On Wednesday, we woke up early and rented bikes from our hostel for only 20 yuan for the whole day. Anjali wasn't feeling very well, so at 9 am SuiKi, Anita and I biked out to a fruit stand to pick up some breakfast. We had the most delicious mangos, oranges, pomellos, and other fruit that I didn't even recognize.
Then the three of us started on our grand adventure. We wanted to hike up to Moon Hill, so we asked for directions from the hostel staff. It was only supposed to take about 25 minutes to bike out there, but we got lost along the way. Instead of backtracking, I saw another possible route on the map and suggested that we try the back roads. One local man escorted us on scooter all the way to a beautiful bridge where he runs rafting tours. We decided just to cross the bridge and keep biking. At that point the semi-paved roads turned into winding dirt roads through the countryside. We biked through tiny villages full of farmers working in the rice fields with their water buffalo. I was surprised to see satellite dishes in the front yards of some of these tiny one-room houses. We passed by groups of kids running home from school (they get out at 1 pm every day). We stopped at a picturesque site nestled right in the middle of the mountains for a picnic lunch. As we continued on, the roads got more and more rocky, bumpy, and narrow. Eventually we just had to walk our bikes, which gave us even more opportunities to take in the scenery. At one point we saw an elderly lady carrying water to her house. Her back was so crooked that she was completely bent over. These rice farmers have such a difficult life - they are constantly hunched over in water up to their calves planting or harvesting the rice plants. By the time they are old, their backs cannot straighten at all. I can't imagine what the skin on their hands and feet are like.
After a while, I was wondering if we would be able to keep going in the same direction or if we would eventually have to turn around because of a dead end. Thankfully Anita and SuiKi could communicate with the locals and ask for directions, so we finally got ourselves back to a paved bike path. You could tell that once the tourist season hit, the path would be crammed with vendors selling water, postcards, or flowers to hoards of tourists. At the end of the long paved path, we came to a dead end at the bank of the Li River. There were a bunch of locals waiting there to take us and our bikes across the river on a rickety bamboo raft. They were going to charge us a fortune for the 5-minute ride, but we bargained them down to 5 yuan a piece. Later, I met an American from South Carolina who didn't have as much luck bargaining. The rafters were going to charge him 30 kuai to cross the river and they weren't going to change their price. So he decided to take off his clothes and swim his bike across the river. He lost his shirt in the process, which probably was worth more than 30 kuai anyways. We biked for another hour or so until we finally got to the base of moon hill around 2 pm. By then our legs were just trembling from all the exercise. Crazy us - we decided to hike the 40-minute climb to the summit of Moon Hill. Along with us came several elderly ladies carrying cases of water, pop, juice, and postcards. I can't imagine someone older than my mom carrying so much weight up all those stairs at the same pace as us. Those are some hearty farming ladies! When we got to the top, they fanned us as we panted from the hike. We bought some drinks from them and went back to our bikes.
I was noticing that even though it was a cloudy day and I had been wearing a jacket, I was starting to turn my usual summer shade of bright pink, especially on my hands. Yes, I did put on sunscreen, but even so, a whole day outside is enough for me to get a nice burn. Gotta love my white-as-white-can-be dutch skin. We biked straight back to Yangshuo, taking the direct and not the scenic route and picked up some more fruit on the way home. By the time we got back it was 5 pm. We spent a good 8 hours of biking and hiking, so we were simply exhausted. We went out to a pizza place for a pre-dinner and then split ways. I was still hungry and really craving a good cut of steak. I was skeptical that I would be able to find a piece of imported steak in such a small town, but it was my lucky night. We chanced upon an Australian restaurant that had New Zealand steak. Even better, it came with steamed broccoli! I felt so re-energized after that meal, but still hardly able to walk on my trembling legs. We met up at the hostel again at 9 to watch a movie and get a good night's sleep.
Then the three of us started on our grand adventure. We wanted to hike up to Moon Hill, so we asked for directions from the hostel staff. It was only supposed to take about 25 minutes to bike out there, but we got lost along the way. Instead of backtracking, I saw another possible route on the map and suggested that we try the back roads. One local man escorted us on scooter all the way to a beautiful bridge where he runs rafting tours. We decided just to cross the bridge and keep biking. At that point the semi-paved roads turned into winding dirt roads through the countryside. We biked through tiny villages full of farmers working in the rice fields with their water buffalo. I was surprised to see satellite dishes in the front yards of some of these tiny one-room houses. We passed by groups of kids running home from school (they get out at 1 pm every day). We stopped at a picturesque site nestled right in the middle of the mountains for a picnic lunch. As we continued on, the roads got more and more rocky, bumpy, and narrow. Eventually we just had to walk our bikes, which gave us even more opportunities to take in the scenery. At one point we saw an elderly lady carrying water to her house. Her back was so crooked that she was completely bent over. These rice farmers have such a difficult life - they are constantly hunched over in water up to their calves planting or harvesting the rice plants. By the time they are old, their backs cannot straighten at all. I can't imagine what the skin on their hands and feet are like. 
After a while, I was wondering if we would be able to keep going in the same direction or if we would eventually have to turn around because of a dead end. Thankfully Anita and SuiKi could communicate with the locals and ask for directions, so we finally got ourselves back to a paved bike path. You could tell that once the tourist season hit, the path would be crammed with vendors selling water, postcards, or flowers to hoards of tourists. At the end of the long paved path, we came to a dead end at the bank of the Li River. There were a bunch of locals waiting there to take us and our bikes across the river on a rickety bamboo raft. They were going to charge us a fortune for the 5-minute ride, but we bargained them down to 5 yuan a piece. Later, I met an American from South Carolina who didn't have as much luck bargaining. The rafters were going to charge him 30 kuai to cross the river and they weren't going to change their price. So he decided to take off his clothes and swim his bike across the river. He lost his shirt in the process, which probably was worth more than 30 kuai anyways. We biked for another hour or so until we finally got to the base of moon hill around 2 pm. By then our legs were just trembling from all the exercise. Crazy us - we decided to hike the 40-minute climb to the summit of Moon Hill. Along with us came several elderly ladies carrying cases of water, pop, juice, and postcards. I can't imagine someone older than my mom carrying so much weight up all those stairs at the same pace as us. Those are some hearty farming ladies! When we got to the top, they fanned us as we panted from the hike. We bought some drinks from them and went back to our bikes. 
I was noticing that even though it was a cloudy day and I had been wearing a jacket, I was starting to turn my usual summer shade of bright pink, especially on my hands. Yes, I did put on sunscreen, but even so, a whole day outside is enough for me to get a nice burn. Gotta love my white-as-white-can-be dutch skin. We biked straight back to Yangshuo, taking the direct and not the scenic route and picked up some more fruit on the way home. By the time we got back it was 5 pm. We spent a good 8 hours of biking and hiking, so we were simply exhausted. We went out to a pizza place for a pre-dinner and then split ways. I was still hungry and really craving a good cut of steak. I was skeptical that I would be able to find a piece of imported steak in such a small town, but it was my lucky night. We chanced upon an Australian restaurant that had New Zealand steak. Even better, it came with steamed broccoli! I felt so re-energized after that meal, but still hardly able to walk on my trembling legs. We met up at the hostel again at 9 to watch a movie and get a good night's sleep.
