Adventure Is Out There!

Guilin was the craziest vacation I have ever been on. Every second was an adventure and filled with activities. We would wake up early and go to bed late with no moments of boredom at all!

Friday morning Rick, Sarah and I caught the 8:30 bus to Zhenjiang. We got there with enough time to have some lunch and then go to KFC to order ice cream and a Pepsi to try and satisfy a root beer float craving. It worked actually! We found out our train to Shanghai had been delayed almost 2 hours and we probably wouldn't be on time to catch our train to Guilin, which was bad. We ended up having to exchange tickets and take a G train to Shanghai and race to the subway to get to Shanghai Nan (Nan is south) Station grab a sandwich from KFC and race onto the train where we would hang out for the next 20 hours. We ended up being in compartments right next to each other which was really nice. All three of us had bought hard top bunks. The hard part is nothing new and I really didn't think it was hard at all. The top part is where I started rethinking things. There were six bunks in one compartment, three on one wall three on the other wall. The bottom bunk you could sit up in and most people used it as a couch during the daytime. The middle you could sit up in as well, just not as comfortably. The top...yeah you'd have to be a midget to sit up in that one. I didn't spend very much time up there. Basically I just slept there, it was a little too confining. Our train left at 4:30 and got in on Saturday at around noon. So we stayed up talking until 9:30 (lights go out at 10:00) went to bed woke up and had only a few more hours on the train before we arrived in Guilin. All in all it wasn't too bad of a ride, I was expecting something really horrible.

Josh was going to Guilin with us as well but decided he wanted to get there earlier so he was taking a different train to Guilin. It was a good plan in theory but didn't work at all. He ended up being told the wrong bus to get on and the driver dropped him off somewhere random and had someone pick him up and take him to Zhenjiang. Long story short he missed his train to Guilin. He tried to get a ticket on our train but it was full and he ended up getting a ticket on a K train (We were on a T train) that left not long after us. But it gets even better. They didn't have any sleepers or seats so he stood for the entire trip and the K train took a couple hours longer than the T train. Then to top his day off he had no idea where we were staying and none of our phones worked in Guilin so he had no idea how to get a hold of us. Luckily for him the three of us were on top of things. As soon as we got off the train we checked to see what time his train got in. We decided we had enough time to try and find our hostel before his train got in. We thought we had good enough instructions to get there but they weren't good at all. Three girls took pity on us and helped us find our hostel. We were so worried about missing Josh that we sent Rick back to the train station to watch for him. Sarah and I found the hostel thanks to our new friends and made it back to the train station in plenty of time to find Josh. During the wait we planned out the best places for everyone to stand to make sure we didn't have any chance of missing Josh. We decided that I would stand right in front of the gate because I stand out the most, Sarah would be to the left in front of the other gate that no one else was using. Rick would be standing at the top of some stairs over looking the entrance so if we missed Josh he could yell or run after him. All of our planning was not necessary it turns out. Josh saw me and almost burst into tears. He was so happy to see us that he insisted on a group hug. After Josh had gathered control of himself we all headed to our hostel to check in and get settled before going out. Our hostel was right next to the Li River and there were some amazing things to see there. We ended up spending all night taking pictures there and got some really awesome ones. It was all so beautiful!

Sunday morning we were taking a river cruise along the Li River to Yangshuo. That was absolutely beautiful as well! It reminded all of us of Utah and then we all realized how desperate we were for something familiar because it wasn't really like Utah at all. We took a Chinese cruise so everything was in Chinese. One guy that we made friends with spoke a little English and would translate to tell us what sights we were passing at that time. At one point we pass a rock and we all started yelling “The cliffs of insanity!” I have no doubt that the Chinese people on the cruise were a little concerned about the white people. When we first got on the boat a girl ripped our tickets and then helped us find our seats. During the ride the girl came and asked for the part she ripped off our tickets. We kept trying to tell her that she'd already ripped them off and that we didn't have them anymore. Then at the end Josh pulled out his ticket and realized he hadn't had his ticket ripped. The girl got super excited and looked like she was about to burst into tears of joy when she finally ripped his ticket. I was so grateful that my mom had sent me a package that I got right before I left with sunscreen because we used a ton of it on this trip. We all got a little pink but not nearly as bad as it might have been without sunscreen. We probably used about half the bottle this trip.

When we got off the boat we went along the dock to an empty spot to take some pictures. We got there and Sarah said “Oh good. We won't be bothered here.” It wasn't even half a second after she said this that we heard in a thick Chinese accent “Hello! Where are you from?” We busted up laughing and talked to this boy for a minute before running for it.

While in Yangshuo someone decided that we needed to try some of the bricks of tofu they were selling on the streets. They had it on a grill thingy and had put seasonings on it. It was super spicy and nasty and all around awful. I was not thrilled with the person that made the decision to eat it, although I can't remember who it was now.

After checking into our hostel we hit the streets of Yangshuo for some serious shopping. Yangshuo was the best place for shopping that I'd ever been. There was also some serious bargaining going on. I was really worried about the bargaining bit but it came quite naturally to me. I was able to get the price I wanted for everything but one item, but even that item I'd gotten way down. Bargaining worked like this every time: You would show any sort of interest in the stall and the person at the stall would attack you and say “You like? Handmade! For you very cheap!” Then you would ask how much. Even if you don't really want it (They will chase you if you don't follow these steps. If you don't want it you say a ridiculous price they get mad and let you leave). You will then proceed to laugh at the price they say and tell them no. They will then hand you either the pad of paper or the calculator they are using to show you the price and say “You say price!” After saying your price they gasp do this funny eye thing and exclaim “No money! No money!” and act really upset. They say another lower price and you laugh again and either stick to your original price or go up a little bit. This passing goes on for quite some time until one of you budges. My favorite is when they don't come down to your price so you start walking away and they yell “Okay okay! Fine!” and act like you insulted them and their ancestors and they got cheated out of something but in reality you are still getting ripped off. One little old lady would not budge and I wasn't going any higher than 50 yuan. She came down to 52 yuan but I still wasn't moving. Then she started yelling at me and pointing at her throat saying “Tumor! Tumor!” I really don't think the extra 2 yuan would go anywhere to helping even if she really did have a tumor. She finally came down to 50 but she was sure ticked. We avoided her stall from then on. Sarah showed a little interest in these red things that you would put on your rear view mirror in a car. Neither Rick or her really wanted it but once you show any interest you just can't escape them. The lady named the price 120 yuan. We all started laughing pretty good at that one and Sarah said she'd only pay 5 for that. After lots of arguing Sarah purchased the stupid thing for 6 yuan. We put in on their backpack as a trophy and a little reminder that you can always get your price. The purchase I'm most excited about is a dress that I bought. During training one of the girls that was teaching wore this super cute dress that I coveted throughout training. I found it at a store and couldn't resist buying it. It's amazing! They also had some cotton candy in Yangshuo. It was kind of a maple syrup flavor but super good none the less.

We called it a fairly early night that night because the guy at our hostel was taking us to hike a peak at 5 the next morning. We had asked the hostel guy how to get to the peak and he told us that he knew a way to sneak us in so we wouldn't have to pay. He reassured us that his government was a if you don't get caught you won't get in trouble. Free sounded amazing to us so we decided to go for it.

The next morning when we woke up to go to the hike we were kind of rethinking it but there were people waiting so we got up. During the trip whenever we had to get up early or something looked like it required more energy then we possessed we'd say “Adventure is out there!” and do it. It actually worked quite well. We went with a group of other English teachers that were ironically from Utah as well. The hike was really difficult. It was straight up, no joke. We were all breathing super heavy and dripping sweat. By the time we finally reached the top we all collapsed on the ground. We had also left that early to see the sun rise but it was too cloudy so we didn't see that. That was a bummer but okay because the view from the top was beautiful anyway. Hiking back down was a joke. I thought I was going to die a couple of times and did end up falling once. I bruised my poor little buttock. One time I slipped and was going down but a tree branch saved my life. I was so sore and tired that I hugged the branch enthusiastically for saving my life.

After the hike the four of us rented mountain bikes from our hostel to bike to Moon Water Caves. It was a beautiful bike ride right in between huge Chinese style mountains and the Yuyong River next to the road. The caves were amazing too. We had to wear hard hats and at first I thought it was kind of stupid but I took my head out on so many low spots that by the end I wanted to hug my hard hat enthusiastically as well. To get into the cave we had to take a little raft through the cave first. It felt very Phantom of the Opera to me. Part of the cave was going to a mud pond and getting really muddy and then going to a hot spring and getting not so dirty. There were three levels of springs. The first level all we did was dip our toes in because it was so hot, the second one was occupied by a Chinese couple (the springs weren't very big) so we didn't really try that one. The last one was just the perfect amount of warm. We finished Monday up with some shopping and then caught a bus back to Guilin.

They weren't selling bus tickets to Guilin because so many people were going there. There was just a huge line that you stood in and when a bus came you pushed and shoved to get on. So it wasn't really a surprise when I got on the bus and realized that my camera was no longer in my front pant pocket. The most ironic part of me being pick pocketed was that during Hong Kong and Shenzhen I was the most paranoid about it. I was the one cradling my bag protectively and everyone made fun of me for it. We got back to our hostel and I sat on the bed moping and eating chocolate that Sarah provided when Josh came into our room and chucked strawberry Oreo s (My favorite flavor. We NEED these in the US) and milk juice at me and said “I'm sorry about your loss.” It was super sweet of him and I was really grateful. Unfortunately I didn't seem very grateful because the milk juice took out my knee and it was painful.

We slept in for a little bit the next morning because we were just planning on going to the Dragon Backbone Rice Terraces. It was about a 45 minute bus ride to the bus station and then a 3 hour bus ride after that to the Terraces. During the bus ride to the terraces the bus stopped and everyone got off. We then proceeded to climb into the forest around a giant rock slide blocking the path. As we were trying to figure out how to get down rocks started falling and we all screamed and just ran down our only goal to get as far from the rock slide as possible. The best was the old ladies with huge bags across their shoulders booking it towards the buses. We rode the bus for a little while longer before it pulled over and they started speaking in Chinese to us and gesturing outside. One person who knew a little English said “Get off bus.” So we did. I showed my ticket to the bus attendant just to double check we were in the right place and she nodded and herded us off the bus. There was not a single rice terrace in sight except for the one random billboard that had a picture of it. The billboard was basically the only thing around except for Chinese people trying to sell us hotel rooms. Across the street there was a white guy who came and explained the situation to us. Apparently the rice terraces are not just a day trip, which explained everyone trying to sell us hotel rooms. It was about 3:00 and the last bus to Guilin was at 4:00 which was an even bigger problem because it was another 1 to 2 hours to the terraces. He got there and was waiting for a bus back to Guilin (Side note: he was from New York). We stood there trying to decide what to do when two other white people showed up looking just as confused as all the other white people here and they were carrying around the Lonely Planet travel guide (They were from Spain). The seven of us put our heads together and decided to bribe off one of the mini vans to take us to the terraces and then drive us to Guilin. It was 420 yuan total which was 60 a person and we all thought that was a great deal and hopped into the mini van to go to the terraces. They were amazing and we were all so glad we went! I had a run in with a horse while we were there and made friends with a cute little pig. I purposely did not eat pork there after that.

We got back to Guilin around 9 and we were starving. We all wanted Chinese food so badly so we found a little restaurant and ordered food. They'd brought out a couple of dishes when something really traumatic happened. Our cute, tiny, young waitress went over to the fish tank that was by our table. Rick and Sarah's backs were turned to it but Josh and I were facing it so we had a perfect view when she caught a fish in the net and began beating it senseless against the floor right by our table. I guess Josh and my face was priceless because Rick and Sarah started laughing hysterically, they were smart enough not to turn around and look. It just got worse after that. I guess the fish just wasn't dead enough so the waitress grabbed the fish with her bare hands and continued beating it against the ground. Every time we passed a picture of a fish or a tank of fish Josh started groaning, he's vegetarian so it really bothered him. We wanted to hike one last peak before heading home the next day and the hostel had told us that we if got to a certain peak before 7 we could get in for free. We were going to call it an early night but at 12:30 we realized just how late it was and went to bed exhausted.

Because of the holiday the peak opened at 6 so we had to pay but we decided it was worth it. Maps in China really stink so we got super lost and ended up deciding to climb up some rocks to the top. Rock climbing isn't really my thing so I was super scared but lack of sleep made me decide to do it. The view was worth climbing up and we saw that we had made the right decision because we were at the highest peak. We met some nice Chinese people who used us to practice their English (You get used to that pretty quickly) and they were really worried about us getting down. For some reason they think white people are strong but fragile and worry more about us. We made the decision to not go with them and stress them out as we got down the mountain. As we were heading down we saw a rainstorm on its way and started hurrying. The rainstorm was quicker than us though so we got caught in it on the way down. Not only we were soaked but the rocks were too which made them more slippery. I was so scared but we made it to the bottom by some miracle where it immediately stopped raining.

We walked around the park some more and found some monkeys in trees. We all thought they were cute and fed them some peanuts that some nice Chinese people provided for us. Sarah wanted a picture next to a monkey eating a banana but he kept hissing at her. She eventually got the picture but she's super far from the monkey and you can tell she's a little worried about being so close to it. We got up so early we didn't have time for breakfast so I pulled out a piece of raisin bread I had in my backpack. This mean monkey decided it was tired of bananas and that raisin bread sounded really quite tasty. It came to me and looked at the bread. It stood on its hind legs which somehow made it more intimidating. It also had a bad eye which made it look deranged and scarier. Thinking I was so smart I ripped off a corner and threw it far away from me. The monkey glanced over at the piece I'd thrown and then looked back at me with an expression that said “Do you think I'm stupid?” I don't really remember what happened after that but Rick, Sarah and Josh said I started screaming...I do remember that I quickly just chucked the entire piece of bread at the monkey, who grabbed it and ran away from me. As soon as the threat was gone I got really angry. I was hungry and that stupid monkey stole my bread! After the loss of my bread I was sick of monkeys and ready to move on. We went and saw camel rock and then decided to head home.

China is a very slippery place. Even dry. It was very wet because of all the rain which made it even more slippery. I had already slipped on stairs that day but because of my mad ninja skills I caught myself on the step above the step my poor already bruised bum would have fallen and avoided disaster. On the walk back to our hostel we ran into the people we met at the top of the peak and they were happy to see that we made it safely down. We decided to walk along the river on the way back to the hostel and that's where tragedy struck. We were walking down the stairs to get to the river path when Sarah slipped and fell down quite a few stairs. She started screaming and my mind went blank. I had no idea what to do, especially since we don't really know a ton of Chinese. Rick and I made eye contact and I said “What do we do?!” He thought for half a second and then starts yelling in Chinese and I started yelling “What are you saying?!” Turns out he was yelling the word for phone. We had quite a crowd around us watching and one of them pulled out a phone and started calling for help we assumed. Our friends from the mountain found us and did a little translating to let us know that someone indeed did call the hospital and an ambulance was coming. Then one of them noticed the gash in my leg from climbing down the mountain and got really concerned. I was kind of thinking “Really? That's what you're concerned about right now?” but I did think it was sweet she was concerned. We heard the ambulance before we saw it and the crowd ran over to the side of the road to call it over. Being white has it advantages in China. We were worried about how to communicate with the doctor when he came over but the first words out of his mouth was “What's wrong?” and we all exclaimed “That was English!” You'd be surprised how necessary it is for us to tell each other when someone is speaking English, often we don't catch it for a few minutes. He felt Sarah's spine to make sure he couldn't feel anything obviously wrong. Rick shooed the crowd away to give Sarah some privacy and they all groaned but left. Rick and Sarah went to the hospital to get an x-ray and Josh and I were left standing there wondering what on earth we were supposed to do. We had to be checked out of the hostel by noon so we went and packed everything up. We sat and stared at nothing for a while too scared to do anything and finally decided we had to get out or we'd go crazy. We ran into Rick and Sarah on our little jaunt and were so relieved to find that nothing was wrong and everything was fine. Sarah was really sore so we didn't do anything super adventurous and caught our train to Shanghai that night with no problems.

Nothing exciting happened on our travels home. We made it back to Zhenjiang Thursday night and had to catch a taxi to Yangzhong. Our taxi driver spoke very little English but when we told him we were American he said Obama and Bin Laden and then made a gun with his hand said “Pew, pew” and said very good in Chinese. Apparently he approves. Then we saw a taxi next to us at a red light and the taxi driver was able to communicate that this taxi was also going to Yangzhong. Still not sure how he knew that. So we started chanting go in Chinese and fast and the race began. I think we won.

We made it home safe and sound. Everyone was sore and exhausted with wallets containing a lot less money than we began with. It was so much fun and so beautiful!