Day 23 - Express to Shanghai !

After some "lull" time in Yangshou it was time to head towards home

It was with a little trepidation that we waited for our 3.30 p.m. car shuttle after it had turned up at 8.00 a,m, that morning where we explained with difficulty that we were in fact leaving in the afternoon !

The journey to Guilin Airport was a long one taking some 90 minutes the highlights being the extent of the wonderful Karst scenery and an expressway that we seemed to start out on the middle of nowhere !

Out flight to Shanghai (2 hours) was uneventful but our taxi ride into the city was not with the driver doing a good impersonation of an F1 driver only slowing for the speed cameras on the overhead gantry's

We finally found our well hidden hotel and set off to get a night time look at the lights on the Bund .

Directions were scarce until one english speaking couple pointed us the wrong way which we quickly realised after walking about 4 kms !!!

Retracing our steps we found the Bund was in fact only about 10 mins from our hotel ! We arrived to view the Bund skyline in darkness as apparently the Chinese have taken energy conservation seriously switching off the Bunds lights at 11p.m. !

We did glimpse though how spectacular the view could have been !

It was back to our hotel via a Chinese "Lolly" shop where Marysia could get her fix of "White Rabbits" and where Henley got a whack over his head for sampling the merchandise !

We collapsed into our freezing air conditioned room and hit the sack about 1.00a.m. a new record for the trip !

Day 22 - Yangshou - Henley cooks up a storm !

There is only so many times one can walk the touristy area of Yangshou called West St and compete with the tourist throngs both Chinese and European so at Marysia's suggestion the boys with Marysia undertook an afternoon Chinese Cooking course

Those that know us would most likely be flabbergasted as Kev's version of cooking is deciding what meat to throw under the grill and what veggies to mix up in his famed Veggie mush - as my cooking skills are not much better it was with a little trepidation that we headed off with our  Chinese guide Mona to the Market

Wisely deciding to go Vegiterean for the night (this is after all the region where dogs and frogs feature on the menu) we selected an impressive array of vegetables and with our Israeli cooking colleagues headed off to the countryside to cook up a storm

Our first lessons included how to tie an apron (Kev failed) and how to look most fearsome with our primary dicing and slicing weapon - something like a machete (Kev passed !)

With some basic cutting and cooking instructions we set about preparing a 5 course meal of dumplings, book choy, eggplant and a number of other veggie dishes using a supper heated wok and an assortment of sauces and spices.

Id positioned myself wisely opposite Marysia so when instructions were being yelled at us I could do some in house cheating !

The real beauty of Chinese cooking is that cooking under heat preserves the nutrients of the tasty veggies, add in some spices and sauces including garlic and ginger and we soon had a beaut array of Chinese courses for consumption !

With Kev having successfully prepared his first ever meal all providers on his well established free loader circuit can now look forward to a night of cooking under the Henley roof !

Day 20 / 21 - Yangshou - Hanging Around !

After the ardur of the last 2 weeks it was soooo nice just to sleep in a trifle and spend most of Sunday washing clothes and farewelling friends and cycling colleagues to all parts of the world
Eduardo to Mexico by way of the Phillipines, Moshe to Israel, Sarah to Edinburgh, Paula to Bangor in Wales, Viv & Linton to Cairns, Andrew and Jacquie to Hong Kong then Cairns, Aidan to London, Arlene to Noosa &  Kee Wan & Mel to other parts of China before returning to Melbourne.

For us Orphans (Kev, Marysia and self) it was time to explore some more of Yangshou before heading out at night for the marvelous illuminations show performed by 700 performers against an incredible backdrop of mountains and river in front of an audience of some 5,000.

The show was stunning although slightly spoilt by the Chinese audience who a) talked over the singers b) encouraged their kids to play computer games during the show and c) annoyingly left before the how had even finished - obviously because the last train to Beijing was pulling out !

Dazzled by the light show our next day was all about cycling and relaxing
Jumping back on Hired bikes we traipsed back 20 kms up the same damned hills wed descended on down into Yangzhou before this time heading a further 10+ kms into Bai Sha on the Yulong river where we took a stunning bamboo raft ride back with our bikes to Yangshou.

What a way to spend an hour and a half as we drifted amongst stunning karst scenery at such a relaxed pace that

Kev nearly off the raft into the river while asleep - the scenery was stunning and the river so serene .. well until the area where it appeared a few hundred Chinese were waiting on rafts to go over a small rock section purely so they could get their photo taken as per an amusement ride !

From our exit point and with Henley on map duty it was a simple 6 km ride back into Yangshou to this time hang up the bikes for good on this China trip

A great day and now only 1& 1/2 days left before we head off to Shanghai !

Day 19 - Yangshou 45 kms -

We left our scenically located accommodation in Xingping following a morning downpour that had turned our exit track sadly into pools of mud !

Despite Melbourne Mel having 8 falls (none  captured on camera) Marysia chose the exact moment I'd turned on my gopro (showoff) to take a slow poetic role narrowly missing one of the pools of mud !













Finally out of the swamp we started what could only be described as an enduro climb on a steep narrow rocky rutted path up towards a mountain side view !

The treacherous nature of the path claimed a no.of victims, first Welsh Paula, then Jacquie (grazes) and finally Scottish Sarah who painfully embedded her handlebars into her ribs.

The most spectacular near miss though was Harro who riding in a high gear up a steep section lifted his front wheel like a bucking bronco narrowly avoiding a serious back flip !

By the timed we reached our lookout point after 5 kms of dirt and rocks we'd sweated a collective "lake" and were down to our last few drops of water !

The spectacular karst and river view taken in we hurtled down hill on a beaut concrete road to raid a local village shop of nearly it's entire stock of bottled water !

With a few undulating climbs and some scintillating downhills we finally arrived in Yangshou elated to have successfully ridden over 780 kms in some really trying conditions !

We rode as a group into the main part of Yangshou and barely had time to deposit our gear before heading out to lunch to farewell our hard working crew including head Chinese guide Bobby who were heading back to their home cities some hours away !

Showered and rested we dined to celebrate our success and new friendships while toasting our English guide Aidan who led us well during the trip achieving many milestones

Jacquie's first 100 kmer -
Viv's longest cycle tour -
Mels spectacular 8 dismounts -
Andrews first 3 dayer -
Marysia's incredible effort in the heat -
Harros barnstorming hill climbs -
Keep Wans first cycle tour and learning that undies and bike nicks don't mix -
And Henley's fantastic effort for an 85 year old (Arlene believed this to be Kevs age !)

With all the backslapping over Kev, Marysia and self take on operation R&R with 3 days of rest in Yangshou before flying back home !

Day 18 - Xingping 65 kms - The Karsts are Alive !

We left Guilin in morning steamy conditions battling our way through heavily trafficked  roundabouts to eventually find ourselves back out in the countryside.

We took in our first views of the lovely Li river enjoying the good cycling surface which unfortunately was not to last very long

Andrew was back in the saddle demonstrating some power cycling chasing the sprinters while Jacquie was just wishing the trip was over !

Our first climb took us on an off road surface with rock quarrying seemingly happening on every corner with the very real chance of rocks being loaded into trucks bouncing out and taking out an unwary cyclist !

Our 2nd climb was a beauty on mainly good surfaces providing stunning views of the Limestone Karst hills which were everywhere  - the descent following was incredibly spectacular !

Professor Harris at one corner observing a nearby lake made a Nat Geo discovery sitting under the noses of the Chinese apparently for millennia - with some modesty he named the moving large lake water masses the "Harro Invictus" - (pretentious said Henley), which turned out to be massses of shoal fish which had congregated in packs !

With temperatures a little shy of the surface of the sun (accurate according to Marysia) we started to wilt and fell into Xingping taking lunch and then ferrying our bikes and equipment across the river in a boat held together by super glue !.

At our hotel we were finally able to relax and replaced some of the litres of sweat we'd lost !
Taking a late afternoon walk we took in some incredible sights of the Limestone Karsts on the Li River with the sun setting !

For the adventurous there was even a night excursion for some cormorant fishing !
We are nearly done and dusted and only 50 kms from our destination at Yangshou !

Day 17 - Guilin 52 kms - Land of the 7 peaks !

After a less than impressive breakfast we left our less than impressive resort where frogs in bedrooms and non flushing toilets where standard options.

Without looking back we headed out into the countryside on an undulating ride in once again incredibly steamy conditions !

A coffee stop after 15 kms was followed by some single track experience as we bounced along a muddy / rocky path through jungle like scenery that included the odd grenade throwing pit or two (land owned by the military) - going off path here might have a really interesting consequence !

Our ride into Guilin eventually included some good narrow path concrete roads which Andrew was finally able to enjoy after battling a stomach bug condition for the past week.

Almost like the old RACV service we were picked up by a Chinese guide who's sole role was to guide us from the outskirts into the center of this incredibly busy city !

Our initial joy at the beautiful surrounding Karst scenery was replaced by a smidge of terror as we competed with the throngs of vehicular traffic including the silent but deadly electric motor scooters !

We finally arrived unscathed at our hotel in downtown Guilin just after 1.00 p. m. And while some thought another Asian lunch time meal was the go Kev, Jacquie, Andrew, Viv, Linton and self scurried next door to a Spanish restaurant that had all sorts of mouth watering western delicacies !

Lunch done the ladies took to the streets searching for a take home gift or two while Kev and I adjourned to our palatial hotel room rudely interrupted at one point by some jibbering Chinese room maid who burst in telling us that the reason we could not watch any TV was that Kev had stupidly left his towell covering the TV screen - the fact that we'd not rung anyone about our TV or we're anyway interested in watching it seemed to be lost on her !

The last we saw of her was heading out of the room to report on how stupid Australians were !
A beer on the hotels roof garden and some free evening time wandering the streets were the highlight of our evening !

Only 2 days cycling to go !

Day 16 - Mishaidi 101 kms - " Jacquie no longer a Virgin " !

The beautiful evening we'd spent taking in a full moon while indulging in after dinner deserts was washed away from our memory as we trudged back down the hill from Ping An to our bikes in torrential morning rain.














From here it was back down the steep switchbacks we'd climbed yesterday taking great care with the very slippery road conditions.

After nearly 2 hours we were finally at the start point of the days100 km ride !

The day didn't start too well as a steady drizzle accompanied us on a busy road with buses and trucks as we cimbed 18 kms to our first summit point

The descent in the traffic following was treacherous with the Chinese habit of driving on the wrong side of the road when overtaking slow vehicles causing some riders great concern !
Marysia was very lucky at one point to regain control when her bike skidded on an oil patch with a bus fast approaching - thankfully she recovered with both Kev and the nearby Romanian judge  scoring Marysia 9/10 for creative content !

Off the busy highway we headed backwaters on a lovely potholed country road that combined with a beautiful concrete section took us to our lunch stop where the steamy sun finally appeared
After lunch the ride got even better with a stunning 10 km downhill that brought into sight our very first limestone Karsts !

Stopping to reassemble we were admonished by a military vehicle for being outside a Chinese military establishment - we were in trouble until the lovely Mel smiled at the occupants getting us out of 10 years in solitary !

After a final climb we arrived at our 1960's resort at 5.30 p.m. With Jacquie elated (& exhausted) after having completed her first 100+ km ride - an exceptional effort by a very determined lady !
Even the "Vivster" had secured a personal best  with this trip being the longest one she has ever done - well done Viv !

We checked in to our 1/2 star guest house and set about hanging out our wet gear - Kevs priority instead was to dominate our clothes line with his wet cross word sheets !

Harro and Andrew became our cultural attaches for the evening mixing it with some holidaying Chinese who kindly invited them over to share drinks on their table - Henley was sent over to take a few photos but instead was forced into a rice wine sculling contest - (his photography effort consequently suffered !)

With only 3 cycling days left we head into the city of Guilin tomorrow after a welcome short days ride !