Day 45: February 17, 2013 Caught Between a Rock and a Hard Place

When we woke up from our nap we grabbed some McDonald’s breakfast, which was some needed fuel. We boarded the train and it was really nice and empty and I was probably asleep within 10 minutes and got woken up to get off about an hour later when we arrived in Shaoguan. Upon arrival in Shaoguan we had our first hiccup of the trip. We realized that John didn’t write down the name of our hostel or having any way of telling a cab where to take us. We couldn’t figure out which bus would take us to where we needed to go but eventually we found some wifi and got a cab to the general area of where our hostel was, which was near the Danxiashan Global Geopark.

Finding our hostel was pretty interesting considering the directions weren’t very helpful and we eventually ended up walking into a random building and somehow it was exactly where we were supposed to be. The name of the hostel was posted nowhere and had no indication of what it was but somehow it worked out. We unloaded some stuff but were a little skeptical because our room had no lock but the owners assured us it was really safe. Our next mission was to get some food in us before starting to hike so we found some guy making noodles and got a couple of orders to split. They were really good and the people were really nice.

Hostel room

We then made our way to the park and bought our tickets to get in and immediately headed towards the main attraction, or penis rock, more formerly known as Male Stone. We climbed a few different trails to get some different views of the mountains and also stumbled upon the Breast Stone, which was pretty funny next to the penis rock. We took a few different trails and did a lot of hiking, including making it all the way to the top of one of the mountains, which was quite a trek up a lot of unbelievably steep stairs.

A picture is worth a thousand words!

We made our way down from there a different way than we went up which was pretty crazy with some parts that were so steep that they were actually just ladders made out of stone. We were pretty glad we went up the other way and down that way. Once we made it down a little while we went back up to what they call the best viewing spot of the penis rock that had a little gazebo. We took some funny pictures of the rock, what the guys like to call “dick pics,” and then just hung around for an hour or so to relax and enjoy the great view. We talked with this Taiwanese couple who ended up giving us their map of the park which turned out to be really helpful.

After they left we made our way the rest of the way down the mountain. On the way John had a little slip up and tripped off the path and landed his right foot in a giant puddle of mud. He just took it out and continued on to try to brush it off but the rest of us could not stop laughing for the life of us. It was one of the funniest moments of my whole time here, and definitely on this trip. After we stopped laughing long enough to continue walking we headed back towards to the hostel to find some food for dinner.

We decided to just wing it and walk around and go into the first person’s house-looking establishment we saw. We ended up in this woman’s house with a little baby strapped on her front and got some noodles and eggplant with garlic, both of which were great. We then hung around and played some euchre. John and I ended up winning the first round and Adam and Bryan tied us with the second. There was a guy there who kept watching the game and we felt bad because there is no way he was going to figure it out just by watching.

We each had a beer with dinner and then decided to head back to hostel when Adam came across too easy of an opportunity that he couldn’t pass up. There was a fridge of beers outside with no one watching them so he snagged a few and went back for more as the night went on. We all took showers which were great, and then just hung out in the main room of the hostel and drank some of the stolen beers. Adam then came up with the brilliant idea to play red/black at which point John and Bryan called it a night. Adam and I played the game until we realized we were up way too late to wake up at 4:20 in the morning to go see the sun rise. We got to bed a little after midnight and slept on our pieces of plywood covered with a little pad that were way more comfortable since we were so exhausted.

            

Day 44: February 16, 2013 Giant centipede being scared by a magic mirror

     It was amazing to get a full nights rest and start the day off with another delicious breakfast of an omelet and toast. We got all of our stuff together and checked out of the hostel around 10:30 and began making our way to the Reed Flute Cave. We managed to catch a bus that took us right there for only 1 yuan, which is about 16 cents.  We walked up a hill for a while until we found the entrance and started our adventure through the cave. Unfortunately it was guided and we couldn’t understand anything and couldn’t even go ahead of the group because the guide turned the lights on as we went so we decided to just bring up the rear and take our time.

In front of Reed Flute Cave

     The cave was enormous with a ton of different viewing platforms of different scenes including one formation of a tiger that was very realistic and one of a stage curtain that was also really cool. There was one called  “giant centipede being scared by a magic mirror” which I don’t think we really got but we used our imagination and made something of it. There was another side exhibit that included a 1000 year-old turtle that we got to touch!

Tiger bidding visitors goodbye

1000 year old turtle

Curtains on a stage

     After getting a ton of pictures and getting through the rest of the cave we made our way down towards the bus stop and ended up just catching a really cheap cab ride to our next site, Elephant Trunk Hill. We got into the park and climbed what seemed like a million extremely steep stairs with all of our luggage until we made it to the top where we couldn’t find the view of the hill. After a few minutes we realized we were actually on top of the Hill, hence why we couldn’t see it. We headed back down to the bottom and briefly walked through a cave until we were right next to the hole in the mountain. Unfortunately, being right next to the hole isn’t really a good view either, so we made our way across this pedestrian bridge to the other side of the river where there was a perfect view from the beach. We got some group pictures only after being bombarded by a group of Chinese guys and girls who were insanely exciting to get pictures with us. After we took in the view we decided it was time to find some lunch.

On top of Elephant Trunk Hill

Looking through the trunk

Elephant Trunk Hill

    On our way back downtown we stopped and listened to a live band and got a good picture in front of a couple of pagodas. After that we headed along the river until we got back to the pedestrian street with all of the great food stands.  Bryan and I split one of the omelets filled with rice and topped with ketchup that we had wanted the day before which turned out to be really good. We also went to Cheese Potato and got some delicious fried potatoes with corn and cucumbers covered in some unknown sauce that was great. After we were all stuffed we decided to head back to the hostel to hang out until we needed to make our way to the bus station. We stopped at the convenience store across the street and found some coffee packets that tasted like white hot chocolate that really hit the stop. We all bummed in the lobby catching up on journaling and whatnot and then caught a cab to the bus station.

Band performing

     The bus station was typical of any Chinese transportation location, so very crowded. We got on our bus without a problem but unfortunately were greeted by the unfortunate surprise that we did not get a sleeper bus like we thought we did so we had to just sit in seats for the 9 hour ride. It turned out really well though because we ended up being in the front row of a double-decker bus and had a little extra room and a great view out of the windshield. We all tried to stay awake for a little while and made it a little further than we wanted to because right when we were all falling asleep we stopped for a break and couldn’t be on the bus for a half hour. Once we got back on the bus we all slept for the last 2 or 3 hours of the ride and woke up as we pulled into Guangzhou around 3:30 am. We waited in line for a cab and after a little confusion on the drivers part made it to the train station by 5:00 for our 7:30 train. We found some empty seats and slept on benches until about 6:30. This was basically a continuous 2 days but I am going to go ahead and call this the end of one and the start of another.

Day 43: February 15, 2013 Bryan's Wedding

            Today was another early morning with a 7:00 wake up so we could get our stuff together and get breakfast before the bus took off. We signed up for a Chinese tour because it was cheaper and it was definitely the right call because our tour guide, Joe, spoke perfect English anyway. It was about a 2.5-hour ride until we got to the minority village where Bryan and I signed up to go to a show with these women with really long hair.

Woman with hair over 2 meters long!

     The women did some traditional dance and singing and then asked for 6 male volunteers, one of which had to be foreign. After a little encouragement, Bryan headed up on stage with no idea what he was getting himself into. The 6 guys were actually going to go through a typical marriage ceremony to the ladies of the village. They each got to pick a wife, and then went behind stage to “make love” where Bryan was actually just forced to buy a bracelet as a wedding present to his wife which he was not very happy about.

     They all came back out and exchanged wedding gifts and then the guys had to sing their wives a song one by one. Without anything else coming to mind, Bryan resorted to Happy Birthday which made our Italian friends and the other white people laugh hysterically. The guys then formed a circle and then the girls formed another around them and did a dance that basically consisted of the guys walking in circles and the girls pinching their butts. Bryan’s face was absolutely priceless and the only thing that came close to topping it was the face he made when he had to drink this wine with his wife that he described as battery acid. They asked if he wanted to stay in the village with his wife for the night and he had to decline. They reminded him that even after he goes back to America, he will always have a wife in China, which was a little concerning for Bryan. Even if he didn’t enjoy it, I had a blast just watching this ridiculousness occur.

     After the show, we met back up with John and Adam and got on a bus to take us halfway up the mountain to a point where we could climb up the rest of the way.  About halfway up, the group stopped for lunch where we ate bamboo chicken and rice, which wasn’t our favorite but it worked. We had 2 adorable puppies surrounding our table that made the meal a little more enjoyable.

     After lunch, we followed the rest of the trail all the way up for an absolutely gorgeous view of the rice terraces or the Dragon's Backbone. The view the entire way up was seriously breathtaking and it was hard not to take hundreds of pictures of the same thing. After getting to the top, we decided we wanted to go on a little adventure and try to find a higher spot to get a view from. We went a while off the beaten path and made our way up through some rice terraces until we had an even better view. We all got pretty muddy, but it was worth it for the great scenery. After we decided we couldn’t make it any higher, we headed back down to meet up with Joe.

     We were exhausted from all of the walking and hiking so the long ride home was perfect for a nap. At the very end of the ride, Bryan started up some conversation with this little Chinese boy who just started yelling all of his English words at him including hamburger, boy, and girl. We taught him a few English words and attempted to make some conversation in Chinese and managed to figure out that his English name was Jerry, that he was 7 years old, and that the other girl on the bus was his little sister. They were both really cute and were sad to say goodbye.

Should have taken these up the mountain!

     We got dropped off downtown and realized that the sun was out for the first time since we had been there which made for a great view of the city. We tried to find a good place to see the sunset but gave up and decided that finding food and a bathroom were more of a priority. We stopped in McDonald’s where John and Bryan couldn’t resist getting something and then walked around until we found this alley with all sorts of food options. John, Adam, and I decided on these omelets filled with rice, or omurice as the menu said, but they ran out of food. We then switched to another place and tried to get these beef and rice bowls that were also sold out. With that, we resorted to some homemade pork dumplings that were really good.

     After dinner we walked around to try and find the 2 lakes that were nearby and after a little wandering eventually found our way. It was a really pretty view at night with the lake and bridges all lit up and shows going on in every direction. We took in the view for a little bit while John and Adam smoked some cigars and then we headed back to the hotel since we were all pretty exhausted. We managed to get one towel between the 4 of us to take showers when we realized that we had had a bathroom in our room the whole time and didn’t even know it. With that, we all took our first showers of the trip which for me was one of the most refreshing I think I have ever had. We decided to have a relaxing night to just hang around the hostel and catch up on some journaling and blogging, which was nice. We even got to bed before midnight, which was much needed after such a long day.

Day 42: February 14, 2013 Cruising the Li River

            Today was an early start so we could catch the Li River Cruise, which is basically the thing to do while in Guilin. We all got up and shared the one bathroom on our floor and then made in downstairs in time to scarf down a quick breakfast of eggs and toast which was absolutely delicious. We took a taxi to get to the bus to take us to the cruise and we literally pulled up right as the bus was pulling away, so we got lucky on that one. We had about an hour or so of a ride where we were introduced to our tour guide, Sophie, who was really nice and fun.  

The group and Eco

Sassy Chinese passenger!

Sassy American passenger!

     Once we arrived, we boarded the cruise and the 4 of us got a table to ourselves and then got joined by a girl named Eco who immediately walked up and said she wanted to make friends with us and practice her English. She was actually really good and talking to her the whole cruise was really enjoyable – she even gave us some pumpkin seeds to snack on from her hometown! We learned about where she was from and ended up exchanging numbers and she said she would call us when she travels to Shanghai in May or if she ever comes to the US. We taught her how to play Go Fish and she taught us a Chinese game that was fun too.

    After getting to know her, it was time to explore the views from the top of the boat. It was a really foggy day, but the mist only made the scene more peaceful and really intriguing to look at. We took tons of pictures of all of the unbelievable landforms and then went back down to warm up. We kept going up when we passed the exciting scenery and then back down to enjoy the great view from our seats. Some of the highlights were Bat Hill and the Painted Hill of Nine Horses. We legitimately saw a few of the horses and imagined another few. Supposedly Bill Clinton could only find 4 so we didn’t feel so bad. Sophie told us that on a cloudy day the scenery is only 30% and then imagination is 70%, so we put that to good use I guess.

Painted Hill of Nine Horses

     One of the coolest parts of the whole cruise had to be the part where we saw the exact view that is on the Chinese 20 yuan bill. Even though it was a little foggy, we managed to get a picture of the 20 yuan bill with the scene in the back, which was pretty cool. After all of the major highlights were done, we headed back downstairs to indulge in the free lunch buffet. It was really good including rice, noodles, cucumbers, potatoes, french fries, and oranges for dessert.

     After lunch we relaxed the rest of the trip and talked with Sophie and Eco until the cruise was over and we were in Yangshuo. We walked down the main strip and then made our way to another bus that was going to take us to a small tributary of the river where there are no motors allowed so it is very peaceful and clean.

Yangshuo

      Once we arrived at the Dragon River, we got onto the bamboo rafts that were each made for 2 people and then the driver or I guess you would say paddler. They took us down the river and stopped us in the middle to watch a fishing show where there was this man on a raft with a few birds.

   The birds were trained to jump in the water, catch the fish, and then bring it back and drop it in a bucket. The birds can’t eat the fish themselves because they tie their necks so they can’t swallow them. The man untied one of the birds, grabbed it by the mouth, and threw him in the in the water. Within a few seconds the bird came back with a fish and sure enough dropped it in the bucket. The man then threw the fish back out and the bird basically played fetch and brought it right back which was pretty amazing. I’m not sure how they train them, but it is pretty impressive that they don’t just run away with the fish.

Cormorant fishing birds

    After that, we continued down the river until they let us get out to go pet some water buffalos at which point we naturally wanted to ride them. Sophie told us if we were careful we could ride them, so one at a time we hopped on the water buffalo! There was a guy who led the buffalo around and we all got to test our balancing skills, which was pretty funny. After we all got a turn we pet him for a little while, fed him some leaves, and then it was time to get back on the rafts.

     Before we got back on the rafts, though, we got to see a view that is supposedly an option for a Windows background, which we thought was pretty cool to see in person. Once we got back on the rafts, we started the other way down the river until we got to a little drop off where we were told to hold our feet up so they wouldn’t get too wet. Of course, Bryan stayed completely dry and I got a nice little splash, which woke me up. They then dropped us off on this little floating printing station where we each bought pictures of our reactions as we went down the waterfall, which were all pretty priceless. After we got the pictures, we got back on the boats and then had to get off once again so that the workers could lift the boat back up the waterfall so we could go back the way we came.  

     At this point we met a couple from France who actually lived in Cincinnati at one point and had a nice conversation about how their son was also studying in Shanghai. We talked with them as we made our way down the river until our boats got too far away and then met up later. The man gave us each these delicious candies that were called white rabbits and took a group picture for us at Dragon Bridge. After that we made our way back to the bus, but it was going to be late so we had to time to explore around and ended up talking to these 2 guys from Taiwan who were pretty funny. They deemed us their American friends and then we decided to go explore. We didn’t find too much but we found a few trails through some fields and then headed back to the bus.

Dragon Bridge

     We utilized the 1.5-hour ride back to nap and felt refreshed by the time we got back to the hostel. On our way home from the bus stop we were talking about how we were wondering when we would run into the other group of guys who were here from our program and sure enough they were right across the street. We stopped and talked for a little bit and then decided to meet up with them in the lobby later. We stopped by the convenience store for some snacks, including the white rabbits, and then hung out in the lobby the rest of the night. We got some delicious fried rice for dinner at the hostile and sat around a table with a heater at our feet and played asshole with the other group of guys. Everyone gradually died off and Adam and I were left and decided to plug my phone in and DJ. After not too long we were also ready for bed to rest up for another big day ahead.

Day 41: February 13, 2013 The Adventure Begins...

     I got to semi-sleep in this morning and then got up to Skype my mom and tell her about our class trip in addition to comforting her that I will stay alive on our trip. After that I showered and packed up the rest of my things for Minhang and then ran over to the bakery for a quick lunch. When I got back, Adam and I sat down for a couple of hours figuring out exactly what we want to do on each day and where exactly all of our hotels and hostels are throughout the trip so that we can show the cab drivers on a map. After we felt confident that we will be able to survive, I caught up fully on blogging since there will be so much to add over the coming week. 

We watched the other group set off for Vietnam and can’t wait to get back and share all of the stories we will all have. We hung around the hotel until dinnertime and then grabbed some sandwiches at Christine’s and got on the subway to make our way to the airport. After an hour or so we were at PVG, checked in, and got through security without a problem. We sat at our gate for a while before we realized it wasn’t even the right airline, and eventually figured out that our gate got switch. After getting that figured out, we grabbed a snack for the plane and then boarded.

 The flight wasn’t too bad other than the guy in front of me had his seat all the way back so I could barely move and then when I tried to do the same the guy behind me made me put it back up. I read some of my Chinese guide and phrase books, wrote some postcards and listened to music and then it was already time to land. 

We got off the plane and literally just got on the first airport shuttle we saw and it somehow dropped us off at the right building 30 minutes later and then we got a cab to the hostel. We were instantly greeted by Daniel, the guy we have been communicating with to book our bus tickets since we need a Chinese ID to do so. He had been waiting in the hotel lobby for 4 hours but ended up helping these 2 girls find a plane out of Guilin in the morning, which gave him something to do. He only charged us $4 a person for a delivery fee and was so helpful and nice. He recommended what he thought we should do while in Guilin and told us we could call him if we ever need anything which is a really nice resource to have just in case.

 After we said our goodbyes to Daniel we checked in, got seats on a 4.5 hour river cruise for the morning, and headed up to our room to try and get in a solid 6 hours of sleep. We creeped through the darkness of our room so we didn’t wake up the other 6 inhabitants. Bryan and John claim one of the people in our room is just a homeless man, so that could be interesting. We all made our bunks and crawled into bed and were all out within a few minutes.