We are going upstream today!
That was just to cover the part, from Xingping to Yangdi that we missed out when we took bus to Yangshuo instead of cruise the other day.
Click to enlarge. You would have better idea on where were the places we would be going today.
We woke up at 8 a.m and had a quick breakfast before heading to the bus station to catch a bus to Xingping- a small village located 25 km north of Yangshuo.
The bus station was just located next to West Street. We didn't have to purchase the bus ticket in advance. Buses departed from the station to Xingping was quite frequent... every half and hour or so. We didn't even have to buy the ticket at the counter. We just hopped on the bus, a 20-seater bus, and waited for about 10 mins before the bus started moving. Only then the lady bus conductor came over to collect money from us. We paid RMB 5.50 each.
Xingping...
The journey to Xinping just took about 45 mins. The whole journey was uneventful and soon when we got out from the bus, a few ladies rushed toward us to sell their rafting service. I already had an idea how much it would cost to do the rafting here when I spoke to our foot masseur last night. She said it cost them RMB200 when they did the rafting from Xingping to Yangdi a few months ago.
Though bamboo rafting was the only reason I came here but I did not show my desperation and managed to bargain down the price to RMB100 for 2 of us. Better than what the locals got! I guess it was mainly due to the low season.
*Bargain Tips - Do not show your desperation when bargain.
The lady led us to the raft by going through a small alley of the village...
Why must they sit so low to eat? Do you think it's more comfortable?
Quite a rundown village...
Empty street...
A few cafe/restaurants... according to the lady it was a happening place for backpackers during the peak season.
We walked pass some farm lands...
It took a good 20 mins walk to reach the riverbank...
We also had to walk on a short distance pebble path before reaching the raft... The raft was operated by the lady's husband.
The lady's husband was quite nice... he pointed out all the scenic sites and even lend us this RMB20 note for this picture. The actual scene on this RMB20 note.
They also have all kind of names for the hills/stones there. But I didn't bother as I couldn't figure out any single one of them.
The "Married Island"... there was a story about it also but I can't remember now.
Mrs. Chialat was showing off her seating pitch on her "first class" seat or her waterproof Croc??
Does it look like Kuan Yin- Goddess of Mercy?
The cruise boat that came down from Guilin...
Random shot...
Eagle Hill or something... can't remember.
Some hawker stalls along the river... should be prohibited as rubbish was thrown all over the riverbank.
Scenic view...
What a view!
After almost 2.5 hour ride, it was time to go "home".
When we reached the original place where we boarded the raft, we took a "tutu" back to the bus station instead of walking 2km. The bus was about to leave when we reached there and luckily we managed to get a seat as it was actually quite full. And again the journey back to Yangshuo was uneventful.
It was 1:30 p.m when we reached Yangshuo. We headed straight for our lunch.
Again we went to " Mei Jie" and ordered these...
Hot plate tofu... tasted good.
Veggie... quite nice.
Braised pork with yam... excellent!
The portion was quite big for all the above dishes and cost RMB64. After the lunch we headed back to our hotel for a rest.
We came out for our dinner at "Mui Jie" again which I forgot to take any pic. but I remember we ordered a Beer Fish and Stuffed Snail to go with porridge. It was quite good as well.
It was a final day in Yangshuo and we took a final stroll at West Street to see if we missed out something or wanted to buy anything before going back to our hotel.
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