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TRAVEL BLOG ENTRY
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Another early start as we had to leave Chengdu at 5.30am for our 'red eye' flight to Guilin. After a two hour delay due to bad weather in Guilin (not a good sign) we reached a small village just outside of Yangshou which would be our home for one night. The small guest house (Aka's Outside Inn) was a great success for the whole group. The accomodation was located in various outbuildings which had been converted to bedrooms with ensuite toilet and showers. The mossie nets were very welcome during the evening and the enduring memory of this place will be the smell of insect repellant!
We took our first Chinese Cookery School this afternoon and cooked 'Chicken and Cashew Nuts', 'Beer Fish - a local delicacy', Stir Fried Eggplant' and 'Stuffed Tofu' - all very good as we ate it ourselves.
Next day we had a 6 hour bike ride around the rice paddy fields of Yangshou. Morning was excellent as we also had to cross a river on bamboo rafts which seemed to sink in the water. We then climbed a local hill called 'Moon Hill'. So called as it has a circle shaped hole right through the centre and you can see the moon through it in the evening. That was a bit of a killer for me but I made it to the top with the help of two local women who were hawking their cold bottles of water all the way to the top - they were constantly fanning me. I rewarded their efforts by buying a cold bottle of water for 3 yuan at the top... last of the big spenders. The afternoon ride back was an absolute killer for me - thought I was going to have a heart attack. Made it back - just! but will not be riding a bike for a little while!
Had 30 mins to pack when we got back before our bus journey into Yangshou and the next two nights in a hotel there.
Had a lovely meal at a small restaurant in an village this evening. We took a boat up the river for around 1 hour and spend around 2 hours having a meal and some drinks in the restaurant overlooking the river - mozzie repellant a must!
Yangshou is very much a touristy place with lots of shops, bars and restaurants. Good to just chill out and relax here. We booked an appointment with Dr Lily who is a very well known local Chinese Doctor who specialises in acupuncture, reflexology etc. Lee had a relaxing massage, I had reflexology and we both had 'hot cupping' (30 yuan each) which is when a series of cups are placed on your back using suction created by placing a burning torch into the cup to create the suction. Lee has 30 nice round red marks on his back and I have 22. They should go in around 2-3 weeks (hopefully)! We both felt great afterwards and would highly recommend (just don't underestimate the weird sensation when the cups are put on your back!).
Took the late night train from Guilin (around 1 hour from Yangshou) to Shenzhen which is the border town for our transfer to Hong Kong. The train takes around 14 hours but stops frequently through the night with lots of people getting on and off so be prepared for a broken nights sleep.
previous travel blog entry
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