to stay at Monkey Jane’s Guesthouse, leave the bus station and turn left. When you see a wide cobble stone street to your left, turn there (it’s called West Street, or Xi Da Jie). Walk through the pedestrian street and make a right into a tiny alley when you hit Xian Qian Lu. Monkey Jane’s will be on your right!. Their number is 0773-8820585 and their address is 24 Lian feng zhong xiang 莲峰中xiang24号.

Note: 4 Dutch tourists died on October 16th, 2009 in Yangshuo as a result of a hot-air balloon crash. RIP.


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