14th December: Guangzhou, China to Yangshuo, China

I woke up surprisingly early feeling keen to do some research with the time we had before our lunchtime train. It didn’t quite pan out like that unfortunately as I popped out to find us breakfast and coffee and had a panic attack. We made the train, but I don’t remember much of the morning.

As we headed northwest through Guangdong into Guangxi, the many tendrils of the Pearl River and its tributaries snaked across the landscape. Karst peaks popped up for a time, as if giving us a sneak preview for what would come later. Yangshuo station gave Wushan a run for its money with the backdrop. Isolated peaks popped up all around on the otherwise flat plain. The connecting bus to the town took around 40 minutes and was a spectacular ride. White-rocked peaks weathered dark and covered with dark green foliage sat above a fertile orange soiled plain. Citrus trees lined the lower slopes, mostly with plastic coverings for protection against the upcoming chill of winter. Lower down, sugar cane sat in rows mid-harvest. Passing through small towns with ancient noisy tractors, this felt like rural China.

Our hotel in Yangshuo is pet friendly, but we’ve only seen the owner’s cats so far. No dogs to make friends with yet! We’ll explore more here over the next 3 days but for tonight we walked the main tourist area of West Street to find food. To our surprise there was an Indian place with great curries. They even had my favourite peshwari naans! Yangshuo bizarrely seems to be a party town in the middle of this natural beauty, with music and karaoke running until late.