Second Tea House on the Left: Third motorbike from the left

I arrived in Guilin congested and with a sore throat undoubtedly not helped by my singing KTV the night before. With that in mind, I decided to forego sightseeing for the day and stay in my hostel and focus on getting well. The result was that I was horribly antisocial as I stayed in a quiet corner reading, messing around on my computer, and blowing my nose through all my tissues.

The next day I was feeling a little better and was feeling like I should get out of the hostel and enjoy the fresh air of Guilin, so I took the bus into town to see what Guilin had to offer. I enjoyed a leisurely afternoon walking by the Li River and enjoying the warm temperature and clean air. I hiked around a few of the mountainous parks in Guilin and soaked in the sunshine of the beautiful day. I spent the evening in much the same way as I had spent the day before, relaxing and reading in the common area of the hostel.

The next morning I took a bus with other guests at the hostel to Yangdi, where we took bamboo boats down the Li River and basked in the beauty of the karst scenery. The river was surrounded by the dramatic, sloping, green peaks that characterize much of the popular image of Chinese scenery. After the bamboo boat ride, we got back on the bus to head for Yangshuo, the once backpacker hangout now popular tourist destination.

I left Yangshuo right when I arrived to head to my hostel in Xingping, a nearby town that has about two thousand years of history and that retains the feel of an old Chinese town. Part of that is that town doesn't have an ATM that would accept a foreign credit card, which while perhaps helping add to the aura of a real Chinese town, was a real pain for a certain someone who forgot to take out money when he was in Yangshuo. Thus I was left with about 250 yuan to pay for the hostel, food, and transportation until I returned to Yangshuo. Anyhow, I got into town sufficiently late and feeling sufficiently worn out from the boat trip to spend the evening getting to know some of my fellow travelers and getting a feel for the town.

The next morning I faced a difficult choice of going back to Yangshuo to take out money (about one hour each way) or trying to make it by with the 80 yuan I had left after paying for my hostel and food. I decided to go for a hike in the morning and try to get to Yangshuo once I got back. At the suggestion of one of the other guests at the hostel, I decided to hike to a nearby fishing village along a path that I was told was beautiful, quiet, and easy to follow. I started along the path and easily followed it up into the a mountainous landscape filled with clean air, sunshine, clear paths, and breathtaking views. At a few points during the walk I came upon inexplicably cleared, moss-covered meadows, which I sank into with sighs of relaxed contentment. After one of the aforementioned meadows, I came to a slightly less clear path with lower hanging branches and brambles that delighted in catching on my sweater and jeans and skin and pulling me every which way. I began to question whether I was on the path or not, and began to go over explanations in my head as to why I was there in case I happened to be scrambling through somebody's land. My main reasoning was also what kept me going along the path even as I became more and more sure that I was not on the correct path and was rather climbing along an animal trail or old stream bed: curiosity. If I stumbled upon anyone, I would say that I was just hiking along and was curious what was there. I wanted to know if it didn't go to the village, then where did it go? Maybe it would go to the village, but along a less direct but undoubtedly more beautiful path. Perhaps I would find the hidden spot that only locals knew about that would remain in my mind and my photo album for years to come. People had walked the path before, as confirmed by thrown away cigarette butts and food packages along the way. So I went on. For curiosity's sake. A voice in the back of my mind reminded me that "curiosity killed the cat," to which I cleverly and nonsensically replied, "cats have nine lives." Anyways, I'll just go five minutes further and see what is there. The voice in the back of my mind whispered that this sort of unstable, infrequently used path is just the sort of path that I would fall on and break my ankle on, unable to call for help. I gritted my teeth, checked my cell phone reception, and watched my step more carefully.

I didn't break my ankle nor did I find a breathtaking, magical spot. I finally decided to turn around, pull the broken twigs and brambles out of my hair and sweater, and attempt to find the correct path to the village. I found the path somewhat before the clearing where my adventure began, wiped the sweat, dirt, and blood off my face and upper arms, and went ahead.

I had planned to save money by hiking to the village and back, but I reached the riverside exhausted from my off-trail hiking, and decided to spend the money to take a bamboo boat back to Xingping. After bargaining and much emphasizing that I didn't have any more money, I was able to get back to Xingping with enough money in my pocket to take the bus to Yangshuo to take out money. A long, bumpy bus ride later, I arrived back in Xingping in time to eat dinner and watch the nightly movie at the hostel.

The next day I rented a motorbike for a few hours to see the surrounding countryside. It was an excellent choice. I zoomed and bumped and sped and glided along the roads around Xingping, going along the river and between karst peaks and orchards overflowing with ripe clementines. It was, in my mind, the ideal way to enjoy the beauty of the scenery. If I ever am able to return to Yangshuo, I plan to rent a motorbike for an entire day and see even more of the area.

That evening, I took a bus back to Guilin in order to get on my train to Kunming on time the next morning. The train ride took a good twenty-three hours, so I was happy to have a sleeper ticket that helped make the ride enjoyable. On the train, I got to know a few of my Chinese seatmates pretty well. They were about my age and were quite friendly and interesting and provided excellent practice for my Chinese. When we arrived in Kunming the next morning, one of them ended up coming with me and staying at my hostel for the night. Together, we walked around the city, went to a market, and generally saw what Kunming had to offer.

Which brings us to this morning and now. I have a train ticket this evening to go to Lijiang, where I am looking forward to a similar sort of laid back environment and beautiful scenery and weather that I found in Yangshuo. Until then, I plan to walk around Kunming and get some reading done in preparation for choosing a thesis question. All in all, I am starting to feel healthy and am enjoying this time traveling thoroughly!