China Part Three

We braved the insanity of the streets and rented mopeds!  It was pretty crazy weaving in and out of buses, vans, bicycles, motorcycles, and semis.  But we made it to some really cool spots.  Here's a low-traffic scenic area:

We swam in the Yulong River and jumped off Dragon Bridge.

Next we went to Shangri La, a touristy park.  The boat ride was full of cheesy gimmicks, but the scenery was phenomenal.




After eating lunch back in Yangshuo we went to the Big Banyan Tree which was planted more than a thousand years ago. It was beautiful!
A man leading a cow around at the banyan tree area:




We tried to eat the popular "Beer Duck"  but only found a few small morsels of meat among the skin, bones, and webbed feet.  The vegetables were good though.


Mmmmmm... Yummy...


It was Dave and Mikelle's last day before they flew to Shanghai, so we went back to the firework store that night and bought the biggest pack they had.


We got a lot of stares as we made our way to the river:


I let the boys light this one.  Todd said it was, "every 12 year old boy's dream come true."

Dave and Mikelle left the following morning and Todd and I rented an electric scooter and went to the Butterfly Cave and then watched the sun set from Moon Hill. Moon hill is the single reason I have wanted to visit China all these years. It is amazing.




Moon Hill:


The view from Moon Hill:


The following day we moved to Climber's Inn, a hostel full of climbers.  Some of them invited us to join them at "The Egg," so we did.






We went to dinner with the climbers and stayed up late talking about life with some Canadians. They were really cool and philosophical about following their passions in life. It was really nice to talk to them.

The next day we tried acupuncture! Todd's wrist has been injured for months and has been recovering very slowly so he had Dr. Lily jab him there. She also stuck a needle in his palm- ouch. His wrist actually seemed to improve after the acupuncture, maybe that stuff really works?




After watching Todd receive treatment, I opted for a Chinese medicine back massage instead. :) It felt great.

Later on, we went to the Buddha Water Cave.  The cave was huge!  And very beautiful inside.  We dipped in the mud baths which were freezing, then relaxed in the hot springs, which were just perfect.
(We're not naked, just muddy! ;)


We were so tired that night we fell asleep at 6:30.  I blame the freezing mud pits.

We got up early to watch the sunrise from Lotus Peak (the tower in Yangshuo.)  It was misty and hazy which made the city look mysterious and romantic.


Later we went climbing again, this time on Moon Hill! As if that place wasn't awesome enough without being able to climb all over it!  This is May climbing, but Todd and I did some routes too.

We climbed with May and Pat, a couple from Australia who came pretty close to convincing us that we need to move to Australia too.  Maybe some day.
It was our last night in Yangshuo so after dinner Todd and I sat by the river and watched the moon rise over the karst towers. I wanted to stay there forever and not come back to Utah at all!

That afternoon we went to the market and were scarred for life by this sight. I'll let you figure out what it is.


Not sure what this hideous thing is: