17th December: Yangshuo, China

Kaja woke up feeling really ill today, so we changed our plans a little once more. I went and found her various snacks from around town and then headed out to explore.

Yangshuo has at least 4 bus stations marked on maps and various recent sources suggested I needed a particular one to get to Xingping. On arrival, however, this was a building site! Fortunately, there was one bus parked nearby, and the driver was very helpful. He got his friend on the walkie talkie and arranged for the bus to make an additional stop to pick me up! It was 15 Yuan for the journey, which I paid on board to the bemused attendant. Sugar cane was for sale beside the roads on almost the entire 30-minute journey.

It felt strange to be by myself as I wandered through Xingping old town towards the Li River. This is the place where the famous view of the karst peaks is which is featured on the 20 Yuan note. It’s also the spot where an HSBC advert was filmed years ago which was my first introduction to this landscape. The walk out towards it wasn’t exactly the chilled riverside stroll I’d hoped for, as it was along a road lined with stalls and with little access to the waterside. Eventually, I reached a spot to get down to the water’s edge and it was indeed spectacular. Not content, I wanted to get to a shingle island in the currently low flowing Li. Back downstream I found a way across and walked up to the very end. From here, I had the karst mountains in front of me reflected in the waters of the Li and all to myself. Just as I was thinking of turning around, a cormorant fisherman glided by. This was the scene I’d dreamt of.

I wandered back into town to find lunch and came across a quiet restaurant to make me some braised tofu and rice, with tea and a local beer. Even though it was unexpectedly overcast I sat very content with my day already.

Suitably refuelled, I headed the other way out of town towards Laozhai Shan. My plan wasn’t to climb to the top – I’m a wimp and apparently it’s a bit sketchy – but to find a lower viewing point. I think I took an old path up the first section at it was crumbling and I encountered a few other people coming from another direction after a while. They headed on up, but I wandered along to a little viewing platform. It was perfect. From here, above a bend in the river, I could see up and down the Li with spectacular karst peaks lining the horizon. Tourist boats on their way from Guilin to Yangshuo passed regularly but there were also cormorant fisherman down below at the bottom of the cliffs. I sat for about an hour, just breathing in the scene. The bus back was straightforward but dropped everyone off at the side of the road, so I still don’t know where the bus station is! I had to walk back past the friendly place we’d had dinner in a couple of nights ago, so called in to pick up the same to takeaway. Kaja had really enjoyed the tofu dish, and it was just what she needed today as a pick-me-up.