Yangshuo

We went to Yangshuo in South China because the Prendergasts advised us it would be a good place to chill out for a week, they were certainly right. We fancied slowing our pace of travelling down (we haven’t managed to pick it up since).

We arrived via a complicated combination of minibus, bamboo raft, electric car and local bus. Thankfully a friendly group of Chinese tourists took us under their wing and ensured our safe arrival.

We spent the first 3 days bumping into our new friends everywhere we went. They were always very excited to see us.

  Food pic #15 Beerfish, the local speciality.

Most of our time was spent cycling along rivers and through rice fields surrounded by amazing craggy limestone hills.

  When we were fed up of cycling we decided to learn how to cook beerfish. Under close supervision it was quite successful but we’ve only managed beer and fish separately since.

Food pic #16 – Iain samples his beery fish.

  We also visited some interesting caves where every other rock or stalactite formation was meant to represent some animal or someone doing something. This is one of the better ones but you still need a bit of imagination. Can you see what it is?

    After guessing the shapes correctly we were allowed to play in a pool of stinky cold mud. It was supposed to be good for your skin but with a steady stream of tourists bathing in it daily we suspect otherwise. Afterwards we washed off in a “natural” hot spring. It was suspiciously just the right temperature and had perfect bath sized openings in the cave.