Got the blues at MC Blues

We made it into the very touristy town of Yuangshou and checked into our accommodation before we headed to a local spot called MC Blues for a late breakfast and to sort out some trip details with our group leader.

In the afternoon we enjoyed a 2 hour Li River cruise. It was nice but the weather was less than hospitable with drizzling rain for most of the trip and mist obscuring what could have been some spectacular scenery. Never the less it was a nice experience.

The rest of the day was ours to explore Yuangshou. Chris, Emma, Eleanor and I went out to find somewhere nice to eat. We enjoyed a very hearty meal and a beer and headed back towards our hotel. On the way back we passed MC Blues and with a sly look from Chris we thought it would be rude not to go in for a nightcap. Start of a bad night for me.

We had the local beer ordered from a Canadian barman named Derick. He was a nice bloke and quite persuasive when it came to us leaving without having another drink. I, being the token Aussie, thought I'd better not let my country down and had another followed by a scotch and another and another and a jaiger bomb. The other three decidied to call it a night and I decided  to stay and had a scotch and a scotch and.....anyway long story short i got pissed to the eyeballs and lost or had ripped US$300 from me. The night up until getting back to my hotel and realising I was $300 light is a bit of a blur. However I was aware I needed a police report to claim anything on insurance so my tour leader came down to the police station with me. Trying to get them to understand me was frustrating and the translation was being lost badly. In the end I just told my leader to get the guy to write that I'm 300 light and I don't know how. I had everthing out on the desk to show it was not in a pocket or anything. So I got my police report. Given I have $250 excess, it was a lot of grief for me.

The next morning I woke with a sore head and had to face a bike ride with the group. They'd obviously heard my plight and were concerned but for some reason I was quite at ease with it. Whilst part of me was pissed off it had happened, I thought this is just the start of my trip and I'm not letting it ruin my experience. Besides, It was my own fault for staying out alone and I needed to take my medicine and learn from it.

The bike ride was the best thing I'd done up to this point in the trip. We explored the countryside and although it got a little wet it was quite beautiful. Alot of the mountains reminded me of the coast of Thailand.

We stopped for lunch at a place called moohill cafe which was at the base of Moonhill. What a coincidence. I had a very nice lunch and opted out of climbing the hill or visting the caves. The ride back was very nice as we went through some farmland and little villages.

That night was a quiet one for me for obvious reasons and I just treated myself to an icecream in my room and watch a chinese dubbed version of 'Top Gun' Pretty bloody funny stuff!

The following day was quite lazy and was spent exploring the street stalls and lunch at an Aussie bar in preparation for our next long overnight train trip.