Thursday June 16
Yesterday was a very full day. The bike ride to Moon Hill was scheduled in the morning. I explained to Langer, the tour leader, that I was not comfortable on a bike and that I had been having a very hard time with the humidity. He arranged an electric scooter and driver for me! The bike rental place is run by a couple and the wife insisted on driving me, instead of her husband. I don't know what she was afraid would happen, but she was very capable and nice. We all took off in the rain down the main streets to the highway. I'm so glad I took the motorbike option -- the traffic is really crazy here, between the cars, bikes and motorcycles. We arrived at Moon Hill around 10 AM. Langer had warned us about the fan ladies -- women who wait at the bottom of the hill and offer to fan you on the way up the hill. They also sell drinks from a little foam cooler and postcards. You are expected to buy something from them for their service. They started running towards us as soon as the bikes pulled up and these little tiny women in their plastic flip flops accompanied each of us up the slippery steps to the top of Moon Hill. My lady was very good, fanning me constantly. The humidity was almost unbearable for me -- I only made it up halfway. My lady was so helpful, holding my arm so I wouldn't slip, even breaking off a piece of bamboo for me to use as a walking stick. As we waited for the others, I bought a bottle of water and some postcards. She also offered me a piece of cake made with rice flour that tasted really good. I admit, I was a mess. Chris said I went completely white, rather that the beet red I'd been in the heat the day before. My lady continued to fan me the whole time and I was very grateful. I followed the others as they returned to the bottom of the hill and bought a can of mango juice from her cooler. I gave her about $30 -- a huge amount for her, but worth every penny. They are all farmers' wives with children, trying to earn some extra money and I was glad to help. I got back on the bike and we took off for our "farmers lunch". We ate on a terrace with an amazing view and the food was fantastic! Chicken and vegetables, beef and vegetables, fried potatoes, scrambled eggs with tomato, another dish of chicken with carrots and a plate of eggplant. And rice, of course. The countryside in Yangshou is famous for the karsts: hundreds of huge rock formations covered with bushes and trees. They also grow a lot of rice and vegetables, using water buffalo to pull the farm equipment.
As we returned to the bikes, we headed though a more scenic route and I was never so happy NOT to be riding a bicycle. We traveled down muddy, rocky roads with huge puddles from all the rain, sharing the paths with cars, tour buses and other bikes, motorized and not. The road in some places was only a bus width wide and we saw a stand off between two tour buses, face to face.(One of them finally backed up.)
We stopped at a lotus farm in full bloom, just gorgeous, then made our way back into town.
Some of us went from there on a long van ride to a harbor, where we picked up a raft to cruise down the Li River to see more beautiful views of the karsts. The banks of the river were packed with bamboo trees, which reminded me of Side Show Bob's hair on "The Simpsons". We stopped briefly on shore, which was made up of large rocks in various colors of blue, violet and light brown. Chris and I spotted the tiniest frog, about an inch long, and Chris taught one of the local women the English for "Frog", which she wrote with a limestone rock on another rock!
When we got back to the hotel, we had an hour or so before we left for the famous Yangshou "Light Show". It was directed by the guy who put on the opening show for the Beijing Olympics (He also directed "Raise the Red Lantern" and is very famous in China.). It was like the opening ceremonies -- epic with 600 performers, staged on the river with the karsts lit up for a backdrop.Quite an amazing spectacle although we couldn't understand a single word.
Today is a day to recover from all the activities. It is nice today, a cool breeze, overcast sky, but still hot and humid. I've been told this is the worst area for that, so I'm hoping I'll have more stamina for activities later on.
Every once in a while, I realize where I am and how wonderful it is.
http://public.fotki.com/mjlang4952/china-bike-ride/
http://public.fotki.com/mjlang4952/2011-06-16-china/
No comments:
Post a Comment