Li River Retreat, Yangshou, May 22, 2010-05-21
After a very long (27 hours) train ride from Xi’an to Guilin, and 1.5 hour drive to Yangshuo, we arrived at the Li River Retreat. It was quite late, nearly 1 am, when we got here and we were whisked directly to our small, but very nice room. The best part—a large private balcony with a view that can take your breath away. As exhausted as we were, we both had an immediate reaction; we call it the “big sigh.”
The two weeks we have been in China have been whirlwind—constant motion and big cities with lots of concrete. The Li River Retreat could not be more different. Green everywhere, quiet (except for the daytime tour boats on the river), absolutely beautiful. For me (Robin) at least, the most stunning landscape I’ve ever seen.
We spent the first full day checking out the town which is very small by Chinese standards and about a 20 minute walk from the hotel. Yangshuo is very much of a tourist destination, both for Chinese and for foreigners. The west part of town is frequented most by the tourists and is exactly what you would expect—lots of restaurants, bars and a market with the typical Chinese wares of scarves and trinkets.
The second day we hired a guide we met the day before and took a bike ride th
rough the countryside, a bamboo raft trip on the Dragon River, hiked to the top of Moon Mountain, and saw the 1500-year-old banyan tree. Briefly, the countryside of farms was beautiful; the raft trip looked like it would be a tourist trap but really was fabulous; the Moon Mountain hike should have been a vigorous climb (more stairs), but because of the unbelievable heat and humidity was draining; and the banyan tree, well, it was a really old tree.
Today is Saturday and our last day in Yangshuo. It’s been raining all morning and that’s just fine with us as we had already decided that today was going to be all about soaking in the view and taking it easy. The plan is to head into town later and at least try to experience a little of Chinese night life, since we haven’t managed to stay out past 8 pm since we got to China.
Tomorrow we travel back to Guilin and fly to Guangzhou where on Monday we catch our flight to Nairobi.
After a very long (27 hours) train ride from Xi’an to Guilin, and 1.5 hour drive to Yangshuo, we arrived at the Li River Retreat. It was quite late, nearly 1 am, when we got here and we were whisked directly to our small, but very nice room. The best part—a large private balcony with a view that can take your breath away. As exhausted as we were, we both had an immediate reaction; we call it the “big sigh.”
The two weeks we have been in China have been whirlwind—constant motion and big cities with lots of concrete. The Li River Retreat could not be more different. Green everywhere, quiet (except for the daytime tour boats on the river), absolutely beautiful. For me (Robin) at least, the most stunning landscape I’ve ever seen.
We spent the first full day checking out the town which is very small by Chinese standards and about a 20 minute walk from the hotel. Yangshuo is very much of a tourist destination, both for Chinese and for foreigners. The west part of town is frequented most by the tourists and is exactly what you would expect—lots of restaurants, bars and a market with the typical Chinese wares of scarves and trinkets.
The second day we hired a guide we met the day before and took a bike ride th
rough the countryside, a bamboo raft trip on the Dragon River, hiked to the top of Moon Mountain, and saw the 1500-year-old banyan tree. Briefly, the countryside of farms was beautiful; the raft trip looked like it would be a tourist trap but really was fabulous; the Moon Mountain hike should have been a vigorous climb (more stairs), but because of the unbelievable heat and humidity was draining; and the banyan tree, well, it was a really old tree.Today is Saturday and our last day in Yangshuo. It’s been raining all morning and that’s just fine with us as we had already decided that today was going to be all about soaking in the view and taking it easy. The plan is to head into town later and at least try to experience a little of Chinese night life, since we haven’t managed to stay out past 8 pm since we got to China.
Tomorrow we travel back to Guilin and fly to Guangzhou where on Monday we catch our flight to Nairobi.
Us on top of Moon Mountain
Karsts
I need to get out a map and figure out where you are in China. The scenery is spectacular!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful, Guys. Enjoying your update this Sunday morning.
ReplyDeleteGreat photos you all. Seems like a magical kind of landscape.
ReplyDeleteWhen we meet up in Spain I'm looking forward to hearing about the train trip. I imagine by that point it will seem like ancient history though. Absolutely can't wait to hear about Africa. Please keep the posts coming.