Yangshuo

Well, I am home at last. It took me over 24 hours of traveling to get here. Yesterday when I arrived at the airport shuttle bus station they told me there were no tickets left! So I had to take a taxi. Instead of paying 20 RMB I paid 800! And I didn’t even have that much on me, so I had to pay US$50 and 400 RMB. Not exactly a deal. But there was all kinds of backup on the freeway, and my crazy driver knew all kinds of back roads (and took them at breakneck speed). Then when I got to the airport they told me since I didn’t reconfirm my flights they had all been canceled! What the heck?! I thought that whole reconfirming thing was optional. Anyway, I made it home. All is well.

It’s hard to believe that just last weekend I was vacationing in Yangshuo with Simon and Wilson. That was quite a nice escape… We flew out there for 3 nights, 4 days of fun. We spent most of our time in the town on the happening little West Street. It’s lined with Western bars and restaurants. The food was really quite good, and although it was double the price of a Chinese restaurant, it still came out cheap for us foreigners. Our hotel room (triple) on West Street was only 100 RMB per night, thanks to Simon’s bargaining skills.

Anyway, we had a blast… Mountain biking through country roads, exploring a cave full of water (and bats, and mud, and a waterfall, etc.), climbing mountains, taking a river cruise, enjoying breathtaking scenery, visiting minority villages…

Traveling is definitely a good way to get to know friends in a new way. I’d say this time it was a complete success — great memories and no regrets…