Days 106-7: Yangshuo - Moon Hill

View from Moon Hill
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Today we hire some bikes from the farmer at the bottom of the hotel’s drive for the massive sum of £2 and set off for some exercise, assured by the hotel staff that the map was easy to follow (despite having very little detail on it).

Yep, pretty soon we’re lost, but we somehow manage to find Moon Hill without too much delay - a large rock formation with a giant hole in it (see pic). Its pretty impressive and worth the steep uphill walk to get to the base forthe view, but what captivated us most was a guy rock climbing who’d made it to the centre of the underside of the arch.

Bike Me to the Moon (bad, but better than Moon River)

The other view from Moon Hill
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On our way back we decide to find the river side trail that we’d meant to cycle down to get to Moon Hill and quickly find ourselves out in proper rural China with ramshackle farms, paddy fields, hay tee-pees, water buffalo / ox, wandering chickens, etc. Our path takes us through many villages until we hit a dead end at the river – oops, that’s not what the map says!

Proceed to ask a local for directions with some hand gestures and much pointing on the map but every response we get is ‘get on my bamboo raft’, so we head back a little and opt for a path signposted as having the Dutch run Giggling Tree hotel and restaurant up it (thinking they may be able to help with directions). Closed.

Bamboo rafts for tourists - lots of them
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Cycled on a found another local who seemed to point onwards, and indeed shouted at us and pointed left a minute later when we’d come to a fork and gone right. A while further on I stop to buy a Coke and ask (map and pointing again) the vendor if we’re going the right way, as by now we’ve lost all confidence in heading and are starting to get aware that nightfall must be in the next 45-90 minutes. Needless to sy we’ve no bike lights and theres no street lights out here.

Another slightly lost tourist appears on his bike at this point and joins us for our cycle into Yangshuo, now assured (sort of) that we’re going the right way, as it turn out we were. Sitting at the bar a while later with a well earned Tsing Tao (must have cycled at least 30kms I reckon) we see Anna and Duncan, a kiwi couple we’d met, just make in by twilight having had similar experiences.

???
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The only plan for Saturday, other than possibly booking some stuff for Dec/Jan leg of trip, was the local light show for which we were getting picked up from a bar in town. After a quick few attempts at the basketball game (now getting 115-125 range) we arrive at the bar and find Anna and Duncan sitting there. Despite having been assured by the bar staff that the pick up would be coming soon, it doesn’t and subsequently turns out they forgot us! We rebook for tomorrow, but on the bright side can have a few drinks and a game of pool with our new friends.